How to play Gin Rummy
Gin Rummy is the two-player game most worth knowing. You draw and discard, trying to arrange ten cards into sets and runs, and the decision that actually matters is when to stop.
There is a practice hand further down if you would rather learn by playing than by reading.
What you need
Two players and a full 52-card deck. Cards rank K high down to A low. Aces are always low — Q-K-A is not a run.
Card values
Face cards are 10 each, aces are 1, everything else is face value. These values only matter for the cards left outside your melds.
Melds
- A set — three or four of the same rank, such as 7♠ 7♥ 7♣
- A run — three or more in sequence in the same suit, such as 4♥ 5♥ 6♥
A card can only be in one meld at a time.
Deadwood
Everything in your hand that is not part of a meld is deadwood, and your deadwood count is the sum of those cards' values. Getting it low is the whole game.
The deal
- Deal ten cards each.
- Place the rest face down as the stock, and turn the top card face up beside it to start the discard pile.
- The non-dealer chooses first whether to take that upcard. If they pass, the dealer may take it. If both pass, the non-dealer draws from the stock and normal play begins.
A turn
Draw one card — either the top of the stock, or the top of the discard pile — then discard one. Your hand is always ten cards at the end of a turn.
If the stock is down to two cards and the player who just drew does not knock, the hand is dead: nobody scores, those last two are never drawn, and the same dealer deals again. That deadline is why sitting on a hand you could have knocked on costs you something.
Watch what your opponent takes. Every card drawn from the discard pile tells you something about their hand, and every card they discard tells you what they are not collecting. This is most of the skill.
Knocking
When your deadwood is 10 or less, you may knock instead of playing on. Discard face down, lay out your melds, and show your deadwood.
Your opponent then lays out their own melds, and may lay off any deadwood that fits your melds — adding a fourth 7 to your set of three, or extending your run at either end. Then they count what is left.
Scoring
| Outcome | Score |
|---|---|
| Knocker has less deadwood | The difference, to the knocker |
| Gin — knocking with zero deadwood | The opponent's full deadwood, plus a 25-point bonus |
| Undercut — opponent's deadwood is equal or lower | The difference plus a 25-point bonus, to the opponent |
No lay-offs are allowed against gin. First to 100 wins the game.
Try a hand
Rules make more sense once you have held a hand. Below is a practice deal against no opponent — draw, discard, and watch your deadwood move. Cards in a meld are outlined in gold; the faded ones are deadwood and are what you are trying to shed.
There is nobody playing against you, so nothing here can be undercut. The point is to get a feel for spotting melds and for when a hand is worth knocking on.
Loading the practice hand…
Your hand — click a card to discard it
Discard pile
Deadwood is recalculated after every move, and it always finds the best possible arrangement of your cards — so if it says 8, there is no clever split you have missed. While you are holding eleven cards it shows the count you would be judged on: the best you can reach by discarding one, since you knock as you discard. Press Knock and then click the card you are laying off — choosing it is your decision, and the trainer only refuses a choice that leaves you over ten.
Three things beginners get wrong
Holding out for gin
Gin is worth 25 and a knock at 8 deadwood is worth whatever the gap is. Waiting for a perfect hand usually means being knocked on first, and often undercut. If you can knock early and the score is close, knock.
Taking from the discard pile too freely
Every card you take face up is information you have handed over. Taking one to complete a meld is fine; taking one on the chance it pairs later is usually a bad trade.
Ignoring the undercut
Knocking with 10 deadwood against an opponent who has been discarding high cards is how you lose 25 points and the initiative. The safe knock is a low one.
Common variations
- Oklahoma gin — the first upcard sets the knocking limit rather than a flat 10.
- Big gin — eleven cards all melded, for a larger bonus.
- Hollywood gin — three games scored simultaneously.
- Playing to 250 with line and box bonuses, for a longer match.
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.
The vocabulary, and where to read more
Card games assume a shared vocabulary that nobody ever teaches. Our glossary defines every term used on this page in plain English.
For the games we have not written up yet, the four reference books we recommend cover several hundred between them.