Poker Vs Rummy: Basic Rules, Key Differences In 2020

Learn the key differences of poker vs rummy and be the judge for yourselves to see which game suits you the best. Both Poker and Rummy are fantastic card games. These games are really fun to pass time or play with your friends or family.

Whether, if you are having a hard time figuring out which game is the best or if you want to understand the rules for the game, I am going to be mentioning all these things in this article.

Poker vs Rummy is a very subjective topic so I’ll divide the article into three sections. In the first I’ll let you know the basic rules for each poker and rummy. Then later I’ll talk about which game is the best for you. Each poker or rummy has its own merits and de-merits. So, it entirely depends on you whether you like the game or not. Personally, I like playing both poker and rummy. Both are fun to play with friends offline as well as online.

After understanding the basics and the key differences, hope you guys can get a clear answer to which is a better game when it comes to poker vs rummy.

Table of Contents

Basic Rules Of Poker

Here I’ll explain the basic rules of playing poker. Now, to be specific, there are many different varients in playing poker. So, in this article I’ll explain the rules of most popular poker varient, that is Texas Hold’em Poker. This poker varient is played in almost all parts of the world and is the most played poker varient in the world. Also, Texas Hold’em poker is the basis of all the other poker varient. So, it would only make sense if I list out the rules for this varient than others.

Basic Rules of Texas Hold’em Poker

The game is played between two to nine players at once. There will be an dealer who deals the cards to the players.
The game is played with the regular 52 playing cards. The jokers are not used for playing the game.
The dealer deals two cards face down to each of the players at the poker table. The players will have to bet an ante before they even receive the cards. This is the minimum bet that each of the players must pay even before the game starts.
Once the players receive the cards, the players can start betting. There is something called the small bet and the big bet that the players must bet. Each players must bet at least as the amount of big-bet if they want to continue with their hands.
If the players don’t want to bet with their cards, they have the option to fold the cards. If they chose to do that, then the player cannot play till the next round begins.
Once each of the players have placed their bet, the dealer deals three cards on the table with face up. This is called a Flop. After the flop is dealt, the players have the option either to bet, check or fold. They can bet any amount they like and the other players must match the bet or they can raise the bet if they feel they have a better chance of winning the game.
Once each of the players have bet, the next card will be dealt by the dealer face up. This card is called the Turn. Once again, players can bet similar to the last round.
Once each of the players have placed their bets, Another card is revealed by the dealer known as the River. Again, the players can do the betting similar to previous rounds.
Once the betting is finished the players remaining must show their hands to the dealer. The player with the best poker hand wins this round and all the money that is on the table.

To explain the game in a simple way, each player must form the best 5 card hand with 2 of their own cards and from three card on the table. The best hand is decided according to the standard poker hand rules. At the end, the player with the best hand wins the pot on the table. This is how the Texas Hold’em poker is played.

This is just the basics of the game. There are still lot more to learn in Poker. If you’re looking for an full rules of the game, you can read one of my other articles where I explain everything about poker.

Basic Rules Of Rummy

Rummy is also a card game, but doesn’t involve betting similar to poker. Rummy is more of a strategic sort of card game. Here I’ll be explaining just the basics of the game.

Rummy is played anywhere between 2 to 5 players. There’s a dealer who deals the cards similar to poker. The dealers main role is to shuffle the deck of cards and distribute it to the players. Also, to check on the winner at the end.
The game is played with regular playing deck of cards. If more than 2 players play, then two deck of cards is used. The jokers are also used for playing the game.
The game begins with each players receiving 13 cards face down. Each card has its own value in number. The maximum points for each player is 80. The objective of the game is to reduce the those points to zero. The first person who reduces the points to zero wins the game.
Along with dealing the 13 cards to the players, another 2 cards is revealed to all the players. One of these card will now act as a joker along with the original jokers in the deck. If the card revealed itself is joker, then Ace will be the joker for that turn. Another card that is revealed is for the first player to either pick the card or pick from the deck.
The game begins with a player picking one card from the remaining deck of cards or from the card that is revealed on the table and discard one of his own 13 cards. The next player can either pick up the card discarded from previous player or pick the card from the deck. And the cycle continues until one of the players has reached zero points.
If you don’t feel like the cards are not good enough you can opt out of playing in the start for a loss of 20 points. If you play your first round, then decide to leave the game, you can leave for a cost of 40 points.
Here are the different values of each cards. The card 2 has 2 points, the card 3 has 3 points and so on. All the cards above 10 like Jacks, Queens, Kings and Aces have 10 points too. The joker doesn’t have any value. So, if you receive jokers the it adds zero points to the total.
In order to reduce the points each player must group the cards accordingly,
- The player can group three or more cards of the similar value. For example, grouping of 9♣9♠9♦. This becomes a group now and the points from this group will now reduce to the total points in the start.
- The player can group 3 or more cards of the same suit in a proper sequence. For example, grouping of 5♥6♥7♥8♥.
- You can also add joker to any of these groups to either make it a set or a sequence.
Once each of the 13 cards are paired, the player must show his cards to the rest of the players and the dealer. If all the cards are grouped properly, then that player wins the round. S0, there can be only one winner in each round. The remaining players must calculate the total points remaining from each of the cards that aren’t grouped.
There are certain minimum criteria that each player must group in order to win the round.
- The players must form a proper sequence without joker with 3 or more cards grouped together.
- The players must from another group of proper sequence. But, this time they can use a joker.
If these criteria are not met, then the player will lose that round even if he has zero points.

These are just the basic rules for playing rummy. You can learn in-depth rules from this link. Learning the game isn’t difficult at all. Once you play the game for yourselves you’ll the game better.

Key Differences Between Poker Vs Rummy

Poker and Rummy are both card games, but the game mechanics are quite different from one another. The only common thing between the two are in fact both are card games. So, here are the major differences between Poker vs Rummy.

There are no jokers involved in playing poker. Where as in Rummy, joker are used.
In Poker only one deck of cards are used. In Rummy depending on players, even two deck of cards might be used to play the game.
Poker is a game which involves several rounds of betting. Where as in Rummy, there is no betting involved. In Rummy the game is based on point system and the player with least number of score wins the game.
Since poker involves betting between several rounds, it is a gambling game and lot of depends on luck. Where as in Rummy you need to strategies a lot inorder to win. The luck factor is there even in Rummy, but it plays a less of a factor for deciding the winner. To be more fair, even poker to a certain extent is luck, but you need to use your brain a lot even in Poker. So, both poker and Rummy are more tilted towards skill rather than luck.
In poker, you can play a round/hand much quicker than Rummy. Rummy takes several turns and much longer time to complete since you need to make your score to zero.
Poker is a fast paced game with a lot of twists and turns along the way. You can say that in poker the game tends to be much more fun since it is a fast paced paced. But, don’t get me wrong. Even Rummy is fun. But, is a much slower game compared to poker.

These are some of the major differences of poker vs rummy. Overall, both are quite different games and both of them have their own strategies and tricks to win.

Poker Vs Rummy: Which is a better game?

A lot of people have this question in mind, which game is better in Poker vs rummy showdown. And the answer depends on your game preference in the end. As I mentioned earlier, both poker and rummy has their own ups and downs. If you prefer a fast paced game, then poker is the best option for you. If you want to sit and relax a bit more, then Rummy is a clear winner here. So, it all comes down to your personal opinion.

If you love gambling, then you might end up preferring to playing poker. But, if you are not into gambling, then Rummy might be the right choice. There is no clear winner when it comes down to which game is a better game.

I would suggest you to try both of these games and see for yourselves which game suits your needs. There are lot of mobile apps where you can play both of these games for free. So, download these games and try out for yourselves. Personally, I have played both game and I enjoy playing both. Both are unique in its own way and definitely worth trying once for yourselves.

Overall, Both poker and Rummy are great games to play with your family or friends. All you need is a deck of playing cards to play both the games. Poker needs additional chips which acts as game currency for you to play the game.

This is my overall summary of poker vs rummy card games. As I mentioned earlier play for yourselves and see which game suits you better. If you have any questions regarding poker vs rummy, please leave a comment below. Thanks for reading.

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