Card Games: "May I?"

Card playing is a big thing in my family. Whenever it's a big holiday, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year's, we play hours of card games. I've come to notice, however, that when I look up the rules of some of these games, they are often different variations on what we play.

So, I've decided to put some of our rules up here! I hypothesize that the cause of mutation is caused by a lack of a physical record; we teach each other card games orally, instead of reading from something written.

Our favorite game to play is a Rummy variant, called "May I?" I looked up some other variants (one which I shall dub 'EVIL "May I?"'), none of which were played the same as ours.

*I apologize in advance if some of the symbols for cards I use are not the same as standardized rules. I will also be using 'she' as the preferred pronoun throughout this series, since I usually game with other women. XD

"May I?" (Honsvick Style)

Objective: 

Be the player with the least amount of points by the last round. The best way to achieve this is try to be the first one to go out each round, or at least down. 

Setup: 

We usually play with 4 or 5 people, but it can be played with 3-6+ (more than 6 starts to get painful, but possible. More than 2-3 decks are required for more.). We start out with two standard decks, with the Jokers (which are Wild Cards), but add in a third deck around 10-12 cards, depending on how many people there are. 

Each person is dealt the required amount of cards each round. The dealer begins with the person to her left and ends with herself; make sure everyone has their respective pile of cards (or else the luck is screwed up. Don't mess with the luck). 

When the person to the dealer's left is ready to begin, she picks up the top card from the deck and turns it over. 

Rounds: 

There are seven rounds. For each round, there is a different amount of cards needed, as well as different combinations of cards to win. 

A set: (at least) three cards, all of the same value. (e.g., Seven, Seven, Seven.)
A run: a sequence of (at least) four cards in the same suit. You cannot bridge the gap with a run: no King, Ace, Two. A234 and JaQKA are fine.

1. 7 cards: Two sets

2. 8 cards: One set, one run 

3. 9 cards: Two runs 

4. 10 cards: Three sets 

5. 11 cards: Two sets, one run 

6. 12 cards: Two Runs One Set

7. 13 cards: Three Runs

Theoretically, this pattern could continue endlessly. Two sets == 6 cards, which is one less than 7. One set, one run == 7 cards, which is one less than 8. So on and so forth. However, at 14 cards, you have two choices: 2 runs, 2 sets, or 3 sets, 1 run. We never play past 7 rounds for this reason.  

Note: A player cannot lay down more than the required sets/runs. 

Play of Cards:

A player begins her turn by drawing the top card from either the deck or the discard pile. A player ends her turn by discarding to the discard pile. 

Going Down: When a player has all the cards she needs for that round (e.g., Two Sets for Round 1), she may lay her cards down face-up on the table. This must be done during her turn; she cannot lay her hand down in between turns or during someone else's turn. 

Going out: A player wins a round when she gets rid of all her cards . She can do this by laying either on her own cards (adding to a set or extending a run), or by laying on someone else's (who is also down) cards. 

Her last card must be discarded; in this version, a player cannot play-out (which makes it easier, really). 

If a player is not down, she cannot play on another, already-down player's cards. However, if another player has a Joker in their laid-down sets/runs, any other player (whose turn it is) may replace the Joker with the proper card and take the Joker. 

May I-ing: In between turns*, if a player (P1) sees a card she needs, she may ask the player whose turn is about to begin (P3), "May I?" If P3 does not want the card on the discard pile, she will say, "You may." (If P3 does want the card, she gets it, no questions asked.) P1 then takes the top card from the discard pile AND the top card from the deck. 

However, if P4 wants the card on the discard pile and also asks, "May I?" (and P3 agrees), then P4 gets the card instead of P1, because P4 comes in the rotation before P1. 

Each player has only two May-I's (per round). May-I's make it harder to go out, for each adds two cards to a player's hand. A player can keep track of her May-I's by counting her cards (e.g., Round 1: 9 cards means 1 May-I. 11 cards means 2). A player who is down has no need (and should not want) to May-I.

Multiple May-Is in a row can occur. If P1 wanted the top discard card and May-Ied it, then P2 wants the new top discard card, she may May-I it. 

*We always play that a player cannot May-I during someone's turn, but I'm told this is a rule the group needs to decide before the game begins. Can you May-I during someone's turn? 

Scoring:

Points are tallied at the end of each round and accumulate.

She who goes out receives 0 points for that round.

All who lay down count only what they are still holding (i.e. their cards on the table don't count towards points.)

Those who do not lay down might ragequit (or just weep quietly), depending on how many points they have in their hand.

2-9: Face value

10-K: 10 points

A: 15 points

Joker: 25 points

It IS possible to never go out and win the game, generally by collecting all low cards and discarding all one's high cards. It makes other people want to strangle you, however. 

Something else a player can do, if she wants to troll the other players, is collect all the cards everyone else needs. This is generally a bad tactic for winning, since high cards are often included, but it gives a player who never wins the satisfaction of cackling throughout the entire game. (One of my aunts does this.) 

Adding A Player In: 

Players can jump in mid-game (at the beginning of a round, of course). However, they must adopt the losing score as their own; they don't start at 0 points as everyone does at the very beginning of the game. 

"May I?" (EVIL Style)

This is one of the variants I found online. (First post). It makes our variant seem like we're playing Nerf. As my sister says, this one would involve "twice the crying." It's slightly modified, since some of the rules don't make sense. (How are you supposed to lay down 12 cards when all you have is 11? Theoretically, it is possible, since when you draw, you have one more card than you were dealt, but I feel like you shouldn't just lay down to go out.)

Objective:

Be the player with the least amount of points by the last round. The best way to do this is to go out each round. 

Setup:

Shuffle three standard decks together. Game for 3-6 players. 

For the first four rounds, deal 11 cards to each player. For the last two rounds, deal 13 cards to each player. The dealer begins with the person to her left and ends with herself; make sure everyone has their respective pile of cards.

When the person to the dealer's left is ready to begin, she picks up the top card from the deck and turns it over. 

Rounds: 

There are six rounds. For each round, a different combination of cards is needed to win.

A set: (at least) three cards, all of the same value. (e.g., Seven, Seven, Seven.)
A run: a sequence of (at least) four cards in the same suit. Aces CANNOT be used as 1 in this version; they can only be used after a K. 

1. One set, one run. (7 cards to lay down)

2. Two runs. (8)

3. Three sets. (9)

4. Two sets, one run. (10)

5. Two runs, one set. (11)

6. Three runs. (12)

A player cannot lay down more than the required sets/runs.  

Play of Cards: 

A player begins her turn by drawing the top card from either the deck or the discard pile. A player ends her turn by discarding to the discard pile. 

Going Down: When a player has all the cards she needs for that round (e.g. Two Sets for Round 1), she may lay her cards down face-up on the table. This must be done during her turn; she cannot lay her hand down in between turns or during someone else's turn. 

Going out: A player wins a round when she gets rid of all her cards . She can do this by laying either on her own cards (adding to a set or extending a run), or by laying on someone else's (who is also down) cards*. 

Her last card must be played on either her own cards or on someone else's; in this version, a player cannot discard-out.

If a player is not down, she cannot play on another, already-down player's cards.

*Jokers may be replaced in a run and will move “up” in the run unless there is already an Ace at the top, then they will move down. They will stay with the run and may not be replaced once a run is full. 

May I-ing: In between turns, if a player (P1) sees a card she needs, she may ask the player whose turn is about to begin (P3), "May I?" If P3 does not want the card on the discard pile, she will say, "You may." (If P3 does want the card, she gets it, no questions asked.) P1 then takes the top card from the discard pile and TWO cards from the top of the deck. 

If more than P1 says, "May I?" it is she who said it first who gets the card. If it is a close call as to who said it first, a loud disputation will settle the matter, with P3's word being final. 

Each player has only two May-I's (per round). May-I's make it harder to go out, for each adds two cards to a player's hand. A player can keep track of her May-I's by counting her cards (e.g., Round 1: 9 cards means 1 May-I. 11 cards means 2). A player who is down has no need (and should not want) to May-I.

Scoring: 

She who went out scores 0 points for that round. 

Those who do not go out might ragequit (or just weep quietly), depending on how many points they have in their hand. (This version says nothing about people who go down getting freebies.)

2-7: 5 points

8-K: 10 points

A: 20 points

Joker: 50 points

Other Variants: 

Variant one: 

1. 2 decks. Each round gets 10 cards.
2. NO Jokers, NO wild cards.
3. Begin with only two sets for 6 cards to lay down. 
4. Remove 'three runs' round. 
5. Players may use May-Is as much as they would like, only drawing one card from the deck. Players can May-I multiple times at once. (May-I the top card, then May-I the next top card.)
6. You can only discard-out.
7. Aces are only worth 15 points and can be used both low and high (a 14 card run is possible, if there were such a thing). Bridging is not allowed, however.
8. In the last round (Two runs, one set) NO ONE may May-I a card unless it is her WINNING CARD. She does not draw a penalty at this point, either, but goes out immediately.

Variant Two: 

1. No Jokers; Twos are wild.
2. Two rounds are added (to the Evil Style): Three runs, and an abnormal round: One set, one run of 7 
3. "You cannot have an out card." I have no idea what this means. Do you?

Variant Three: 

This version of May-I combines many of the rules from all the versions. Reading it may also make reading my guide easier to read, by the way; I've never explained a card game before in writing. A few terms are different--contract, melding, laying off, etc.,--but the idea is the same.

1. Dealing is the same as the Honsvick Style
2. There are no Jokers; Twos are wild. (Variant Two)
3. The round combinations are the same as the Honsvick Style.
4. It has an alternate version of the last round; Two Sets, One Run and no discard, instead of Three Runs. The round ends immediately after 'melding' all the cards (a.k.a. going down) (Variant One, sort of). 
5. Play ends if all the cards run out and there is no winner. (That sucks. Just add another deck in in our version. XD)
6. The person that asks for a May-I first gets it (Evil Style).
7. You cannot take a deuce from the meld it is a part of (Evil Style). 
8. Number cards are all face-value, except for Twos, which are 20 points. Face cards are 10 points, and Aces are 15. 
9. Aces can only be played as high. (Evil Style)

Variant Four: 

Another guide I found online with the variant name "Contract Rummy." Good to know. This uses some of the same language from the other guide. 

1. Three to five players; optimum four. 
2. Two decks WITH Jokers.
3. There should be one less Joker than there are players; three players play with 106, four with 107, five with 108. (Interessant!) 
4. Seven rounds; in the first three rounds, players recieve 10 cards each. In the last four, they receive 12.
5. No discard on last round (three runs). 
6. You may not lay off (play off) other people's cards on the same turn you lay down.
7. You must discard-out for every round except round 7.
8. Play ends if all the cards run out.
9. If several people want to May-I a card, it goes to the player earliest in rotation. 
10. There is no limit on May-Is, but one player cannot successively take more than one card from the discard pile.
11. Jokers gained by stealing from someone else's meld MUST be played THAT TURN. It cannot be saved for play later.
12. Contigious sequences (or runs) are not allowed; no runs of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, 6, 7, 8. There must be a gap, such as 1, 2, 3, 4, and  3, 4, 5, 6, or 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6, 7, 8, 9.
13. In round seven, one of the sequences must be longer than four cards.
14. Numbered Cards are their face value, Face cards are 10, Aces 15, Jokers 15. 
15. There is no rule stating whether Aces are high or not. 
16. A variation: No Jokers.
17. Liverpool Rummy is another game similar to Contract Rummy. 

I'm sure there's more out there, but there's what my initial search pulled up. I think if I search "Contract Rummy," I'd get all sorts more rules. Whee!

What's your favorite version of "May I?"