Contrary to what most players think, rummy is not a game that relies on luck, on the contrary, you really need to know how to win rummy. You can be the luckiest person in the world and still lose in rummy games. In order to be successful in rummy you will need to first learn basic strategy and then try to take in more advanced strategies to use in order to beat better players. While luck does have a tow on this game, it is just minimal. In fact, once the game started and a couple of rounds have passed, rummy transforms into strategy and luck starts to become a minimal influence.
Basic strategy in rummy is very easy. Based on the variation that you are playing the object of the game is to win as fast as possible. The only difference stands when points for all melded hands are involved. In this case you will usually need to meld your high scoring hands fast so that you would not have any problem if someone else wins.
All the strategy in this game focuses on patience and attention. In fact, strategy is not as important at times. Sometimes it is a lot more important to be attentive and see what everyone discards. Rummy is a game of attention and variation. In the event that a card you need has been discarded you will have to change the runs or sets that you are going after.
This is where strategy comes into place as a major factor. You need to at least assume what the player acting after you needs. You must always try to discard those cards that will not help him in order to increase your chances of winning. This basically means that by being attentive you will see what runs or sets you can go after but you must also take into account that some of the cards that you might not use might be needed by someone else. By simply holding a card that is needed by someone else you are getting closer to winning.
If you discard the card the player will either pick it up if he can or he will change his approach as the set or run he wanted to build is not possible anymore. We can basically say that your basic strategy revolves around not giving others what they need and this will improve your game a lot.