Each player receives a hand of cards that they must use to form sets & runs in the game, which is normally played with a standard 52-card deck. Three or four cards of the same rank make up a set, and three or more consecutive cards of the same steen patti gameuit make up a run. The cards are dealt to each player face down in the center of the deck, which serves as the draw pile, and the game is then underway. The discard pile is then started by placing the top card from the draw pile face up next to it. In order to create sets & runs in their hands, players alternately draw cards from the draw pile and the discard pile. A player can declare "Rummy" and place their cards on the table after they have formed valid sets and runs in their hand.