| The Rules |
| Picking up the Discard Pile As players discard at the end of their turn, it might get big, and you might think "gee, I want all those cards". Well here's how to get them, and beware, it is complicated. Case 1: The pile is not frozen, and you have already made your initial meld. In this case, all you need to pick up the pile is a pair of cards in your hand that matched the card on top of the discard pile at the start of your turn (as long as that top card is not a black three or a wildcard - remember you cannot use black threes or deuces or jokers to pick up the pile EVEN if you have a pair in your hand). If you don't have a pair, you can use one matching card, and a wildcard. Ex: Your opponent tosses out a six. You can use a pair of sixes, or one six and a wildcard to pick up the discard pile. Case 2: The pile is frozen, or your team has not made its initial meld. A frozen pile is one that contains a wildcard or a red three (if that was the 'up card' at the end of the initial dealing). If you have not made an initial meld, ANY pile is considered frozen, regardless of what it contains. Firstly, if you made your initial meld, but the pile is frozen, you need a pair of cards that match the card on top of the discard pile. You cannot use a wildcard to make the pair, unlike when the pile is not frozen. Second, if you haven't made an initial meld yet, then you need to have enough cards in your hand to make the required amount of points. This is easiest to explain by example. Say it's the first hand, and your opponent tossed out a six. You need not only two sixes in your hand to take the pile, but you must also have other cards you can meld that will total 50 points. The six on top of the discard pile CAN be counted towards that 50 points, but that is the only card in the discard pile you can use. So If you had 3 tens, and three sixes you could use the six on top of the pile to total 50. |
| First things first, you can't just lay down a three of a kind to start a hand. Each player (or team) must meet an initial meld requirement. The amount of the meld depends on the team's performance in the previous hands. Score Initial Meld Requirement Negative (you suck) 0 0-1495 pts. 50 1500-2995 pts 90 3000 & above 120 So at the start of the game you need to make a meld of 50 points in order to start. Three sixes isn't good enough. The higher your score, the higher the initial meld will be, and consequently, the harder it will be to start. Better pray for Jokers. Note that red threes, which are placed face up and then replaced do NOT count towards any initial count. |