Baja Rummy Rules

The Play: The game is played with 8 decks of cards including jokers. All players deal three piles containing 11 cards each. The two outside piles (feet) are passed to opponents to the players left and right. Each player’s feet remains visible to all players throughout play. All remaining cards are placed in the center in two draw piles. Each player cuts the cards and the high card plays first. A three is considered the lowest card followed by all playing cards with ace high, then two and then joker as the highest card.
The person counterclockwise to the first player turns a card face up between the two draw piles. The first player draws two cards from either pile and draws the face up card in the center. That player then discards one card. Play continues clockwise with all players drawing two and discarding one card.
To win the hand a player must have played all of their feet and completed the requirements in “Going Out” below. Once a hand has been completed the points for closed books, closed runs and going out are added to the team score. Then the points per card are counted for the closed books, closed runs and all melded cards. Those points are added to the team score. Cards held in a player’s hand or contained in a player’s feet are deducted from the team score.
All cards are then shuffled, each player deals three piles of 11, passes feet to opponents and the player clockwise of the first player in the previous hand is now first. That player draws two cards and the center card and discards. Play continues with the players drawing two and discarding one.
To win the game a team must have accumulated a score of at least 20,000 points

Scorekeeper

Any of the four players may be designated the scorekeeper for the game. The score should remain visible so that all players may see the accumulated scores at any time throughout play.

Melding

Each players initial meld must contain sufficient points as indicated in “Points Needed to Meld” above. Only one wildcard may be used in a three card meld. If the initial meld is made of four cards two may be wildcards. Melded cards are placed on the table in front of one of the partners. That partner’s responsibility is to keep the cards orderly and visible. Once a book or run is closed it is taken from the melding area and held in a place visible to all.

Discard Pile

One of the two cards drawn may be from the discard pile. This does not apply to the first player in a hand. If a card is drawn from the discard pile it must be played on a book or a run during that players turn. The card drawn from the discard pile card may not be the 7th (or more) card played on a book or a run.

Wildcards

Jokers and twos are designated as wild cards. A maximum of 2 wild cards are allowed per black book. No wild cards are allowed in runs or in red books.

Books

A book is 7 cards of all the same number in any suit. A red book contains no wild cards. A black book must contain at least one wild card but no more than two. Once melded the last (top) card shall be displayed as a red card if there are no wild cards in a book. It shall be black if there are wild cards in the book. The 6th card of the melded cards in a book shall be placed at 90ᵒ to the rest indicating a card drawn from the discard pile cannot be played. You may add more than 7 cards to close a book. Once a book is closed no more cards may be added to it.

Runs

A run is 7 cards of the same suit in numerical order. Only 7 cards are allowed in a run. No 3's or wildcards are allowed in a run. The 6th card of the run shall be placed at 90ᵒ to the rest indicating a card drawn from the discard pile cannot be played.

Feet

Once your first hand is completely melded you may go into one of the feet provided by your opponents. No discard is required to go into your feet. If you don't have a discard, pick up your next foot and continue play. If you do have a discard you may pick up your foot but your turn is over.

Going Out

To go out you do not need a discard. The player that goes out must not have any feet. The partners melded cards must include at least one red book, one black book, one run and one book of twos. A book of twos is not considered a red book. The player going out must first ask their partner if they may go out. The partner answers yes or no without discussion. The partners that go out receive an additional 200 points added to their score.

To Win

The partners accumulated score must be at least 20,000 points to win the game.

Cut Throat

You do not need 4 players to play Baja Rummy. Two or three can play cut throat. The rules are the same except to meld you need a lower score: 0-2,500 = 50 points, 2,501-5000 = 90 points, 5,000-7,500 = 120 points and 7,500-10,000 = 150 points. You do not need a book of twos to go out and the winner needs at least 10,000 points.