Rumoli is a great game for parents and for families. Many adults like to play this game with their friends, so they have fun playing at a slower pace with their kids. Even the youngest child can “help” an older person play the hand. For little kids, play very slowly and kids will learn to count and recognize the suits. When everyone knows the game well, it goes very quickly and develops skills of strategy and memory.

In a family game, make sure that everyone has lots of chips, so no one runs out. Set an end time that’s right for your family—little kids might only play 1 hand, older kids might play 4 hands, or for ½ hour. Adults and young adults might play for an evening.

You need a Rumoli board, a deck of cards, and poker chips.

Start the Game

• Divide the poker chips equally among all the players. Take the jokers out of the deck of cards. Put the Rumoli board on the table. For an easier game, put a bowl of snacks on the section marked “poker” and don’t use that space for playing. If you want to play the poker pot, see the note below.
  
  
• Decide who will deal first. Most people cut the cards. Ace is high.
  
  
• Each player puts 1 chip in each section of the board, including the middle.
  
  
• The dealer deals out all the cards. He deals a hand for every player, including himself, and also deals an extra hand. This extra hand is called the “missy.”
  
  
• The dealer looks at his own hand. If it is not a good hand, he can put it away and take the extra hand, the missy. He cannot look at the missy first. If he takes the missy, he cannot go back to his own hand: he must play the missy.
  
  
• If the dealer decides he doesn’t want the missy, he can auction it off to the other players, and keep the chips he is paid for it. The player who buys the missy has to play it. He cannot go back to his first hand.
  
  
• The hand that is left over is “dead,” and no one can look at it during the hand.