Practice Gin Rummy: play the computer, with a coach

New to Gin Rummy? Start with How Gin Rummy works in the Coach (it sits below the table on a small screen). · Read the full rules · All practice games

The Gin Rummy table

The practice game needs JavaScript. Turn it on to play. You can also read the rules page to learn Gin Rummy with a real deck of cards.

Coach

Goal: finish each deal with fewer leftover points than your opponent. Leftover points are the points on the cards that are not in a group, so fewer is better. When you have 10 or fewer, you may knock to end the deal. Your game score is a separate number, and the first player to reach 100 wins.

What just happened

Tips for your moves appear here, and so do your opponent's big moves: taking a card from the discard pile, and knocking. The line at the top of the table also says what your opponent just did.

Your progress

Remember my progress on this device

Off by default. Until you tick the box, nothing is saved and the table has only the “This visit” column, which counts from when you opened this page. When it is on, a column called “All time” appears and adds up all your visits. Your progress numbers are saved in this browser only and never sent anywhere. Pressing Reset progress sets every number to 0. Unchecking the box deletes what was saved.

About this practice game

Play a full game of Gin Rummy against the computer. A game is made of several deals. In each deal, you collect matching groups of cards and choose when to end the deal. Ending the deal is called knocking. The points you win in each deal add up, and the first player to reach 100 points wins the game. The table finds your groups for you, outlines them in gold, and adds up the cards left over. New to the game? Press Watch a narrated deal above the table to see the computer play both sides with every card face up and every move explained.

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How Gin Rummy works

The goal. You and the computer each hold 10 cards. Collect matching groups of cards. A card that is not in a group is a leftover card. Leftover cards are bad: each one is worth points, and you want your total to be as low as you can get it.

The boldest goal is to have no leftover cards at all, with every card in a group. That is called gin, and it earns a 25-point bonus.

The two kinds of group

A set is three or four cards of the same rank, like 7♠ 7♥ 7♣.
A run is three or more cards in a row in the same suit, like 4♥ 5♥ 6♥. An ace is low, so ace-2-3 is a run, but queen-king-ace is not.

A card can be in only one group at a time. You never arrange the groups yourself. The table finds the best groups in your hand and outlines those cards in gold. If a card could go in either of two groups, the table picks the choice that leaves you the fewest leftover points.

Leftover points. An ace is worth 1. A jack, queen or king is worth 10. Every other card is worth its number. Add up your leftover cards to get your leftover points. A 9, a 4 and a king left over make 9 + 4 + 10 = 23.

Leftover points are not your score. They only decide who scores after a deal, and how much.

One deal, step by step. A game is made of several deals. Here is one deal.

Each player is dealt 10 cards. The next card is turned face up to start the discard pile. The rest stay face down as the draw pile.
The player who did not deal chooses first. The computer deals the first deal, so you choose first. After that, you take turns dealing. The player who chooses can take the face-up card, or press Pass to leave it. If they pass, the dealer gets the same choice. If both pass, the player who did not deal draws from the draw pile. Take the face-up card only if it makes a new group with two cards of yours that are not in a group yet (they have no gold outline), or adds to a group you already have.
From then on, you take turns. On your turn, first draw one card. You can take the top card of the draw pile, which you cannot see first. Or you can take the top card of the discard pile, which you can see.
Then discard one card: put a card from your hand face up on the discard pile. You always finish your turn holding 10 cards. If you took your card from the discard pile, you cannot put that same card straight back on the same turn. A discard is final: one click throws the card away, and you cannot take it back.
Keep drawing and discarding. Keep the cards that help you make groups, and discard the cards that do not. A card helps when another card in your hand goes with it: one of the same rank, or one of the same suit that is next to it or one apart (like 5♥ and 7♥, which need the 6♥). One more card could then make a group. Take the face-up card only when it makes a new group with two cards of yours that are not in a group yet, or adds to a group you already have (a fourth card of a set, or a card just above or below a run). A card can be in only one group, so a card that already has a gold outline cannot be used twice.
When your leftover points are 10 or less, you can end the deal. This is called knocking. Draw a card, press Knock, then click the card to discard. After you discard it, the cards you keep that are not in a group must add up to 10 points or less. You never have to knock.
After a knock, the other player may add cards from their hand to the groups of the player who knocked. They can add a fourth card to a set. They can also add the next card up or down on a run, like a 3♥ or 7♥ on 4♥ 5♥ 6♥. Added cards stop costing points. The game does this for you, in the way that leaves them the fewest leftover points. Nobody may add cards after gin.
Both players' leftover points are then compared, and the points are scored.

When to knock. A good rule: while the draw pile has more than 20 cards, knock only at 6 or fewer leftover points. When it has 20 cards or fewer, knock at 10 or fewer. The computer follows this same rule.

Why. If you knock at 7 to 10 while the draw pile has more than 20 cards, your opponent may have as few leftover points as you, or fewer. Then they win the deal and score a bonus (an undercut, explained below). When the draw pile is small, waiting is the bigger risk: if it drops to 2 cards, the deal ends and nobody scores.

A sample turn. You hold 7♠ 7♥ 4♦ 5♦ 6♦ 9♣ J♣ K♠ 2♥ 3♠. Your only group is the run 4♦ 5♦ 6♦. You draw the 7♣, which makes a set with your two 7s. Now you discard the K♠, because it fits nowhere and is worth 10 leftover points. You are left with 9♣ J♣ 2♥ 3♠ outside any group. That is 24 leftover points.

How a deal is scored

The player who knocked has fewer leftover points. They score the difference. For example, 4 against 12 scores 8.
The player who knocked has 0 leftover points. That is gin. They score the other player's leftover points plus a 25-point bonus. Nobody can add cards to their groups.
The other player has the same leftover points, or fewer. That is called an undercut. The other player scores instead: the difference plus a 25-point bonus. A tie scores just the 25.

No winner. If only two cards are left in the draw pile after a turn and nobody has knocked, the deal stops. Nobody scores, and the same player deals again.

How the game ends. Scores add up from deal to deal. The first player to reach 100 points wins the game. The rules then add bonus points to each score to make final totals: 100 for the winner (200 if the other player never scored), and 25 for each deal a player won. The Coach shows the final totals when the game ends. They do not change who won, so you can ignore them.

How to use this page

The line at the top of the table says what to do next, and what your opponent just did. Your opponent's cards stay face down until the deal ends.
To draw, press Draw from the draw pile, or press Take the face-up card (or click that card). The card you drew or took is marked NEW in your hand.
To discard, click a card in your hand. One click discards it at once, and you cannot undo it. A card with a gold outline is in a group. A card without one is a leftover card. After a knock, a paler card was added to the groups of the player who knocked, so it no longer costs points. That can happen to your cards or to your opponent's.
To end the deal, draw a card, press Knock, then click the card to discard. This works only when Your leftover points shows 10 or less. While you hold 11 cards, the board names the card that would leave you the fewest leftover points if you throw it away, and shows that number. The Hint tells you when that card is worth keeping.
At the start of a deal, the player who did not deal chooses first. When it is your choice, your only options are Take the face-up card or Pass. When your opponent chooses first, wait for their choice. The buttons stay gray, and Pass stays hidden, until it is your turn.
Stuck? Press Hint for advice on your next move. New deal throws away this deal and deals new cards. Your game score stays.
To watch instead of play, press Watch a narrated deal above the table. The computer plays both seats, every hand is face up, and each move is explained. Press Next and Back (or the arrow keys) to step, Play to let it run on its own, and Jump to to skip ahead. Back to playing returns to your game exactly as you left it.

Rule details

Card points: an ace is 1, the 2 to the 10 are worth their number, and a jack, queen or king is 10.
Runs and aces: the ace is always the lowest card. Ace-2-3 is a run. Queen-king-ace is not a run, and neither is king-ace-2.
Taking a card: you can only take the top card of the discard pile, never one underneath it.
The card you just took: if it came from the discard pile, you cannot discard it again that turn. A card you drew from the draw pile can go straight back out.
Knocking: you can only knock on your own turn, after you draw. The card you knock with is your discard. After you discard it, the cards you keep that are not in a group must add up to 10 points or less.
Adding cards after a knock: only the player who did not knock does this, and only to the groups of the player who knocked. Added cards can build on each other. For example, a 7 and then an 8 can join a run that ends in 6. The player adding cards may even take a card out of one of their own groups, such as the spare fourth card of a set, if that leaves them with fewer leftover points. It never happens after gin.
Gin cannot be undercut. If you knock with 0 leftover points, you always win that deal.
Who deals: the computer deals the first deal, and after that you take turns. The player who did not deal gets the first choice of the face-up card. After a deal with no winner, the same player deals again. A new game starts with the computer dealing.
The computer can see only its own cards and the discard pile. It never sees your cards.

Common mistakes

Waiting for gin. Getting every card into a group is rare, and waiting for it often means your opponent knocks first. A knock at 6 or fewer leftover points is much less likely to be undercut than a knock at 7 to 10, so it is the safer knock.
Keeping high cards that fit nowhere. A king, queen or jack outside a group adds 10 leftover points. If your opponent knocks, that is 10 more points for them. Discard these cards early.
Taking cards from the discard pile that do not fit a group. Your opponent sees every card you take, so it shows them what you are collecting.
Knocking at 7 to 10 while the draw pile still has more than 20 cards. Your opponent may already have the same leftover points, or fewer. That is an undercut: they win the deal and score the difference plus a 25-point bonus.

Simple strategy

Watch what your opponent takes from the discard pile, because it shows what they are collecting. Be careful about discarding a card of the same rank as the card they took, or a card of the same suit one or two ranks away from it.
Keep cards that could go into either kind of group. With 7♥ 8♥ and 7♠, the 7♥ could end up in a run or in a set.
Discard high cards (10, jack, queen, king) early when they fit nowhere. They cost the most if your opponent knocks first. A high card that is in a group, or goes with another card in your hand, can stay.
While the draw pile has more than 20 cards, knock only at 6 or fewer leftover points. Once it has 20 cards or fewer, knock at 10 or fewer. If it drops to 2 cards and nobody has knocked, the deal has no winner, so do not wait past that point.

The full rules page →

Coach ↓