All ten rounds with their contracts printed down the side — no more "what are we making this hand?" — plus the card values and buying limits at the bottom. Deuces are wild and the low score wins.
| Rd | Contract | P1 | P2 | P3 | P4 | P5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 sets | |||||
| 2 | 2 sets + 1 run | |||||
| 3 | 1 set + 2 runs | |||||
| 4 | 3 runs | |||||
| 5 | 4 sets | |||||
| 6 | 3 sets + 1 run | |||||
| 7 | 2 sets + 2 runs | |||||
| 8 | 1 set + 3 runs | |||||
| 9 | 4 runs | |||||
| 10 | Final hand — see note | |||||
| Total |
Shanghai is contract rummy at full size: ten rounds, eleven cards each, two or more decks shuffled together, and deuces wild alongside the jokers. Each round has a contract — the exact combination of sets and runs printed on the sheet — and you cannot lay anything down until you can lay the whole contract down at once. After melding, you may play extra cards onto any melds on the table.
The famous rule: when someone discards and the next player doesn't want it, anyone else may buy the card — taking it plus a penalty card from the stock, out of turn. Three buys per hand (four in rounds nine and ten) is the standard allowance. Buying is how you chase a stubborn contract, and how you end up with a fistful of expensive wilds when someone else goes out first.
The hand's winner marks zero; everyone else totals their remaining cards at the values in the box — note that wilds are the priciest cards to be caught with. Lowest total after ten rounds takes the game.
Our rounds don't match this list. Perfectly normal — Shanghai drifts between families more than any published game. The contract column is printed with the most common list; strike and rewrite any round your table plays differently, and write your final-hand rule on row ten.
How is this different from Contract Rummy? Same skeleton, bigger build: Contract runs seven rounds without wild deuces; Shanghai runs ten with them. Both sheets are here — see the links below.