Talk:Shanghai rum

Latest comment: 12 years ago by Madkin1 in topic Untitled

Untitled edit

Have been playing this game for 20+ years with four generations of the family. It's great to see the rules all documented somewhere. Tmberwolff (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 19:36, 27 March 2009 (UTC).Reply

Learned this game from my grandma of all places-haven't been able to get the rules since she died...thanks for having them here! I want to pass this very fun game on to my sons and grandkids :)


I also learned this from my family and Grandma... Juanita Philips. Brian Evarts, Sacramento, California


My family sometimes called this game Escalaro. As time went on and we forgot the correct sets for each round, we made up our own requirements. My grandfather, who was normally so quiet and shy, got so excited over buying cards or preventing other players from buying.


I learn this game growing up with my family here in Kentucky. My uncle would buy my bids out from under me all the time. It was a fun game that all the family could play together. We've often have so many players we would have to have four decks of cards to play and you had to have someone help you shuffle the cards when it was your turn.

I don't think the hands are right here, Isn't It supposed to go that each successive hand needs 1 more card for the meld? If thats the case why are there two hands that need 8 cards?? We play the game this way:

1. 2 Sets of 3
2. 1 Run of 4 - 1 Set of 3
3. 2 Runs of 4
4. 3 Runs of 3
5. 1 Run of 7 - 1 Set of 3
6. 1 Run of 5 - 2 Sets of 3
7. 3 Runs of 4
8. 1 Run of 10 - 1 set of 3
9. 1 Run of 5 - 3 Sets of 3
10. 3 Runs of 5

Can anyone else confirm this??

We've always played with seven rounds using the following hands:
1. 2 Sets of 3
2. 1 Set of 3, 1 Run of 4
3. 2 Runs of 4
4. 3 Sets of 3
5. 2 Sets of 3, 1 Run of 4
6. 1 Sets of 3, 2 Runs of 4
7. 3 Runs of 4
but I'm not sure I count as a reliable source. :-) Kmusser (talk) 19:09, 27 December 2007 (UTC)Reply


I learned this game about 16 years ago. I don't know where the name came from, but we always called it 'Liner Pool Run'. There are a few hands that are identical but here are the hands we played

1. 2 sets of 4
2. set of 4 run of 5
3. 2 runs of 5
4. 3 sets of 4
5. 2 sets of 3 run of 5
6. 2 sets 3 run of 7
7. 3 runs of 4
8. set of 3 run of 10
9. 3 sets of 3 run of 5
10. 3 runs of 5

Everyone gets dealt 11 cards and play begins from the left of the dealer (the youngest player always begins the deal). Points for the cards we had were: 3-9 5 points 10-A 10 points deuces were always wild and were 50 points. I believe we played with Jokers wild as well (also worth 50 points) but not sure. you were allowed 3 buys per hand and if you happended to buy 4 times (by accident or intentionally) you were given 50 points for an illegal hand. An illegal hand is one that has more than 18 cards at any one time (after discarding).

My friends and I, and some family members, would play this game for hours on end and have alot of great memories from it. Hope this helps. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wikiwonderkid (talkcontribs) 22:09, 10 August 2008 (UTC)Reply

I used to have tremendous fights about the bonus. I seemed to recall it was 50 from when I was a kid, but lately my family is claiming it's 25. I'm not surprised that there are so many variants on this game. Here is the sequence that I learned:

1. 3 sets of 3
2. 2 sets of 3 and 1 run of 4
3. 1 set of 3 and 2 runs of 4
4. 2 sets of 4
5. 1 set of 4 and 1 run of 4
6. 4 sets of 3 (must buy at least once)
7. 1 set of 6 and 1 run of six (player is dealt 12 cards)

In this game, we are not allowed to put down additional sets or runs to help us go out after forming the required meld. We can also say "rummy" to prevent people from picking up a discard...but not if that discard could be used on a meld that's already down.

We also played a similar game called "Aggravation" in which there is no buying, no "rummying", but additional sets and runs can be put down to help the player go out. It is played with 13 cards with the following sequence.

1. 3 sets of 3
2. 2 sets of 3 and 1 run of 4
3. 1 set of 3 and 2 runs of 4
4. 2 sets of 4
5. 1 set of 4 and 1 run of 4
6. 2 runs of 4
7. 1 run of 7
8. 1 set of 3 and 1 run of 7
9. 1 set of 4 and 1 run of 6
10. 1 run of 10

74.13.82.202 (talk) 12:43, 18 December 2009 (UTC)Reply

My family's rules count 8s and 9s as 10 points, Aces and wild cards are 20. 3-7 = 5. There's also an unwritten rule about discarding a playable card before you've played your meld. I've lost a game because I was bullied into hanging onto a wild card when I was trying to shed points in a last hand that was a lost cause. We also do not allow buying in the first three hands. Interesting to see that we've been doing some things different. We usually play with money, with a payout going to the winner of each hand.76.172.108.232 (talk) 03:41, 23 June 2011 (UTC)Reply

We also play by the no discarding of a playable card before you've melded. I've played the other way and found it made the game a lot easier and not as fun. 11 cards, 10 rounds, 3 buys 1 thru 8, and 4 buys 9 & 10. We vary on the sets for rounds, we figure as long as the card count per round is correct the sets are not that important. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Madkin1 (talkcontribs) 00:24, 28 December 2011 (UTC)Reply