How to play Gin Rummy

Objective

Score points by arranging cards into melds and ending a hand with less unmatched-card value, called deadwood, than your opponent. Knock with 10 or fewer deadwood points, or go gin with no deadwood. The first player to 100 points wins the match.

This version uses a 20-point gin bonus and a 10-point undercut bonus. Some modern sets use 25-point bonuses; keep one scoring system for the whole match.

Setup

Use a standard 52-card deck without jokers. Aces are low and count 1 point. Number cards count face value; jacks, queens and kings count 10 each.

Choose a dealer, who deals 10 cards to each player. Place the next card face up to start the discard pile and the rest face down as the stock.

On the first hand, the non-dealer gets first choice of the upcard. If they pass, the dealer may take it. If both pass, the non-dealer draws from the stock and normal play begins. The winner of a hand deals the next one.

Melds and deadwood

A set is three or four cards of one rank, such as 7♣ 7♦ 7♥. A run is three or more consecutive cards of one suit, such as 4♠ 5♠ 6♠. Aces are low only: A-2-3 is valid, but Q-K-A is not.

One card cannot belong to two melds at once. If 7♥ could complete either a set of sevens or a heart run, choose one arrangement when the hand is shown.

Cards outside melds are deadwood. Add their card values to find the deadwood total. You may rearrange your cards into the lowest legal total when scoring.

Turns

After the opening choice, players alternate:

1. Draw the top card of the stock or the top face-up discard.
2. Add it to your hand and decide which cards form melds.
3. Discard one card face up, returning your hand to 10 cards.

If you take the face-up discard, you cannot discard that same card immediately. The next player may see and take only the new top discard.

Knocking and going gin

After drawing, you may end the hand if your deadwood totals 10 or less. Discard one card face down and reveal your hand; this is knocking. Separate your melds from your deadwood.

The opponent reveals their hand and may lay off unmatched cards onto the knocker’s melds: a fourth card can join a set, and adjacent suited cards can extend a run. Then both players total their remaining deadwood.

If all 10 cards form melds after the final discard, you have gin. The opponent may not lay off cards when you go gin. If only two cards remain in the stock and neither player has knocked, cancel the hand without a score and deal again.

Scoring

If the knocker has less deadwood after layoffs, the knocker scores the difference.

If the opponent has equal or lower deadwood, the opponent has undercut the knocker. The opponent scores the deadwood difference plus a 10-point undercut bonus. Equal deadwood therefore scores 10 points to the opponent.

Going gin scores the opponent’s full deadwood total plus a 20-point gin bonus. There are no layoffs against gin.

Worked example

You knock with 8 deadwood. After laying off, your opponent has 14 deadwood. You score the difference: 14 − 8 = 6 points.

If the opponent instead reduces their deadwood to 5, they undercut you. The opponent scores the 3-point difference plus the 10-point bonus: 8 − 5 + 10 = 13 points.

Winning

Record the hand score, gather and shuffle all 52 cards, then deal again. The first player to reach 100 or more after a completed hand wins the match.

Only the hand winner scores. Melds do not earn points by themselves, and deadwood is not carried into the next deal. The 100-point target here does not include separate game, line or shutout bonuses sometimes printed in commercial sets.

Common mistakes

• Melding mixed suits as a run. Every card in a run must share one suit.
• Using an ace above a king. Aces are low only in this ruleset.
• Using one card in two melds. Choose one legal arrangement when scoring.
• Knocking above 10 deadwood. A standard knock requires 10 or less after the discard.
• Laying off against gin. Layoffs are allowed after an ordinary knock, never after gin.
• Giving every close result to the knocker. Equal or lower opponent deadwood is an undercut.
• Scoring 25-point bonuses by habit. This page uses 20 for gin and 10 for an undercut.

Variants

Many published games award 25 points for gin and 25 for an undercut. Those values work if both players use them consistently, but they are not mixed with the 20/10 system above.

In Oklahoma Gin, the first face-up card sets the maximum deadwood allowed for a knock: its number value is the limit, while a 10 or face card allows the usual 10. An ace commonly sets the limit at 1. A spade upcard may double the hand’s score. Confirm the exact form before dealing.

Hollywood Gin records each hand in several simultaneous scoring columns. Three- and four-player adaptations also exist, but standard Gin Rummy is the two-player game taught here.