How many times have you played a game where you find it hard to win? Everyone must have faced a situation like this and you’re no exception. The common misconception around card games is that anybody can play them and that it is a piece of cake. However, once you ace the skills and practices that go into playing a game well, everything is possible. With games like rummy, contrary to popular belief, luck has little to do with winning. The outcome of a rummy game is based on your skills, the moves you make and the strategy behind it all. Rummy has a lot more layers to it than what meets the eye, and this article will give you 5 handy tips to improve your game.
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Arrangement of Cards
If you are a beginner in card games in general, you must understand that it is more than just putting down a series of cards over a few turns. With a game like rummy, where you have to create sequences and sets using the cards that are dealt to you, it is crucial to start planning your moves from the beginning. Once you are dealt cards, start arranging them in the order that you want to play them or in sequences and sets that you wish to make. This will help you be sure of your plan and also make you prepared for whatever your opponent might throw your way.
Observation
The best way to get better at your game is to keep a close eye on your opponent’s moves. As a beginner, that’s where the gold mine is! See how they react to picking different cards, notice every card they discard and every card they pick from the open deck to guess the sequence they might be working on. That way you can also alter your sequences or your plan of action based on your opponent’s behaviour. Over time, with observation you will realize how different people play different games, the tactics they use, the way you respond to their moves and eventually you will become a great judge of predicting your opponent’s moves. As the popular saying goes, practice makes perfect. So keep playing, keep observing and you will be on the right track to becoming the best rummy player.
Decisive Thinking
Are you a quick thinker? A good decision maker? Then you can be a good rummy player. Rummy is a game where you need to be very focused on your moves and have a very good level of concentration and presence of mind. Be aware of any twists or changes that may take place at any moment in time during the game because you never know the flow of the entire game may shift at a moment’s notice with just one card. As mentioned above, an air-tight strategy will definitely help you be a better player but having a sharp presence of mind will help you make quick decisions and changes for the flow of your game. Think on your feet and be sure of what your next move is and you will be good to go. Let your intuition guide you.
Quick Moves
As a beginner, you might tend to be a little confused or slow in making your decisions about your next move if compared to an experienced player on the other side. It is crucial that you are more efficient with managing your time. In a game like rummy, the quicker the moves, the smoother the play. If you give your opponent more time to observe and analyze your moves, they might figure out your game plan. As explained earlier in this article, observation truly is the key and that applies to your opponent too. So if you keep your cards in the sequence you want to follow and if you keep the cards ready to be discarded, your game will go a lot smoother. Simply put, faster responses lead to a more efficient game plan. Time management is a huge part of what can make or break your game.
Don’t Let the Joker Fool You
The joker can be the one card that can help you win your game. If you decide to use a joker in any of your sequences, stick to your decisions because one small change in any sequence can either slow your game down or ruin it completely. Make sure that you always aim at having one sequence or set with a joker in it. That way, you will also have a better chance of knowing which cards are relevant and which are useless for your game. However, this does not mean that you cannot change your mind. If an opportunity presents itself wherein you think that changing the placement of the joker from one sequence to the other might help you build your game better, then you should definitely go for it. Know when to make the right choice and when to change it all to win.
While these may not be the only skills one may require to become an expert at the game of rummy, we hope they give you a good insight into how to play rummy efficiently. These will help you build your skills and game plans in a way that when you actually do play for higher stakes, you will be more confident and better prepared. The best way to be great at a game is to truly enjoy it. So if you have even the slightest interest in rummy, try it out and see where it takes you. Remember, consistency is key and practice makes perfect!
