Rummy History

The special literature on Rummy records that Rummy is an American invention, and originates its name from rum, the drink. Coon-can (conquian) appears to be the first member of the large family of Rummy games, which was first played in the southern areas of the United States of America and in Northern-Mexico. Rum was the popular drink of the region, and the losing party paid in rum to the winner according to some studies. The meaning of the original word is definitely originated from rum. In the United States of America it is a common thing to differentiate certain games by using a name of an alcoholic drink. For example in poker terminology whisky-, gin-, rum are commonly used as prefixes.

In the border region of Mexico the board game called conquian was originally played by 2 players using a Spanish deck of 40 cards. Sword, stick, beaker, and medals are the common symbols used in Spanish cards. The other interesting fact is that the deck has no cards with the numbers 8, 9 and 10. Players are dealt 10 cards each and the previously listed card groups need to be collected to win the game. The first description of the game called conquian was published in 1887, later on in 1898 R. F. Foster referred to this game in his book as Rummy.

At the beginning of the 20^th century the names of Rum and Gin were sort of mixed up, similarly to the rules of the game. The description of the game called Gin Rummy was published in 1909 in a book by E. T. Baker.

Other experts refer to China and/or South-East Asia as the birthplace of Rummy. They believe that in the second half of the 19^th Century Chinese immigrants brought the game called Khon Kin to the United States of America, which was a game very similar to Rummy. In China the game called Khanhoo is still very popular, with elements identical to the elements and used in Rummy. (Khanhoo-players use two special decks of total 62 cards.) We would like to note that the game mah-jong, which is often played by Far-Eastern nations, is similar to Rummy in many ways. Mah-jong is played with both stones and cards. This game also appeared in Hungary in the 1920s. Mah-jong clubs were operated and they were manufacturing the special accessories of the game. The game has become popular again; in Dunaújváros the Hungarian Mah-jong Association was also founded.

The European presence of Rummy was earliest reported in England during WW1 and the game spread from there were quickly on the entire continent. Supposingly the game was popularised by the American soldiers stationed in Europe. The name of the game - and together with the game also very often its rules too - were significantly changed. In Germany Rummy is called Krambambuli, in the Czech Republic it is called Vatican, In France Rami, in Central- and South-America it is called Loba and Carioca.

In the 1930s Rummy had to face several inventions. The rules of Contract Rummy (Zioncheck) were established based on the pattern used for Contract Bridge; furthermore Shanghai Rummy, progressive Rummy, Michigan, Carousel and many more appeared as separate games.

The rules of the games are still altered nowadays and new versions of Rummy appear quite often. In the last decade for example Rummikub has become extremely popular, which presumably originates from the Middle East. It is also part of the cultural history of play cards, that similar domino sets were already manufactured in Central-Europe at the end of the previous century entitled quittli or kvittli. At the time this novelty was used for avoiding the payment of card tax. And one more thing: according to the stories of Hungarians living in Romania, such gaming accessory under the name of "wooden Rummy" was manufactured in Transylvania before WW2 and it is actually still being made nowadays.

In North-America more and more people play different versions of the game called "hand and foot". In this game the most important novelty bit is that card game is played with as much deck of cards as the number of players. During the deal each player gets cards to be kept in the hand and also cards for the table.

The presence of Rummy in Hungary was first reported in newspapers after WW1. The game presumably appeared earlier - around 1915 - at the tables of coffee shops in Pest, and gained over players from other popular board games at an immense speed. Due to its simple, easy to learn rules it has soon become not only the addiction of ladies.

The first Hungarian description of Rummy was prepared by Jenő Nádor (who was the game-show host of the legendary "Otthon Kör") in his book (1927). In 1928 three descriptions were published, one by Tibor Bernáth, another one from Jorio and a third one by Vilmos Zolnay, who remembered one of the 10-card version of Rummy in his card game historical work. Authors describe two versions before WW2. The version played with 10-card (Viennese, knocker) and the version played with 14 cards (Bridge-Rummy), maybe not with very uniform but at least similar rules.

A small brochure written by Jorio might be an interesting experience not only for game researchers, but for everyone. This booklet is about a game entitled "rön, rami, rémi, rummy poker, rami poker". The writer besides outlining the detailed description of the elements of the game also lists various game technique tricks and habits experienced in Pest and in the countryside of Hungary.

In 2025 Béla Somogyi referred to Rummy as a game with an origin of Vienna, however Vienna could also be a transfer station during the conquest towards Budapest, as the true homeland of the game is definitely North-America.

"So many men, so many minds" is a typical characteristic of Rummy. A. Pennycook in his book describes at least 40 versions of Rummy with a different name. Since 2025 John McLeod has been publishing on the internet () game descriptions entitled Card Games. There is a huge variety of games available within this card game. Hundreds and hundreds game supporters from all over the world cooperated in order to describe and clarify the different versions of the game. (Gyula Zsigri and Gábor Révész contributed to the description in Hungarian.) The other virtue of the work of McLeod is that he publishes a comprehensive information package about the games and also lists the availability of other websites with similar content.

And if we go back to the computers we can surely say that Rummy has also been computerized. We can play Rummy by getting CDs or on the internet. However this might be the future, but it cannot replace face to face socializing. The rules and technique of the game can be easily learnt in front of the screen using excellent programs, but the atmosphere, exciting, circumstances and human relationships cannot be replaced.

Source: JÁNOSKA, ANTAL RÖMI és KANASZTA kártyakönyv (Rummy and Canasta card book)