Gin Rummy

Players and equipment

Two players and a standard 52-card deck. Aces are low and count 1, court cards count 10, and everything else counts its face value. Something to keep score on, because the bonuses at the end of a game are the part everybody forgets.

The deal

Cut for the first deal, higher card deals, and the deal then alternates. Ten cards each, one at a time. The next card is turned face up to start the discard pile and the rest is the stock. The non-dealer may take that first upcard or pass; if they pass the dealer may take it; if both pass, the non-dealer draws from the stock and play carries on from there.

Play

On your turn take one card — the top of the stock or the top of the discard pile — and then discard one face up. Melds are sets of three or four cards of the same rank, and runs of three or more in sequence in one suit; aces do not turn the corner, so queen, king, ace is not a run. A card can belong to one meld only. Nothing is laid on the table until the hand ends, so your melds stay in your hand and your opponent has to work out what you are collecting from what you take and what you throw.

Deadwood is everything not in a meld, added up. Knock when your deadwood is 10 or fewer: discard face down and lay your hand out, melds together and deadwood beside them. Your opponent lays out their own melds and may lay their deadwood off onto yours — a fourth card onto your set, the next card up or down onto your run — before what is left is counted. Going out with no deadwood at all is gin, and nothing may be laid off against it. You are never obliged to knock: a hand under 10 can keep drawing for gin.

If the stock is down to its last two cards and the player who drew the third-last card discards without knocking, the hand is void. Nobody scores and the same dealer deals again.

Scoring

Knock

The difference in counts

Deadwood 10 or fewer laid down

Gin

25

No deadwood at all — the opponent's whole count, plus the bonus

Big gin

31

Gin on the eleventh card, without discarding

Undercut

25

The defender's deadwood is equal or lower — the difference goes to them, plus

Big gin replaces the gin bonus rather than adding to it: 31 instead of 25, not both. Many tables do not use it at all and score every gin at 25, which is how SquareScores scores it unless the host switches big gin on.

Equal counts undercut too, which is the rule that gets scored wrong at the table more than any other in this game. The defender who undercuts is credited with winning the hand, so the box bonus is theirs.

When somebody reaches the target the game's bonuses are added:

Each hand won

20

The box bonus

Winning the game

100

Reaching the target first

Shutout

Winner's total doubled

The loser never scored at all

The shutout doubles the winner's whole total, boxes and game bonus included. Bonus values vary from table to table; these are the common ones.

A worked game

Alice and Ben play to 100.

Hand 1

Alice 22

Alice knocks on 6; Ben lays off what he can and is left with 28

Hand 2

Ben 19 + 25 = 44

Ben goes gin; Alice is holding 19

Hand 3

Alice 0 + 25 = 25

Ben knocks on 9; Alice lays off two cards and is left with 9

Hand 4

Alice 31 + 25 = 56

Alice goes gin; Ben is holding 31

After three hands Alice has 47 and Ben 44. Hand three was level on deadwood, and level is an undercut: Alice scored the difference, which was nothing, plus the 25, and the hand counts as hers even though Ben knocked. Hand four takes Alice to 103, over the line, so the game ends there and the bonuses are added. Alice won three hands, which is three boxes at 20, or 60; Ben won one, 20. Alice takes the 100 for the game. Alice finishes on 103 + 60 + 100 = 263 and Ben on 44 + 20 = 64, so Alice wins by 199. Had Ben never scored at all, Alice's 263 would have been doubled to 526 for the shutout.

You enter the two deadwood counts and who knocked; the app works out whether it was a knock, a gin or an undercut, and the boxes and the game bonus land on the hand that crossed the line.

Ending

The game ends when somebody reaches 100. The hand in progress is played out and counted in full first, bonuses included, before the winner is declared. The host can set a different target, and 150 or 250 makes a longer sitting; the margin of victory is the difference after the boxes and the game bonus have gone on.

Reading the discards

Every card your opponent throws is a card they do not want, and every card they take from the pile is one they do. If they throw a seven they are unlikely to hold sevens, but they may still be collecting the run either side of it. If they pick up the eight of hearts, hold on to your sevens and nines of hearts. Count the cards of a rank as they appear: once two nines are on the pile, nobody is making a set of nines.

What to take from the pile

Take from the discard pile only when the card completes a meld or fills a hole that two cards are already waiting on. Taking a card tells your opponent exactly what you are building, so a card that merely looks useful is better drawn blind from the stock. Late in a hand, when you know what your opponent needs, the pile may be worth taking simply to keep a card away from them.

Knock or go for gin

Knock early when you can. A knock on 8 against an opponent who has been drawing for a while usually wins twenty or thirty points, and it ends a hand in which they might have gone gin against you for far more. Play on for gin only when your deadwood is already low, the cards you need are still live, and your opponent shows no sign of being close.

Managing deadwood

Throw your high cards first. A king that is not part of a meld costs ten in your deadwood and is worth ten to your opponent if you are caught holding it, so unless it is paired or touching another court card, out it goes early. Later, keep your unmatched cards low: a hand of small odd cards can knock on 6 or 7 when a hand of high ones cannot knock at all.

Laying off and the undercut

When your opponent looks ready to knock, keep cards that could lay off onto what they are likely collecting, and get your own deadwood under 10 even if you cannot knock yourself. An undercut is the biggest swing in the game: the difference goes to you plus 25, and the hand is yours for the box. A player who knocks on 9 or 10 against a wary opponent is inviting it.

Oklahoma gin

The first upcard sets the knock limit for that hand: turn a seven and nobody may knock on more than 7; turn an ace and the hand can only end in gin. If the upcard is a spade, everything scored in the hand is doubled. The most common way the game is played competitively.

Hollywood gin

Three games are scored at once, in three columns. A player's first win is entered in the first column, their second in the first and second, and their third and every later win in all three. Each column is a game to 100 with its own boxes and game bonus.

Straight gin

No knocking at all. A hand ends only when somebody goes gin, so the hands run longer.

Round the corner

Aces may be high as well as low, so queen, king, ace is a run and so is king, ace, two.

Gin for three

Three players cut, and the lowest sits out the first hand while the other two play. The loser of each hand sits out the next and the winner plays on against the player who was waiting.

Loser deals

Instead of the deal alternating, the player who lost the last hand deals the next. The app rotates the deal marker; a table playing loser-deals simply ignores it, since nothing in the scoring depends on who dealt.

Other bonuses

Some tables score a box at 25 and the game at 200, and some pay 20 rather than 25 for an undercut. Agree the numbers before the first deal.

What is deadwood in gin rummy?

The cards in your hand that are not part of a set or a run, added up at their face values: aces one, court cards ten. It is the number you need at 10 or less to knock, and the number your opponent scores against you when they knock or go gin.

Can you knock with 10 in gin rummy?

Yes. The knock limit is 10 or fewer, so a hand with exactly 10 in deadwood may knock. You cannot knock on 11 or more, and you are never obliged to knock at all.

What is the difference between gin and big gin?

Gin is going out with no deadwood after drawing and discarding, for a bonus of 25 on top of your opponent's whole count. Big gin is going out on all eleven cards without discarding, and where it is used the bonus is 31 instead of 25.

What happens if both players have the same deadwood?

The knocker loses. A tie in deadwood is an undercut: the defender scores the difference, which is nothing, plus the undercut bonus of 25, and the hand counts as theirs for the box.

Can you lay off cards on a gin hand?

No. When a player goes gin the defender counts every unmatched card in their own hand and lays nothing off. Laying off is only allowed against a knock.

Do aces count high or low in gin rummy?

Low. An ace is worth one point and runs only with the two and three of its suit; queen, king, ace is not a run unless the table has agreed to play round the corner.

How many points do you play to in gin rummy?

A hundred is standard. When somebody reaches it the hand is finished and counted, then each player adds 20 for every hand they won and the winner adds 100 for the game. Longer games to 150 or 250 are played the same way.

What happens if the stock runs out?

The hand is a draw. When only two cards are left in the stock and the last player to draw discards without knocking, nobody scores and the same dealer deals again.