Gin Rummy

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Card order and values
3. Melds and deadwood
4. Setup
5. The first turn
6. Playing a turn
7. Knocking
8. The opponent's reply and laying off
9. Scoring a hand
10. Winning the game
11. Tips for beginners
12. Variants

Overview

Gin Rummy is a classic card game for two. You try to arrange the cards in your hand into matching groups called melds. The cards you cannot fit into a meld are called deadwood and count against you. Once your deadwood is small enough, you end the hand by knocking – and if your opponent is left with more deadwood than you, you score the difference. Several hands are played until one player reaches 100 points.

• Players: exactly 2.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck without jokers, and paper and pencil for scoring.

Card order and values

The cards rank from low to high: A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K. The Ace is always the lowest card – it can only follow the 2 from below (A-2-3), never the King (Q-K-A is not allowed).

For counting deadwood, each card has a point value:

Melds and deadwood

A meld is a group of cards that belong together. There are two kinds:

• Set: 3 or 4 cards of the same rank, e.g. 8♠ 8♥ 8♣ or K♠ K♥ K♦ K♣.
• Run: 3 or more cards of the same suit in a row, e.g. 4♥ 5♥ 6♥ or 9♣ 10♣ J♣ Q♣ K♣. A-2-3 of one suit is a run; Q-K-A is not.

Each card can belong to only one meld at a time. If you hold 7♠ 7♥ 7♦ 8♦ 9♦, you can use the 7♦ either in the set of sevens or in the diamond run – not in both.

Deadwood is every card in your hand that is not part of a meld. Its deadwood count is the sum of the point values of those cards.

Example: You hold 3♣ 3♦ 3♥ · 9♠ 10♠ J♠ · K♥ · 5♦ · 2♣ · A♠. The three 3s form a set, 9♠ 10♠ J♠ form a run. Your deadwood is K♥, 5♦, 2♣ and A♠: 10 + 5 + 2 + 1 = 18 points.

Important: during play you keep all your cards in your hand. Melds are only shown at the very end of a hand.

Setup

1. First dealer: each player draws a card from the shuffled deck; the lower card deals first (or decide at random). After that, the loser of each hand deals the next one.
2. Deal: the dealer shuffles and deals 10 cards to each player, face down, one at a time, alternating, starting with the opponent. This is your hand – keep it hidden.
3. Upcard: the dealer turns the next card face up in the middle. This starts the discard pile.
4. Stock: the rest of the cards go face down next to it as the stock (draw pile).

The first turn

The first turn works a little differently, because of the face-up card (the upcard):

1. The non-dealer may take the upcard. If they do, they then discard a card and play continues normally with the dealer.
2. If the non-dealer does not want it, the dealer may take it (and then discards).
3. If both refuse, the non-dealer draws the top card of the stock and discards. From then on, play proceeds normally.

Playing a turn

Players take turns. On your turn:

1. Draw one card: either the top card of the stock (unseen) or the top card of the discard pile (face up).
2. Discard one card face up onto the discard pile. You now have 10 cards again.

You may not discard the card you just took from the discard pile in the same turn. (A card drawn from the stock may be discarded straight away.)

Instead of discarding normally, you may knock (see below) if your hand is good enough.

Example: The top discard is 7♣. You hold 5♣ 6♣ and would like a run, so you take the 7♣. Now you must discard another card – for instance your K♦, a lonely high card.

Knocking

After drawing, you may end the hand by knocking if, after your discard, your deadwood count is 10 or less. You don't have to knock – you can keep playing to improve your hand.

To knock:

1. Discard one card face down onto the discard pile (this shows you are knocking).
2. Lay your 10 remaining cards face up, sorted into your melds and your deadwood.

Gin: if you knock with no deadwood at all – all 10 cards are in melds – you have gone gin. This earns a bonus.

Big Gin (common rule): if, right after drawing, all 11 cards form melds, you may lay them all down without discarding. This is Big Gin and earns an even bigger bonus.

The opponent's reply and laying off

After a knock, the opponent (the defender) lays out their hand too, sorted into melds and deadwood.

Then the defender may lay off: add deadwood cards to the knocker's melds, which removes those cards from the defender's deadwood. For example, a 4th card of a set, or a card that extends a run at either end.

• The defender cannot lay off if the knocker went gin.
• The knocker never lays off onto the defender's melds.

Example: Anna knocks with 7♠ 8♠ 9♠ · K♣ K♥ K♦ K♠ and deadwood A♦ 2♣ 4♣ (1 + 2 + 4 = 7). Ben shows 5♥ 6♥ 7♥ · Q♠ Q♦ Q♣ and deadwood 10♠ 2♦ 4♦ J♥. He lays off 10♠ on Anna's spade run (7♠ 8♠ 9♠ 10♠). His remaining deadwood is 2♦ 4♦ J♥ = 2 + 4 + 10 = 16.

Scoring a hand

Compare the two deadwood counts (after laying off):

Example (continued): Anna has 7, Ben has 16. Anna scores 16 − 7 = 9 points. Had Ben ended with only 6 deadwood, he would have undercut her: 7 − 6 = 1, plus 25 = 26 points for Ben. A tie also counts as an undercut: with 7 against 7, Ben scores 0 + 25 = 25.

Write down each player's points after every hand and keep a running total. Also note how many hands each player has won – you need this at the end.

Draw: if only 2 cards are left in the stock and the player who drew the third-to-last card discards without knocking, the hand ends as a draw. Nobody scores, and the same dealer deals again.

Winning the game

The game ends as soon as a player reaches 100 points or more. Then add the bonuses:

• Game bonus: the winner gets 100 points.
• Line (box) bonus: each player gets 25 points for every hand they won.
• Shutout: if the loser did not win a single hand, the winner's total (including bonuses) is doubled.

The winner's final advantage is their total minus the loser's total – handy if you play for stakes or keep a longer record.

Example: Anna reaches 104 points and won 5 hands. Ben has 62 points and won 3 hands. Anna: 104 + 100 (game) + 5 × 25 = 329. Ben: 62 + 3 × 25 = 137. Anna wins by 329 − 137 = 192 points.

Tips for beginners

• Watch the discard pile. What your opponent picks up tells you what they collect; what they throw away tells you what they don't need.
• Get rid of high deadwood early. Kings, Queens and Jacks that don't fit anything cost 10 points each if your opponent knocks.
• Knock early. Once you can knock, it is usually better to do so than to wait for gin – every turn gives your opponent a chance to catch up.
• Don't feed your opponent. Avoid discarding cards that obviously fit what they have taken, e.g. another 9 after they picked up a 9.
• Keep flexible cards. A card that could join a set or a run (like 7♦ next to 7♠ 7♥ and 8♦) improves your chances.

Variants

All of these are optional – agree on them before the game.

• Oklahoma Gin: the value of the first upcard sets the knock limit for that hand (e.g. a 6 means you need 6 or less to knock; a picture card means 10; an Ace means you must go gin). If the upcard is a spade, all scores for that hand are doubled.
• Older bonuses: gin bonus 20 instead of 25, undercut bonus 10 instead of 25.
• Straight Gin: knocking is not allowed – you can only end the hand by going gin.
• Longer game: play to 150 or 250 points instead of 100.