Rules

How to play Gin Rummy

Updated October 2026 · 2 players · 5 minutes a deal, 20–40 minutes for a game to 100

Gin Rummy is the two-player game most worth knowing. A game is made of several deals. A deal is one dealing of the cards and all the play that follows it. On every turn you draw one card and discard one, trying to arrange your ten cards into matching groups. The decision that actually matters is when to stop.

What you need

Two players and a full 52-card deck. When cards go in order, the ace is the lowest and the king is the highest. If the small numbers on a standard deck are hard to read, see our guide to large-print playing cards.

Groups

A group is either a set or a run.

• A set is three or four cards of the same rank, such as 7♠ 7♥ 7♣.
• A run is three or more cards in a row in the same suit, such as 4♥ 5♥ 6♥. The ace is always low, so ace-2-3 is a run. Queen-king-ace is not a run, and neither is king-ace-2.

A card can be in only one group at a time.

Leftover points

Each card is worth points. An ace is 1, a jack, queen or king is 10, and every other card is worth its number. A card that is not in a group is a leftover card, and its points count against you. Add them up to get your leftover points. Cards in groups cost you nothing, so keeping this number low is the whole game. Leftover points are not your score. They only decide who scores after a deal, and how much.

If a card fits two groups, put it where it leaves you the fewest leftover points. The practice game does this for you, and outlines your groups in gold.

Dealing the cards

Any fair method decides who deals first. One way is for both players to cut the deck: each lifts off the top part and turns up the bottom card of the part they lifted. Tables differ on whether the lower or the higher card deals, so agree which before you cut. An ace counts as the lowest card. If the two cards have the same rank, put the deck back together and cut again.

After the first deal, groups differ: some take turns dealing (the practice game does this), some let whoever won the last deal deal next, and some let whoever lost it deal next. Agree which before the first deal. Whichever you pick, a deal that ends with no winner is dealt again by the same dealer. If the cards come out uneven, or one is turned face up by accident, the same dealer shuffles and deals again. Neither player loses anything.

1. Deal ten cards each.
2. Put the rest of the deck face down as the draw pile. Turn its top card face up beside it. This first face-up card starts the discard pile, and 31 cards are left in the draw pile.
3. The player who did not deal chooses first: take the first face-up card, or pass (leave it). Whoever takes it adds it to their hand, then discards a different card, and the other player takes the next turn. If the player who did not deal passes, the dealer may take the card in the same way. If both pass, the player who did not deal draws the top card of the draw pile, then discards, and play goes on from there.

A turn

On your turn, draw one card, then discard one. Take either the top card of the draw pile or the top card of the discard pile. You can never take a card from lower down in the discard pile. You always finish holding ten cards.

If you took the top card of the discard pile, you may not discard that same card on the same turn. A card you drew from the draw pile has no such limit.

Keep cards that go with others in your hand: the same rank, or the same suit and close together, like 5♥ and 7♥, which need the 6♥. Discard cards that fit nowhere.

Knocking

You can knock only on your own turn, and the card you knock with is your discard.

1. After drawing as usual, pick a card to discard so that the ten cards you keep have 10 or fewer leftover points.
2. Place that card face down on the discard pile. This tells your opponent you are knocking.
3. Lay out your groups, and show your leftover cards.

You never have to knock, and you may knock on your very first turn if your cards allow it.

After a knock

Your opponent lays out their own groups. They may also add their leftover cards to your groups. Only the player who did not knock may do this.

• A fourth card of the same rank can join a set of three.
• A run can grow at either end, one card after another. If you laid out 4♥ 5♥ 6♥, they may add the 7♥, then the 8♥ after it, or the 3♥ at the other end.

Added cards stop costing points. Then they add up the leftover points they still have.

The practice game does the adding for whoever did not knock, in the way that leaves them the fewest leftover points. It may even take a card out of one of that player's own groups (such as the spare fourth card of a set) and arrange the rest of their cards into groups again, if that leaves them with fewer leftover points. For example, say you laid out the run 4♥ 5♥ 6♥, and the other player holds all four 7s, including the 7♥, and an 8♥ that is not in a group. Taking the 7♥ out of its set of four leaves three 7s, which are still a group. That lets the game add the 7♥ to your run, and then the 8♥ after it, which lowers their leftover points by 8. Rule books usually say only leftover cards may be added, so at a real table, agree whether a card may be taken out of a group this way.

A false knock

A knock with more than 10 leftover points is a false knock. There is no single rule for it. Tables use one or more of these:

• Some refuse it. The knock does not count: the player takes the card back, and it is still their turn to discard.
• Some make the player who knocked play the rest of the deal with their hand face up.
• Some let the other player accept it as a real knock. The deal is then scored like any other knock.

Agree which before you start. The practice game uses the first way: it will not let you knock unless your leftover points are 10 or fewer.

When the draw pile runs low

If a player finishes a turn with only two cards left in the draw pile, and that player did not knock, the deal stops with no winner. Nobody scores, the last two cards are never drawn, and the same dealer deals again. That deadline is why waiting to knock can cost you.

Scoring

Once the other player has added any cards they can, compare the two players' leftover points.

Nobody may add cards to a gin player's groups. Gin also cannot be undercut. If the other player has 0 leftover points too, the gin player still scores the 25.

Winning the game

Scores add up from deal to deal, and the first player to reach 100 wins the game. Then bonus points are added to make final totals.

• The winner adds a 100-point game bonus. It is doubled to 200 if the other player never scored.
• Each player also adds 25 for every deal they won, including the deal that ended the game. You win a deal when you are the player who scores in it, whether by knocking, going gin or undercutting. A deal that ended with no winner counts for nobody.

The difference between the two final totals is the margin. It shows how big the win was. The bonuses do not change who won.

Play a practice game of Gin Rummy

Rules make more sense once you have held the cards. The practice game deals you in against a computer opponent, outlines your groups of cards as you build them, counts your leftover points, and explains knocking, gin and undercuts as they happen.

Three things beginners get wrong

Holding out for gin

Gin scores 25 plus all of your opponent's leftover points, so it is tempting. But it comes rarely. Waiting for a perfect hand often means your opponent knocks first and, unless your leftover points turn out to be the same as theirs or fewer, scores the difference. 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. Late in the deal, once the draw pile is down to 20 cards or fewer (it starts with 31), stop holding out for a low knock and knock at 10 or fewer. If the draw pile gets down to 2 cards and nobody has knocked, the deal ends with no winner and nobody scores.

Taking from the discard pile too freely

Your opponent sees every card you take from the discard pile, which shows them what you are collecting. Taking one to finish a group is fine. Taking one because it might pair up later is usually a bad trade.

Ignoring the undercut

A knock with 10 leftover points is the one most likely to be undercut, most of all after your opponent starts throwing away low cards (an ace, 2, 3 or 4). Players usually throw away their highest leftover card first, because it costs the most points. So a player who is still throwing away high cards (10, jack, queen or king) probably still has other high cards left over, and a player who throws away a low card has probably run out of high ones, so their leftover points are probably low. An undercut gives them the difference plus 25. The safe knock is a low one. A good rule of thumb: while the draw pile has more than 20 cards, knock only at 6 or fewer leftover points. At 20 cards or fewer, knock at 10 or fewer. The computer in the practice game follows this rule.

Questions people ask

Do you have to draw before you can knock?

Yes. Knocking replaces your discard, not your whole turn. You draw as usual, then discard the card that leaves you with 10 or fewer leftover points (or none at all, for gin).

Can knocking backfire?

Yes. If your opponent ends up with the same leftover points as you, or fewer, they undercut you. They score the difference plus 25 instead of you. It cannot happen if you go gin: even if your opponent also has 0, you still score the 25.

What is the difference between knocking and going gin?

Knocking ends the deal with 10 or fewer leftover points and scores the difference between your total and your opponent's. Going gin means ending it with 0. Your opponent cannot add cards to your groups, so you always collect all of their leftover points plus 25.

Can you play Gin Rummy with more than two players?

Not head-to-head, but three-player and four-player forms exist. See Common variations below. For a rummy game built for more players, try basic Rummy (2 to 6 players).

Can you pass on your turn instead of drawing?

No. Every turn you must draw exactly one card, from the draw pile or the discard pile, and then discard one. The only pass is on the first face-up card, at the start of a deal.

Common variations

Tables often change a rule or two. If you want one of these, agree on it before the first deal.

• Oklahoma gin — the value of the first face-up card sets the most leftover points you may knock with, instead of a flat 10.
• Big gin — if all eleven cards (your ten plus the one you just drew) fit into groups, you can keep all eleven and not discard. The bonus is bigger than for gin, typically 31 points plus the other player's leftover points, and the other player may not add cards.
• Hollywood gin — three games are scored at the same time. Each player keeps three score columns. The points from your first winning deal go in column 1 only. The points from your second go in columns 1 and 2. The points from your third, and from every deal you win after that, go in all three. Each column is its own game, won by the first player to reach 100 in it, and the three results are added together when all three games are finished.
• Playing to 150 or 250 — the same scoring, for a longer game.
• Smaller bonuses — Pagat and Bicycle score gin 20, an undercut 10, and 20 for every deal won, instead of 25 each. Others score an undercut 20. Agree before the first deal.
• Three-player gin — only two players play each deal. The player who deals sits that deal out. The loser of each deal deals the next one, and the winner plays against the player who just sat out. Each player keeps one running score for the whole game, and the first to reach 100 wins.
• Four-player gin, in teams — two separate two-player games are played at the same table, each between one player from each team. After each deal, the results of the two games are combined for the teams. If both partners on a team won, the team scores both results added together. If one partner from each team won, only the team with the bigger win scores, and it scores the difference. Teams usually play to 125.

Gin needs nothing but a deck. See our deck picks if yours has seen better days, or the two-player games guide for boxed alternatives.