Usually, the first step is to sort through your cards to find the most promising combinations. Attempting to form sets with unrelated ranks may not be as beneficial as concentrating on finishing a run when you have multiple cards in succesg slotsssion from the same suit. Also, successfully forming melds and sets depends heavily on timing. Players have to choose whether to lay down their melds early in the game to gain control or wait until they have maximized the potential value of their hand. A number of variables, such as the opponents' moves & the state of play at the moment, may have an impact on this choice. You can also decide which cards to keep or discard by knowing what melds your opponents are creating.