By now you should have figured out that melding is one of the most strategic aspects of Rummikub. Without doing it the right way, you will only win a hand by luck and not by skill. That is why it is extremely important for you to learn everything you can about melding and the best strategy to take when you are figuring out which tiles to meld, and when to do it.
Once you have your initial 25 point meld, you always have the choice of playing them on the table or leaving them on your rack. If you are just beginning you may have tendency to get your initial meld down as quickly as possible. Perhaps you feel that you have established a position in the game or maybe you want to demonstrate your ability to meld, or lastly, you could just find the fun in rearranging the melds to get as many tiles down as you can. Whatever the reasoning behind it, it may not be the best decision if you are looking at the strategy of the game versus the fun of the game.
The easiest way to meld tiles is to have as many other tiles available to meld with. That means that the more open melds that are on the table, the more tiles you have to work with. Sure, it makes sense but with this line of thinking you are not only giving away all of your secrets about what you have in your hand, but you are also allowing others to be able to meld onto your tiles and possibly going out before you do.
Since the good player attempts to gain as much information as possible while withholding as much information about your own hand as possible, it may make more sense to let everyone else meld, while holding your 14 mysterious cards in your rack so that you won’t give them any information about your own hand. The ideal game to be in is to allow the other players to meld while you hold back until you can lay down all your tiles at once and go out and win the hand. Since Rummikub is a game that involves so much luck, there are times when it is necessarily to play the open melds as early as possible as a defensive measure, but it doesn’t happen that often. Therefore, the best rule is to hold on to your melds, and meld as late as possible.
Since the object of the game is to meld all of your tiles, the more combinations that you have to work with, the better the chances are that you will be able to do this. If you have melded 9 of your tiles, and only have 5 left to work with then you will have a far worse chance of melding with combinations then if you kept all 14 tiles in your hand. Since melds on your rack can be rearranged and changed by you, it is easier to do that within your rack then on the table. That way they cannot be used by your opponent and you are not letting anyone know what is in your rack.