Learn How to Play Gin Rummy
Welcome to the world of Gin, or Gin
Rummy. Gin is a card game enjoyed by
young and old alike. No matter how often you play it, the results
will never be the same. Therefore, you can end boredom and entertain
your mind while playing this thrilling card game. Perhaps you have
been playing Gin for years, or perhaps you are trying it out for the
first time. This website will give you an overview of the rules
of Gin, a quick glance at the history, some strategy that may
help you win the game and a few variations to Gin to ensure that you
will never tire of it.
Gin is played with one deck of cards and two players. The object of the game is to eliminate all of the cards from your hand and score more points that the other players. The cards are ordered from low to high as follows: Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen and King. Unlike other games, the Aces are only played as low cards in Gin.
Dealing Gin Rummy
The dealer gives his competitor and himself ten cards a piece. The
next card on the stack faces upwards and is part of the discard
pile. The rest of the cards face downward and form the stock pile.
The first draw is done in a specific way: The other, non-dealing
player can either pick up the upcard, and begin play, OR, he can
pass to the dealer. If he passes to the dealer, the dealer can pick
up the upcard, OR, he can pass play back to the non-dealing player.
At that point, the non-dealing player takes a card from the stock
pile.
Normal play begins as follows: The player chooses the top card from
the stock pile or from the discard pile. You do not show what card
you have picked from the stock pile to the other player. Then,
discard on card, face up, onto the discard pile. Keep in mind that
if you picked up a card from the discard pile, you must put a
DIFFERENT card back onto the discard pile.
Cards are played in either sets or runs. A set is three or more
cards of the same status. For example, a nine of hearts, a nine of
diamonds and a nine of spades. A run is three or more cards that are
played in sequential order, but of the same suit. For example, an 8
of hearts, a 9 of hearts and a 10 of hearts.
Any card that is not part of a set or a run is called deadwood.
Players do a deadwood count where they count Jacks, Queens and Kings
at 10 points, Aces at 1 point and cards 2 thru 9 are counted
according to their value.
During any player’s turn, he may “knock” if he has ten or fewer
deadwood points. If he has NO deadwood points, he must knock, and is
considered to have “gone gin”. To knock, a player puts discards face
down and puts his sets and runs out on the table so the other player
can see them. The deadwood cards are separated out. Then, the other
player can lay off any deadwood cards that fit into the knocking
player’s runs or sets. So, if a knocking player has a set of three
Jacks, and the other player has one Jack, that player can lay his
Jack on the other three Jacks and lower his deadwood count by ten
points. If a player has “gone gin”, the other player cannot “lay
off” and therefore cannot lower his deadwood count. The player who
is knocking CANNOT lay his cards off on the other player’s meld.
When the stock pile only has two cards left, play is also over. The player who picked up the third to the last card must discard without knocking. No score is calculated and the same person remains the dealer and must deal again.
Scoring in Gin Rummy
Scoring has several levels of points:
· Knock points: The player who knocks receives points for the
difference between his hand and his opponent’s hand. So, if the
knocking player has 6 points and the other player has 10 deadwood
points after he lays off, the knocking player ends up with 4 points.
· Gin Bonus: When a player goes gin, he receives 25 bonus points AND
all of the other player’s deadwood count.
· Underknocking: If the other player has fewer deadwood points than
the knocking player, the other player receives a 25 point bonus AND
the difference between his hand and the knocker’s hand.
· Game Bonus: When the agreed on number of points is reached by one
player, that player receives a game bonus of typically 100 points.
· Line Bonus or Box Bonus: A player receives 25 points for every
hand he wins throughout a match.
· Big Gin: If a player goes gin using all 11 cards, before knocking,
he receives 6 additional points.
· Shutout Bonus: If the same player wins every hand, the points are
doubled for each hand.
Two other card games can be studied at poker rules, a site about poker, and blackjack rules, about 21.
Gin Rummy History of Gin Gin Strategy Variations of Gin