1: Shuffle together one deck with both its jokers for every two players.Four players use two decks: 108 cards. Three to five players suits the game best.
2: Deal 10 cards each in hands 1 to 3, and 12 cards each in hands 4 to 7.One card at a time, to the left. The deal moves one seat to the left after every hand.
3: Put the rest face down as the stock, and turn its top card face up beside it.The face-up card starts the discard pile.
4: Each hand has a contract: the sets and runs you must lay down before anything else.A set is three cards of one rank. A run is four cards in a row in one suit. Hand 1 asks for two sets.
5: The player on the dealer's left goes first: take the top discard or draw from the stock.Turns pass to the left.
6: Before a player draws from the stock, anyone else may ask "May I?" and take the discard.The price is one extra card from the stock. Then the turn goes on where it was.
7: Holding the whole contract on your turn? Lay it face up on the table.This is going down. You do it once a hand, after you draw.
8: On later turns, add cards from your hand to any set or run on the table.Yours or another player's. Only a player who has gone down may add cards.
9: Discard to end your turn. The first player out of cards wins the hand.The others count the cards they still hold as points against them. The lowest total after seven hands wins.
1: Shuffle together one deck with both its jokers for every two players.Four players use two decks: 108 cards. Three to five players suits the game best.
2: Deal 10 cards each in hands 1 to 3, and 12 cards each in hands 4 to 7.One card at a time, to the left. The deal moves one seat to the left after every hand.
3: Put the rest face down as the stock, and turn its top card face up beside it.The face-up card starts the discard pile.
4: Each hand has a contract: the sets and runs you must lay down before anything else.A set is three cards of one rank. A run is four cards in a row in one suit. Hand 1 asks for two sets.
5: The player on the dealer's left goes first: take the top discard or draw from the stock.Turns pass to the left.
6: Before a player draws from the stock, anyone else may ask "May I?" and take the discard.The price is one extra card from the stock. Then the turn goes on where it was.
7: Holding the whole contract on your turn? Lay it face up on the table.This is going down. You do it once a hand, after you draw.
8: On later turns, add cards from your hand to any set or run on the table.Yours or another player's. Only a player who has gone down may add cards.
9: Discard to end your turn. The first player out of cards wins the hand.The others count the cards they still hold as points against them. The lowest total after seven hands wins.
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The seven contracts, in order 9
1: First hand: two sets.Six cards, from a deal of 10.
2: Second hand: one set and one run.Seven cards, from a deal of 10.
3: Third hand: two runs.Eight cards, from a deal of 10.
4: Fourth hand: three sets.Nine cards, from a deal of 12. Wikipedia deals 10 in this hand.
5: Fifth hand: two sets and one run.Ten cards, from a deal of 12.
6: Sixth hand: one set and two runs.Eleven cards, from a deal of 12.
7: Seventh hand: three runs.Twelve cards, from a deal of 12.
8: A set is three or more cards of one rank. Suits do not matter.Three 5s, or four queens.
9: A run is four or more cards in a row in one suit. The ace is low or high.A 2 3 4 is a run and so is J Q K A. Q K A 2 is not.
Calling May I? (buying a discard) 9
1: The player whose turn it is has first claim on the top discard, and takes it free.Once they take it, nobody else gets to ask.
2: They draw from the stock instead? Now any other player may ask "May I?" for the discard.Some tables call this buying the card.
3: A call costs a card: you take the discard and the top card of the stock.You do not lay down or discard. Your hand is two cards bigger until your turn comes.
4: Two players want the same card? It goes to the one whose turn comes sooner.Wikipedia gives it to whoever calls first. Pick one rule before the first deal.
5: After a call, the next discard down is on top, and a different player may call for it.Same price. There is no limit on calls in a turn.
6: One player may not take two discards in a row by calling.Someone else has to take a card in between.
7: Play never jumps. When the calls are over, the player whose turn it was draws and plays on.The caller waits for their own turn like everyone else.
8: House rule: two calls a hand for each player, and a call costs two stock cards.Pagat gives this limit for Shanghai Rummy, a sister game. Hand out two tokens each to keep count.
9: A worked call (ours): dealt 10 cards, you call twice and hold 14 before your next turn.10 and 2 and 2. Every one of them counts against you if somebody goes out first.
Jokers, melds and the last hand 8
1: A joker stands for any card, in a set or in a run.The 6 of clubs, a joker, the 8 and the 9 of clubs are a run.
2: A joker laid on the table stays where it is.In plain contract rummy, a player who is down may swap the real card for a joker in a run. Not in May I?.
3: Your first lay-down may hold extra cards: a set of four, a run of six.Plain contract rummy allows only the bare contract and makes you add the rest on a later turn.
4: Two runs in one suit may touch: 3 4 5 6 and 7 8 9 10 of hearts count as two runs.Plain contract rummy does not allow that in a first lay-down.
5: Going down is never forced. You may hold a finished contract and wait.Until you go down you cannot add a card to anyone's set or run.
6: Hand 7 plays like the others: cards may be left over after your three runs.In plain contract rummy the last hand must go down whole, with no discard.
7: Stock used up: shuffle the discards, all but the top one, into a new stock.The top discard stays face up to start the new pile.
8: Stock and discards both gone: the hand ends with no winner.Every player counts the cards in their hand. It can only happen after a lot of calls.
Scoring 8
1: The player who goes out scores nothing for the hand.Everyone else counts what they are caught with.
2: A 2 to a 10 costs its number.A 7 is 7 points.
3: A jack, a queen or a king costs 10.All three picture cards count the same.
4: An ace costs 15.Low or high in a run, it costs the same.
5: A joker costs 25.Plain contract rummy counts a joker 15, and Wikipedia gives 15 or 20.
6: Write each player's points after every hand and keep a running total.Seven hands make a game.
7: After hand 7, the lowest total wins.Scores only go up, so a hand of 0 is the best a player can do.
8: A worked hand (ours): caught with a king, an ace, a 4 and a joker, you score 54.10 and 15 and 4 and 25.
How this list was compiled: Written for this site on 2026-10-14, in our own words. May I? is a folk game of the contract rummy group with no governing body, and tables differ. The sheets were checked on 2026-10-14 against the card game rules site Pagat, whose contract rummy page describes May I? as a version of that game: https://www.pagat.com/rummy/ctrummy.html, and against English Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, Contract rummy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract_rummy. As Pagat gives them: three to five players as the best table, the seven contracts, 10 cards in the first three hands and 12 in the last four, sets of three and runs of four, the ace low or high, the turn (draw, go down once, add to melds on later turns, discard), the discard taken out of turn with one penalty card from the stock, the first claim of the player whose turn comes sooner, no player taking two discards in a row that way, the new stock made from the discards, the hand with no winner when both piles are gone, and the card values. What sets May I? apart from plain contract rummy is also as Pagat gives it: one deck with both jokers for every two players, a first lay-down that may hold extra cards, jokers that stay where they are laid, runs in one suit that may touch, a last hand played like the others, and the joker at 25 points. As Wikipedia gives them: three to eight players, two decks for up to four players, three for five or six and four for seven or eight, 10 cards in the first four hands, the first caller taking the discard, nothing scored by the player who goes out, and the joker at 15 or 20. The limit of two calls a hand at two stock cards each is from Pagat's section on Shanghai Rummy, a sister game, and stands on the sheet as a house rule. Rows marked ours are this site's own and are not official; sums were worked out from the card values above. The game is scored in points only. Licence: own work
How it works
May I? is a contract rummy game for three or more players and two or more decks with their jokers. Its name is the question you ask to take a discard when it is not your turn. Points count against you.
Read the full guide
How to play the May I card game: one call
Say it is hand 1 and you hold two 9s. A 9 lands on the discard pile, and the player whose turn it is reaches for the stock instead. Ask "May I?", take the 9 and one stock card, and wait for your turn. You now hold 12 cards and half the contract.
Rules to play the card game May I: where tables differ
The standard sheet follows the version on Pagat. Calling May I? (buying a discard) settles who gets a card two players want and sets out a house rule that limits calls. Jokers, melds and the last hand lists what May I? allows that plain contract rummy does not.
Each call adds two cards to your hand. Think twice about calling once another player has gone down.
Questions and answers
How do you play the May I card game?
Deal 10 or 12 cards each. On your turn, draw, lay down the hand's contract of sets and runs if you hold it, and discard. Anyone may ask "May I?" for a discard out of turn. The lowest score after seven hands wins.
What are the seven contracts in May I?
Two sets, then a set and a run, two runs, three sets, two sets and a run, a set and two runs, and three runs. A set is three cards of a rank. A run is four in a row in one suit.
What happens when you say May I?
If the player whose turn it is does not want the top discard, you take it, with one card from the stock as the price. You do not lay down or discard, and play carries on from where it was.
How many decks do you need for May I?
One deck with both jokers for every two players, so two decks for four. Wikipedia's count for contract rummy is two decks for up to four players, three for five or six, and four for seven or eight.
Is May I the same game as contract rummy?
Nearly. Pagat lists May I? as a version of contract rummy with looser rules: a first lay-down may hold extra cards, a joker once laid stays put, and a joker left in your hand costs 25 points, not 15.