Gin Rummy Rules: How to Play, Knock and Go Gin

The goal

In every hand, the goal is to build melds with the cards in your hand and knock with as little deadwood as you can, before your opponent does the same. The game goes to an agreed score, usually 100 points, and the first player to reach it wins.

Players and deck

The game is for two players, using a standard 52-card deck with no jokers. An ace is worth 1 and is always the lowest card; jacks, queens and kings are worth 10; every other card is worth its number.

The deal

• Each player gets 10 cards, one at a time, starting with the player who didn't deal.
• The next card is turned face up to start the discard pile.
• The rest of the deck stays face down beside it.
• The first dealer is picked at random. After that, whoever won the previous hand deals; if the hand was a draw, the same player deals again.

Melds and deadwood

You can build two kinds of melds with the cards in your hand:

Set

3 or 4 cards of the same rank, in different suits.

Run

3 or more cards in a row of the same suit, like the 5, 6 and 7 of hearts. Aces are always low: A-2-3 counts, but Q-K-A doesn't. A run can't wrap around.

A card can belong to only one meld. The cards left outside your melds are your deadwood, and their values add up to your deadwood count.

The face-up card

• The player who didn't deal chooses first: they can take the face-up card or pass.
• If they pass, the dealer can take it.
• If both pass, the first player draws the top card of the deck, and play goes on as usual.

Taking a turn

• Draw a card: the top card of the deck (face down) or the top card of the discard pile (face up).
• Discard one card, face up, onto the discard pile.
• If you took the top discard, you can't throw it right back on the same turn: you have to discard a different card.
• Then it's your opponent's turn.

Knocking

After drawing, if the 10 cards you keep have 10 deadwood points or less, you can knock: discard a card, show your hand and end the hand. You can knock on your very first turn.

Gin and big gin

Gin

Knocking with no deadwood: all 10 cards are in melds. Your opponent can't lay off anything. The bonus is 25 points (20 at some tables).

Big gin

Having all 11 cards in melds after drawing, without discarding any. It's the rarest gin, and the bonus is bigger: 31 points at many tables.

Laying off

When a player knocks with deadwood, their opponent can lay off loose cards onto the knocker's melds to cut their own deadwood. Only these plays count:

• the fourth card of a set;
• a card that comes before the first or after the last card of a run in the same suit;
• cards in a chain: once you lay off the 7, you can lay off the 8 on the same run.

The knocker never lays off onto the opponent's melds, and nobody lays off against a gin.

Scoring a hand

Knocked with lower deadwood

The knocker scores the difference between their deadwood and the opponent's, after the opponent has laid off.

Gin

The knocker scores the opponent's deadwood plus 25.

Big gin

The knocker scores the opponent's deadwood plus 31.

Undercut

If the opponent's deadwood is equal to or lower than the knocker's, the opponent scores the difference plus 25.

When the deck runs low

When the deck is down to 2 cards and the player who drew discards without knocking, the hand ends in a draw: nobody scores and the same player deals again.

The end of the game

The game ends when someone reaches 100 points (the most common target). Then the bonuses are added:

Game bonus

100 points for the player who reached the target, or 200 if the other player never scored.

Hand bonus

25 points for every hand the player won.

The first player to reach 100 wins. The bonuses are added only to the final tally, for both players.

Variations

• Straight gin: you can knock only with gin, meaning no deadwood at all.
• Oklahoma gin: the knocking limit isn't 10 but the value of the first face-up card (and if it's an ace, only gin counts).
• Hollywood gin: three games going at once, with the score kept in columns.
• Bonuses: gin is worth 20 or 25 points, an undercut 10 or 25, each hand won 20 or 25 and big gin 31 at many tables.
• Gin Rummy for 3 or 4 players: there are versions where one player sits out each hand, or where players team up.

Tips for beginners

• Discard high loose cards first (jacks, queens, kings and 10s): they add the most to your deadwood if your opponent knocks.
• Watch what your opponent picks up from the discard pile: it shows what they're building, and you shouldn't discard those cards.
• Knocking early with low deadwood usually pays off: waiting too long gives your opponent time to knock first.
• Watch out for the undercut: knocking with 9 or 10 deadwood against someone who can lay off cards is risky.
• When the deck runs low, knock if you can: once it is down to 2 cards, the hand is a draw.