Gin Rummy

Gin Rummy Rules

Gin Rummy is a skill-based card game for 2-4 players. The game is easy to learn and play. Gin Rummy is quick and exciting. Gin Rummy is played with one standard deck of 52 cards. In a 2 player game each player is dealt 10 cards. In a 3-4 player game, each player is dealt 7 cards.

The goal in Gin Rummy is to be the first player to get rid of all the cards in your hand, by melding them into sets and runs and laying them down. A "set" contains 3-4 cards of the same value, while a "run" consists of 3 or more consecutive cards of the same suit.

The remaining cards are placed face down on the table, forming the stock pile (face down) and one card is placed next to the stock to form the discard pile (face up).

The players must begin a turn by drawing a card either from the stock or discard piles, and adding it to their hand. To complete their turn, players must discard a single card from their hand onto the discard pile.

If the stock runs out, the discard pile is shuffled and placed face down to form a new stock. The card discarded by the player who drew the last card of the old stock is placed face up beside the new stock to start the new discard pile.

There are three ways to win a round of Gin rummy: Gin, Knock and Undercut.

Gin
A player who "Gins" disposes of all the cards in his hand at once, without any "deadwood" (unmatched cards).

After players Gin, their opponents may lay their melds down onto the table, to decrease their deadwood count and therefore reduce their amount of penalty points.

Knock
Instead of going for Gin, a player can win a game by "Knocking". To do that, player's deadwood count must not exceed 10 points.

After players Knock, their defeated opponents may lay their melds down onto the table, and add matching cards to the Knocker's original melds only. Therefore, the Knock move provides the defeated players with an opportunity to reduce their amount of penalty points far more than Gin.

Undercut
This is when players' deadwood count is equal to the Knocker's or lower.

The winners of multi-round Gin Rummy games are the players to accumulate the highest amount of points. Gin is the move that rewards the winner with the highest amount of points. Players who Gin are rewarded with 25 points, while their defeated opponents receive double the amount of their deadwood count as penalty points.

Undercut rewards the winners with 20 points, and their defeated opponents receive the difference in the counts of the winner's deadwood and their own - as penalty points.

The last winning move is Knock. This move rewards the Knocker with 10 points, and his defeated opponents are all credited with their deadwood count minus the Knocker's deadwood count as penalty points.

When you are totaling up your points in Gin Rummy, Aces count as 1 point and all the face cards are worth 10 points, while all other cards are worth their face value.

Gin Rummy is a fun and easy game to learn and play.