Winning and losing are two sides of the same coin. Not just in online rummy, but in any game, you win some and lose some, you have to be optimistic and keep on playing. But most of you rummy players will agree to this – when you lose by doing a ‘wrong show’, then it hurts the most and is not so easy to forget. So if you do it, learn from it and avoid it. But, are you confused as to how to know if you are going to do a valid show or not? If you have any doubts, read on.

What is a Valid Show?

In order to know whether you are doing a wrong show or not, you should clearly know what is a valid show. The action of submitting your cards for validation is called a show. When you have melded all your cards into proper sequences as per the rummy rules, then it is a valid show. Your valid show should contain at least 2 groups of cards in which one should be compulsorily a pure sequence.

Wrong Show Scenarios

Doing a wrong show is one of the worst things in online rummy games. This is because at one moment you think that you are going to win the game, and then, the next moment you get a message of ‘Wrong Show’ and you have to bear 80 penalty points! Well, if you have been declaring your cards in any of the following ways, then consciously identify and correct them the next time:

• You have made one pure sequence, but the other group of cards are sets only. Well, in this case, you should have had one more pure or impure sequence in rummy online to make the set valid.
• In your pure sequence, one card was of another suit. You have to be careful as 2 suits are of red colour and 2 of black colour. A sequence (pure or impure) should always be of the same suit.
• Your sequences were correct, but in your set, two cards were of the same suit in Indian rummy. Here the rules are, if you are making a set (3 or 4 cards of the same rank), all of them must be of different suits.
• You declared but there wasn’t any pure sequence! Friend, a pure sequence is a must and if you thought a wild card joker is valid in a pure sequence, then it is only under the condition that it is a part of the run in rummy game. E.g. if you made a pure sequence of diamonds 7, 8, and 9 in which the 8 is a wild card, then it is a pure sequence, but if you put an 8 of hearts, then it becomes an impure sequence.
• You had 2 sequences correctly done, but in your set of 3 cards, you also added 2 jokers. The rule here is that, a set cannot have more than 4 cards, including more than 3 jokers. If a set can be made without a joker, why add it to a set?

Pro Tip: A Wild Card Joker is allowed to be kept as a free card (not in any sequence or set) at the time of declaration, because it does not carry any points.

You should always check and cross-check your cards before making a declaration in an online rummy game. You should be clear with all your doubts in rummy. Never act in a hurry, as you get ample of time (turns of your opponents and around 30 seconds of your turn). If you have made any of the above mistakes, do rectify them the next time and win the game with a valid show.