1: Two players use one 52-card deck. Three or four shuffle two decks together.Take the jokers out. A bigger table adds a deck when the cards run short.
2: Round 1: deal three cards each. Stack the rest face down and turn one card up beside it.The face-down stack is the stock. The turned card starts the discard pile.
3: Each round has a wild rank: the number of cards dealt. In round 1, 3s are wild.A wild card stands in for any card in a set or a run.
4: The player on the dealer's left starts. Draw one card: the top of the stock or of the pile.Only the discard pile's top card can be taken.
5: Then discard one card face up on the pile. Turns pass clockwise.Every turn is one card in and one card out.
6: Build sets, three or more cards of a rank, and runs, three or more in order in one suit.Three 7s are a set. The 4, 5 and 6 of hearts are a run.
7: Aces are low: ace, 2, 3 is a run, and queen, king, ace is not.A card can belong to one set or one run only.
8: Go out when every card but one fits a set or run: discard that card and say you are out.Nothing is laid on the table before then. Your cards stay in your hand.
9: Everyone else takes one more turn. Score the round, then deal one card more.The next dealer is the player on the left. After round 11, the lowest total wins.
1: Two players use one 52-card deck. Three or four shuffle two decks together.Take the jokers out. A bigger table adds a deck when the cards run short.
2: Round 1: deal three cards each. Stack the rest face down and turn one card up beside it.The face-down stack is the stock. The turned card starts the discard pile.
3: Each round has a wild rank: the number of cards dealt. In round 1, 3s are wild.A wild card stands in for any card in a set or a run.
4: The player on the dealer's left starts. Draw one card: the top of the stock or of the pile.Only the discard pile's top card can be taken.
5: Then discard one card face up on the pile. Turns pass clockwise.Every turn is one card in and one card out.
6: Build sets, three or more cards of a rank, and runs, three or more in order in one suit.Three 7s are a set. The 4, 5 and 6 of hearts are a run.
7: Aces are low: ace, 2, 3 is a run, and queen, king, ace is not.A card can belong to one set or one run only.
8: Go out when every card but one fits a set or run: discard that card and say you are out.Nothing is laid on the table before then. Your cards stay in your hand.
9: Everyone else takes one more turn. Score the round, then deal one card more.The next dealer is the player on the left. After round 11, the lowest total wins.
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The eleven rounds: cards dealt and wild rank 6
1: Round 1: three cards each, 3s wild. Round 2: four cards each, 4s wild.To go out with three, four or five cards, the whole hand must be one set or one run (ours).
2: Round 3: five cards each, 5s wild. Round 4: six cards each, 6s wild.Six cards are the first hand that can split in two: a set and a run, say.
3: Round 5: seven cards each, 7s wild. Round 6: eight cards each, 8s wild.The wild rank changes with every deal. Say it out loud as you deal.
4: Round 7: nine cards each, 9s wild. Round 8: ten cards each, 10s wild.A 10 that was just a 10 last round now stands in for any card.
5: Round 9: eleven cards each, jacks wild. Round 10: twelve cards each, queens wild.Jack stands for 11 and queen for 12.
6: Round 11: thirteen cards each, kings wild. It is the last round.King stands for 13. Add up the eleven scores when it ends.
Scoring a round 8
1: A card left outside every set and run counts against its holder.The player who went out scores 0 for the round.
2: An ace counts 1. A 2 to a 10 counts its number.A wild card left over counts its usual value too.
3: Picture cards, the first count: jack, queen and king are 10 each.A spare king then costs the same as a spare 10.
4: Picture cards, the second count: a jack is 11, a queen 12 and a king 13.Agree on one count before the first deal.
5: You cannot lay cards off on another player's sets or runs.Each hand is scored on its own.
6: Write each player's score after every round and keep a running total.Eleven rounds make a game.
7: After round 11, the lowest total wins.Scores only ever go up, so a round of 0 is the best a player can do.
8: Worked example (ours): left with a king, a 4 and an ace, you score 15.10 and 4 and 1. With a king counted as 13, the same cards score 18.
Table rulings 8
1: A set or run can be longer than three: four 7s, or 8, 9, 10, jack, queen of one suit.Longer is no better. Only leftover cards score.
2: One card, one job: 5, 6, 7 of spades with two more 6s is a run or a set, not both.Count it the way that leaves you fewer points.
3: A wild card fills any gap in a run, and it need not be of the run's suit.With 5s wild, the 4 and 6 of hearts and any 5 are a run.
4: A set or run may hold more than one wild card.One 9 with two wild cards is a set of 9s.
5: Cards of one suit that are not in order are no run.The 2, 6 and 9 of clubs all count against you.
6: With two decks, a set can hold twin cards: two 9s of hearts and a 9 of spades.A run cannot. It needs each rank once.
7: Your sets and runs must still stand after your discard.You cannot go out by throwing away a card your last set needs.
8: A player on the one last turn may go out too, and score 0.If not, they keep whatever sets and runs they have and count the rest.
Variations, each one marked 7
1: These are table rules. Say which are in play before round 1.The standard sheet uses none of them.
2: Variation, aces high or low: queen, king, ace is a run too.An ace left in the hand then costs 15.
3: Variation, jokers: leave them in the deck as extra wild cards.A joker left in the hand costs 20.
4: Variation, longer game: a round of 14 cards with aces wild, then 15 with 2s wild.Thirteen rounds in all.
5: Variation, up and back: 22 rounds, from three cards up to thirteen and down again.Thirteen cards are dealt twice in a row (ours).
6: Variation, doubles: scores count double in the jack, queen and king rounds.Those are rounds 9, 10 and 11.
7: Variation, false out: a player who goes out wrongly adds 20 points.So check every set and run before you say it.
How this list was compiled: Written for this site on 2026-10-09, in our own words. Three Thirteen is a traditional rummy game with no governing body. Every row was checked on 2026-10-09 against the card game rules site Pagat: https://www.pagat.com/rummy/3-13.html, and against English Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, Three thirteen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_thirteen. Both give the same game: eleven rounds, three cards each in the first and one more each round up to thirteen, the wild rank equal to the number of cards dealt, a turn of one card drawn from the stock or the discard pile and one discarded, sets of a rank and runs in a suit, going out with a last discard, one more turn for everyone else, leftover cards counted against their holder and the lowest total winning. They differ on two points and the sheets say so: Pagat has one deck for two players and two decks for three or four, Wikipedia two decks at every table; Pagat counts a jack, queen and king 10 each, Wikipedia 11, 12 and 13. Aces low, the ban on laying cards off on another hand and twin cards in a set are as Pagat gives them; the wild card that need not match a run's suit, the hand that must stand after the discard and four of the variations (the extra rounds, up and back, doubles, the false out) are as Wikipedia gives them. Rows marked ours are this site's own sums and deductions and are not official. A boxed game with a deck of its own follows the same plan of rounds; this page is the folk game for regular decks and has no tie to it. Licence: own work
How it works
Three Thirteen, also written 3-13, is a rummy game for two or more players and regular decks of cards. Points count against you: every card left outside a set or run adds to your total, and the lowest total wins.
Read the full guide
How to play the card game Three Thirteen: one round
Take round 4: six cards each, and 6s are wild. You hold three 9s, the 4 and 5 of hearts, and the 6 of clubs. That is a set and a run, with the wild 6 standing in for the 6 of hearts. Draw, discard the spare card and say you are out.
The chart of the eleven rounds
The eleven rounds: cards dealt and wild rank pairs every deal with its wild rank: the chart to keep on the table. It also marks the three short rounds, where a hand of five cards or fewer has to go out as a single set or run.
A high card that fits nothing costs the most. Discard a spare king or queen before a spare 2.
Questions and answers
How do you play the 3-13 card game?
Deal three cards each in round one and one more each round, up to thirteen. On a turn, draw one card and discard one. Fit your whole hand into sets and runs to go out. Leftover cards count against you, and the lowest total wins.
What is wild in each round of Three Thirteen?
The rank that matches the number of cards dealt: 3s with three cards, 4s with four, and on up to 10s. Then jacks with eleven cards, queens with twelve and kings with thirteen.
How many decks do you need to play 3-13?
One deck for two players and two decks shuffled together for three or four, with the jokers taken out. Some rules call for two decks whatever the number of players.
How do you score Three Thirteen?
Cards outside a set or run count against you: an ace 1, number cards their number. Tables differ on picture cards: 10 each, or 11 for a jack, 12 for a queen and 13 for a king.