Gin Rummy: build melds, knock low and go gin

About Gin Rummy

Two players, a 52-card deck, ten cards each; the 21st card starts the discard pile and the other 31 make up the deck. The goal is to build melds out of your hand: a set (3 or 4 cards of the same rank) or a run (3 or more cards in a row of the same suit; aces are always low, so A-2-3 counts and Q-K-A doesn't). The cards left outside your melds are your deadwood, and each is worth its number: an ace is 1, and jacks, queens and kings are 10. At the start of a hand, whoever didn't deal decides first whether to take the face-up card; if they pass, the dealer gets the same choice, and if both pass, the first player draws from the deck. From then on, on your turn you draw a card, from the deck or the top of the discard pile, and discard another (not the one you just took from the discard pile). When the 10 cards you keep have 10 deadwood points or less, you can knock: you discard and end the hand. With no deadwood at all, it's gin: your opponent can't lay off and you get a 25-point bonus; with all 11 cards in melds, it's big gin, worth 31. When you knock with deadwood, your opponent gets to lay off cards onto your melds to cut their own deadwood (the game does it for them and shows what was laid off). If your deadwood is lower, you score the difference; if theirs ends up equal or lower, it's an undercut: they score the difference plus 25. If the deck is down to 2 cards and the player who drew discards without knocking, the hand is a draw: nobody scores and the same player deals again. The winner of a hand deals the next one. A game goes to 100 points: whoever gets there earns a 100-point bonus (200 if the other player never scored), and each hand won adds 25. Play one of the bots (TITO is easy, CARMEN medium and LUNA hard) or invite someone with a link: the table is saved on the site, so you don't both have to be online at once, the game lets you know when it's your turn and anyone who opens the link after the game has started can watch. There's a text chat and a rematch right at the same table. Each player picks the deck design they see, from the four in the Kingdom's collection.

In Selminha's words

“Gin Rummy is the classic head-to-head card game: it looks calm until your opponent knocks and a card you didn't even know fit gets laid off. I wanted to bring it to our table, with three bots to practice against and a screen that tells you everything the game does on its own: what was laid off, who deals next, when the deck is running out.”

How to play Gin Rummy

1. Pick your deck design, tap OPEN A TABLE, type your name, tap CREATE INVITE and COPY the link to send to whoever's playing with you. To play a bot instead, pick a level (EASY, MEDIUM or HARD) and tap ADD A BOT.
2. With both seats filled, whoever created the table taps START THE GAME. Each player gets 10 cards and one card is turned face up on the discard pile: whoever didn't deal chooses between TAKE FACE-UP CARD and PASS.
3. On your turn, tap the deck (or the discard pile) to draw. Then discard: tap a card and tap it again, or drag it to the discard pile. The green line marks a finished meld, SORT groups your melds and DEADWOOD shows the points in your loose cards.
4. With 10 deadwood points or less, KNOCK appears (GIN, if nothing is left over). Knocking ends the hand: your opponent lays off what they can onto the knocker's melds, and the panel shows the melds, each player's deadwood, what was laid off and the points. Either player taps NEXT HAND.
5. A game goes to 100 points. The chat is in the right-hand column (on a phone, behind the chat button). P or Esc opens the menu (the table keeps going); M turns the sound on and off.

Full rules for Gin Rummy
More games to play with friends online

The rules

The deck

52 cards, no jokers. Ten cards each; the 21st card starts the discard pile and the other 31 make up the deck.

Melds

A set is 3 or 4 cards of the same rank. A run is 3 or more cards in a row of the same suit. Aces are always low: A-2-3 counts, Q-K-A doesn't.

Deadwood

The cards outside your melds. Each is worth its number; an ace is 1 and jacks, queens and kings are 10. The lower, the better.

Your turn

Draw a card, from the deck or the top of the discard pile, and discard another. You can't discard the card you just took from the discard pile.

Knocking, gin and undercut

Knocking

After you draw, if the 10 cards you keep have 10 deadwood points or less, you discard a card and knock: the hand ends.

Gin and big gin

With no deadwood at all it's gin: a 25-point bonus, and your opponent can't lay off. With all 11 cards in melds, without discarding, it's big gin: 31.

Laying off

When you knock with deadwood, your opponent lays off their loose cards onto your melds (the fourth card of a set, or the card before or after a run). The game does it for them and shows what was laid off.

Undercut

If your opponent's deadwood ends up equal to or lower than yours, they win the hand: they score the difference plus a 25-point bonus.

Controls on phone and computer

Computer

Tap or click the deck or the discard pile to draw · tap or click a card to pick it and again to discard it, or drag it to the discard pile · KNOCK appears when your deadwood is 10 or less (GIN, with none) · SORT groups your melds · the ← → arrow keys move through your cards, ↑ goes to the buttons and ↓ goes back to the cards, Enter picks and discards · P or Esc opens the menu · M sound · F full screen · supported controllers: the D-pad moves through cards and buttons, A or X picks and discards, Start is the menu, Back is sound.

Touch

On a phone the game plays in portrait; on a tablet it follows the way you're holding it, upright or sideways, and never asks you to rotate. Your hand is shown large at the bottom, with SORT and DEADWOOD on the hand bar; DRAW, TAKE DISCARD, KNOCK and RESIGN sit right above your cards. Invite with the COPY button: paste the link wherever you like (a text, a group chat…).

Scoring

The hand

The player who knocked with the lower deadwood scores the difference between the two. With gin, they score the other player's deadwood plus 25.

When the deck runs low

With 2 cards left in the deck, if the player who drew discards without knocking, the hand is a draw: nobody scores and the same player deals again.

Who deals

The winner of a hand deals the next one. The first dealer is picked at random.

The game

It goes to 100 points. Whoever gets there earns a 100-point bonus (200 if the other player never scored), and each hand won adds 25.

The invitation table

Who plays

Two players: whoever created the table starts the game whenever they like, with a person or a bot. Anyone who arrives later can watch.

The bots

TITO (easy), CARMEN (medium) and LUNA (hard): whoever creates the table picks the level.

The deck design

Each player picks the deck design they see, from the four in the Kingdom's collection.