The goal of the game, which usually starts with a standard 52-card deck, is to create legitimate combinations, or melds. Runs (three or more consecutive cards of the same suit) or sets (three or four cmatka gameards of the same rank) can make up a meld. Depending on the variant being played, a certain number of cards are dealt to each player, with the remaining cards forming a draw pile. The gameplay begins when the top card in this pile is turned face-up to form a discard pile. Players draw one card from the draw pile or the discard pile during each turn, after which they discard one card from their hand.