The Complete Guide to Rummy: History, Variations, Strategies, and Community From its inception in the early 19th century, rummy has been a popular card game forthe night of vegas slots centuries. Although the game's exact origins are still somewhat unknown, it is generally accepted that Rummy developed from earlier card games like the Mexican-originated Conquian. Since the mechanics of combining cards to form sets & runs are similar, Conquian is frequently considered the forerunner of modern Rummy.