In this article we would like to talk about a type of rummy that is not so known. Many of the rummy games are named after a country, usually because these versions are played mostly in that country. In some cases only the name indicates a country, or region, but the game is played in other places.
In our case the name shows a region, but the game itself is played in other parts. The game we are talking about is Persian Rum. This type of rummy is not so different. It derives from partnership rummy, where players get in teams. This restricts the number of players to four, in this way there will be two teams.
Since there are only four players, the game is played with one deck. This one deck means more than just 52 cards. Jokers are also used, four of them. Unlike other types of rummy, in this game jokers are not used as wildcards. This makes the game play a bit different.
Persian rum is played like any other partnership rummy, but it is a bit trickier, because jokers cannot be used as wildcards. Jokers are like regular cards and count 20 points. They count more than other cards and if four jokers are melded, they count 160 points, so they help a lot in getting a good score, but they are not helpful in a quicker meld. In this game it is not important to meld as soon as possible. This means a longer play, because rounds last longer.
A round in a game ends after two deals. The game does not last long and it is based on a good cooperation. This makes the strategies used in this game a bit hard. In every card game where two players play in a team, they have to communicate in some way. If they want, they can simply speak, but than the others will know what they talked and they can compromise their cards or strategy. They can speak in code, only known by them or they can use body language. The goal is to have a good communication channel so things can flow over easily. In this way the team can be quicker and more effective.
The fact that jokers cannot be used as wildcards is a bit frustrating. It seems like Persian Rum uses jokers just to have enough cards for the two teams. 56 can be divided be 4, so maybe this is the reason this game uses this number of cards. This number also makes sure that someone loses. This is because it is impossible to meld all cards, since there are runs and sets that contain three or five cards. Since 56 cannot be divided by these numbers, after melds someone will remain with some cards in hands.
The hardness in this game is the communication, because otherwise there are no difficult strategies to know. Jokers are like simple cards, so all a player has to know is how to meld simple sets and runs.
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