JJPlay Gin Rummy, the best FREE Gin Rummy experience available on smartphones and tablets. Play online multiplayer, with friends or against a challenging AI. Get ready to out wit your opponents in this American classic. ONLINE MULTIPLAYER Automatic matchmaking – So you always find fun and challenging opponents. Gin rummy, or simply gin, is a two-player card game created in 1909 by Elwood T. Baker and his son C. It is a variant of rummy.It has enjoyed widespread popularity as both a social and a gambling game, especially during the mid twentieth century, and remains today one of the most widely-played two-player card games.

• Gin Rummy Vs Poker
• Gin Rummy Play It
• Gin Rummy Beim Poker
• Gin Rummy Play Free
• Gin Rummy And Poker Card Game
• Gin Rummy And Poker Zynga

Gin rummy, or simply gin, is a two-player card game created in 1909 by Elwood T. Baker and his son C. Graham Baker.^[1] It is a variant of rummy. It has enjoyed widespread popularity as both a social and a gambling game, especially during the mid twentieth century, and remains today one of the most widely-played two-player card games.

History[edit]

Magician and writer John Scarne believes gin rummy to have evolved from 19th-century whiskey poker (a game similar to Commerce, with players forming poker combinations^[2]) and to have been created with the intention of being faster than standard rummy but less spontaneous than knock rummy.^[3]

David Parlett finds Scarne's theory to be 'highly implausible', and considers the game of Conquian to be gin rummy's forerunner.^[2]

Deck[edit]

Gin rummy is played with a standard 52-card pack of cards. The ranking from high to low is King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace.

Objective[edit]

The objective in gin rummy is to score points and reach an agreed number of points or more, usually more than 100, before the opponent does.

The basic game strategy is to improve one's hand by forming melds and eliminating deadwood. Gin has two types of meld: Sets of 3 or 4 cards sharing the same rank, e.g. 8♥8♦8♠; and runs of 3 or more cards in sequence, of the same suit, such as 3♥4♥5♥ or more. Deadwood cards are those not in any meld. Aces are considered low—they can form a set with other aces but only the low end of runs (A♠2♠3♠ is a legal run but Q♠K♠A♠ is not). A player can form any combination of melds within their hand; all sets, all runs, or some sets and some runs.

The deadwood count is the sum of the point values of the deadwood cards—aces are scored at 1 point, face cards at 10, and others according to their numerical values. Intersecting melds are not allowed; if a player has a three-card set and a three-card run sharing a common card, only one of the melds counts, and the other two cards count as deadwood. For example; within the five cards 7♣7♠7♦8♦9♦, the seven of diamonds can be included in the set (7♣7♠7♦) or included in the run (7♦8♦9♦), but it cannot be included in both.

Dealing[edit]

Dealership alternates from round to round, with the first dealer chosen by any agreed upon method. The dealer deals 10 cards to each player one at a time starting with their opponent, and then places the next card in the deck face up. This begins the discard pile. The face down pile is known as the stock pile.

Playing[edit]

On the first turn of the round, the non-dealing player has first option of taking the upcard on the discard pile or passing. If the non-dealing player takes the upcard, they must then discard a different card to the discard pile. The player acting second can take the top card from the pile of their choice. However, if the non-dealing player passes the upcard, the dealer is given the opportunity to take the upcard or pass. If the dealer also passes, the non-dealing player must draw from the stock pile, then the next turn and after, players can draw from the pile of their choice.

On each subsequent turn, a player must draw either the (face-up) top card of the discard pile, or the (face-down) top card from the stock pile, and discard one card from their hand onto the discard pile.

Players alternate taking turns until one player ends the round by knocking, going Gin, or until only two cards remain in the stock pile, in which case the round ends in a draw and no points are awarded. The game ends when a player reaches 100 or more points (or another established amount). In tournament rules the game is played in best of five with 250 points per game.^[4]

Knocking[edit]

In standard gin, only a player with 10 or fewer points of deadwood may knock. Knocking with 0 points of deadwood is known as going Gin or having a Gin hand, while knocking with deadwood points is known as going down.^[5]

To knock, the knocking player discards as usual, announces knocking (generally by simply placing a discard face down), and the hand is laid out with the melds clearly indicated and deadwood separated. The other ('defending') player is then entitled to lay out any melds in their hand and can then lay off any of their remaining deadwood cards that fit into the knocking player's melds, provided that the knocking player does not have a gin hand.

For example, the knocking player has a meld of three Kings. The defending player's deadwood has a king. The player can lay off that king, reducing the deadwood count by ten. The knocking player can never lay off their deadwood into the defending player's melds. Once a player knocks or declares gin the round is over and scores are tallied, players cannot draw.

The knocking player then subtracts their deadwood points from the defending player's deadwood points. The result is the number of points the knocking player receives. An undercut occurs if a player knocks and the defending player's deadwood points are less than or equal to the knocking player's. In this case the defending player receives an undercut bonus (usually 25 points) plus the difference in deadwood points. If the defending player has less or equal deadwood to the knocking player's deadwood after laying off any of their deadwood, then it is still a valid undercut.

Gin[edit]

If all 10 cards in a player's hand fit into melds and thereby the player has no deadwood, they can choose to go Gin in which case the round ends and the player going Gin receives a Gin bonus of 25 points (or another established amount) plus any deadwood points in the opponent's hand. The defending opponent can only lay out their melds and cannot lay off any deadwood into the melds of an opponent that has declared Gin. A player can go Gin with a hand of three or fewer melds as long as all cards fit into a meld. Players can also have an 11 card gin, see Big Gin Variant below.

Big Gin[edit]

Gin hands normally consist of 10 cards. However, if a player chooses to draw so that 11 cards fit into melds, they can declare Big Gin in which case the player receives a Big Gin bonus of 31 points (or another established amount, commonly 50 points instead of the standard 31 points, depending on rule set) plus any deadwood in the opponent's hand.

Scoring[edit]

Aces are scored at 1 point, face cards at 10, and all other cards are scored at their numerical values. The number of points awarded for bonuses may vary from region to region. No matter what the bonus amounts are, points are scored in Gin for the following:

Knock points

After a player knocks, and the layoffs are made, the knocking player receives a score equal to the difference between the two hands. For example, if a player knocks with 8, and the defender has 10 deadwood points in their hand after laying off, the knocking player receives 2 points for the hand. If a player is able to knock before any cards are accepted, it is considered a misdeal.

Gin bonus

After going gin, a player receives a bonus of 25 points plus the entire count of deadwood in the opponent's hand. There is no chance to lay off when a player goes gin.

Undercut (or underknocking)

Occurs when the defending player has a deadwood count lower than or equal to that of the knocking player (this can occur either naturally or by laying off after a knock). In this case, the defender scores an undercut bonus of 25 points plus the difference in deadwood in the knocking player's hand. (In some rule sets, the bonus is only 10 or 20 points, or is not awarded in case of a tie.)

Game bonus

Once a player has acquired 500 points (or some other agreed-upon number) the game is over, and that player receives a game bonus of 100 points (or another agreed-upon number).

Line bonus or box bonus

Added at the end of the game. For every hand a player won during the game, 25 points is added to their score.

Big gin

Prior to knocking, if all 11 cards in a player's hand form a legal gin, the player can retain the extra card as part of their hand, and is awarded 31 points plus entire count of deadwood in their opponent's hand. (In some rule sets players may be awarded 50 points or another established amount plus the entire count of deadwood in the opponent's hand)

Shutout bonus

If a game is completed with the winner having won every hand, the points for each hand are doubled before adding the line bonus.

In some variations, if the winning player beats the losing player by exactly 50 points, the winning player must forfeit the match.

Variations[edit]

Straight gin[edit]

In straight gin, players are required to play until one of them can go gin. Knocking is not allowed. Scoring and rules remain the same as standard gin rummy.

Mahjong gin[edit]

Similar to straight gin, knocking is not allowed. However, more than one card may be taken, in order, from the top of the discard pile. If more than one card is taken, the lowest position card taken must be used in a hand: e.g. <bottom> 8♠3♥5♥ <top of discard> 8♠ is the lowest position card and must be used in a hand; continue with one discard). Cards are shown to the table, with opponents being able to add on to straights of the same suit or finish a three of a kind with the fourth card for points. After a player has gin, points are added, with cards on the table being added up and cards in hand being subtracted. The player who gins receives 25 additional points, 2 through 9 = 5 points, 10 through K = 10 points, A = 15 points.

Oklahoma gin[edit]

In this version of gin rummy, the value of the first upcard is used to determine the maximum count at which players can knock. If the upcard is a spade, the hand will count double. So if the first upcard was a 4, you can knock and go out with only 4 or fewer points in your hand; and if the card was 4♠, you would get double points that hand.

Another version in this variation (mostly in match play) and in Hollywood gin (see below), a second deck of cards will be used to determine the knock value of a hand. The knock value card will be dealt from the bottom and turned over on top. Above rules apply but both players are dealt ten cards with the last hand winner picking first from the deck.

Hollywood gin[edit]

This is a scoring style, not a rules change to the game of gin. In Hollywood gin, scoring is kept for three different games at the same time. A player's first win will be recorded in their column in Game One. A player's second win will be recorded in their columns for both Game One and Game Two. Their third win will be recorded in their column for all three games. Hands are played until all three games are finished.

Tedesco gin[edit]

Similar to Oklahoma gin, except aces can be used high or low, and runs can be formed 'around the corner' (such as K♠A♠2♠). If you are caught with an unmelded ace, it counts as 15 points against you. Hollywood scoring of three games to 200 when playing head-to-head or with two-person teams. Three-person teams play to 300, 25 points extra if all three teammates win. 50 points for four-person team, etc. This is a more complex gin game for all levels of player.

Single match[edit]

When a single match is to be played, the players will continue to play rounds until one player has 100 points or more. This player wins the match.

Multi-match[edit]

In multi-match games, match scores are reset to zero with the start of each match, while game scores accumulate until a predetermined winning score is reached, perhaps 500 or higher. Each individual match ends when one player scores 100 match points. At the end of the match, players' match scores are credited toward their game scores, as well as:

• 25 game points for each individual round won,
• 100 game points to the winner of the match, and
• 100 bonus game points to the match winner if the loser won no rounds.

Notable players[edit]

• Stu Ungar, widely regarded as the greatest gin rummy player of all time, was described by many as having a near clairvoyant ability to see his opponents' hands. Ungar's almost total dominance of the game during the 1970s and 1980s is thought to have been a factor in the decline of gin rummy as a tournament game in Las Vegas and other gambling venues. (Ungar eventually switched to poker.) ^[6][7]
• Oswald Jacoby, best known as a contract bridge and backgammon champion, also played high-stakes gin rummy and wrote several books on the game.
• Ernie Kovacs, the comedian and television pioneer, published a book in 1962 called How to Talk at Gin.

Fictional characters

• The villain Auric Goldfinger cheats at gin rummy in the key introduction scene of the James Bond film Goldfinger (1964), with the help of an accomplice looking at the opponent's cards through binoculars.^[8] The film script changed the game to gin rummy from two-handed Canasta in the source novel by Ian Fleming.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'C.G. Baker, Helped Devise Gin Rummy'. New York Times. May 17, 1950. Retrieved May 22, 2008. C. Graham Baker, writer and producer of motion pictures and co-creator of the card game gin rummy, died today at his home in Reseda in the San Fernando Valley. ...
2. ^ ^ab'Parlett's Historic Card Games: Gin Rummy - David Parlett'.
3. ^Scarne, John (2008). Scarne on Card Games: How to Play and Win at Poker, Pinochle, Blackjack, Gin and Other Popular Card Games. Courier Dover Publications. p. 37. ISBN978-0-486-43603-6.
4. ^Hainline, John; Hainline, Lily Ann (2018). 'Gin Rummy Rules for Tournament Play'(PDF). ginrummytournaments.com. Palm Desert: Gin Rummy Association. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
5. ^'Glossary of gin rummy terms'. rummytalk.com.
6. ^Ungar, Stu (June 29, 2006). One of a Kind: The Rise and Fall of Stu Ungar (documentary). USA: Szymanski, Al.
7. ^Michael Konik (April 1, 1999). 'The Gin Mill'. Cigar Aficionado. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
8. ^'Goldfinger (1964) - Miami hotel pool scene'. Retrieved July 18, 2019 – via YouTube.

External links[edit]

• Rules of gin rummy at Pagat.com

This is an archive copy of a page from the former website cardsanddominoes.com, with thanks to Howard Fosdick for permission to republish it here.

Gin Rummy or Gin is among the best two-handed card games. It features the simplicity of rummy combined with genuine strategic depth.

Gin was invented by Elwood T. Baker and played by his family back in 1910. Then it was forgotten. Baker’s son Graham was astonished to find the game being played at New York clubs in the 1930s. Somehow the game had survived or resurfaced after two decades! Gin became a fad in the early 1940s, probably because film stars adopted it as their favorite.

First we’ll summarize the rules for standard Gin Rummy, aka Oklahoma Gin. Then we give rules to a simple variant called Sequence Gin. Next come the rules to the high-end Skarney Gin. We wrap up with Colonel, a variant of Gin Rummy in which players lay non-scoring melds to the table.

Oklahoma Gin (aka Gin Rummy)

This is a game with a 52-card deck for two players. Cards rank A-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K. The Ace is always the low card. Card values are--

The goal in a Hand is to be first to meld all the cards in your hand to go out (go gin). Or to meld enough cards such that the value of those left is less than or equal to the value of the turn-up card, and also less than the value of your opponent’s unmelded cards.

The goal for Game is to be the first player to 100 points across hands.

Valid melds are either--

1. 3 or 4 cards of the same rank
2. A sequence of 3 or more cards in the same suit

Deal each player 10 cards each. Turn one card face-up to start the discard pile. The remaining face-down cards become the draw pile.

In his turn, each player---

1. Takes one card into his hand. This may either be the top card of the discard pile, or the top card from the draw pile.
2. If he wants to or can, he goes out (thereby ending the hand).
3. Discards one card face-up on top of the discard pile. Unless mutually agreed otherwise, cards in the discard pile should be squared up so that only the single topmost card is visible.

There are two ways to go out--

1. Going gin, whereby all cards in the hand have been melded.
2. Melding all cards in hand but with remaining non-melded cards having a total value of less than or equal to that of the original turn-up card that started the discard pile. This is called knocking.

When a player goes gin, he scores a 20 point gin bonus, plus the total value of all unmelded cards in his opponent’s hand.

When a player knocks, he places his hand face-up on the table. His opponent then shows his own melds, and is allowed to meld any unmatched cards (if possible) on the melds of the player who knocked.

Gin Rummy Vs Poker

Total the remaining unmatched cards for each player. If the player who knocked has a total less than that of his opponent, he scores the total value of unmatched cards of his opponent. If the player who knocked has a total greater than or equal to that of his opponent, he has been under-knocked. The opponent scores a 20 point under-knocking bonus, plus the difference in value between the two hands.

When a player goes out, either by gin or by knocking, he optionally discards to conclude his hand.

Sequence Gin

In this variant of Gin Rummy invented by Howard Fosdick, players may only meld sequences (not 3 or 4 of a kind). Players score a 1 point per card bonus for each card in a long sequence of 6 or more cards. Score a 1 point per card bonus for each face card (K, Q, J) in sequences. These bonuses do not apply to whether one can knock or whether an under-knock occurs. They only apply when calculating the final hand scores.

All other rules are as per Oklahoma Gin above.

Skarney Gin

John Scarne was a magician who befriended Houdini, mobsters, and Presidents. Along the way he invented some classic card games. Scarne took standard Gin and enlivened it with more varied melds, a contract meld requirement, and direct interaction between opponents through new discard rules.

Skarney Gin adds an extra meld to Oklahoma Gin. The poker meld is a set of cards in sequence (they do not have to be in the same suit). So there are three kinds of melds in Skarney Gin--

1. Set (3 or 4 of a kind)
2. Sequence (3 or more cards in suit in sequence)
3. Poker Meld (3 or more cards in sequence, regardless of suits)

Aces can be either high or low in melds. So you can play A-2-3 or Q-K-A. You can not make “round the corner” melds with Aces, such as K-A-2.

The first meld a player makes in each hand must be his contract meld. The contract meld consists of exactly three 3-card melds. The melds may be any combination of 3-of-a-kind sets, 3-card same-suit sequences, or 3-card poker melds. After a player lays down his contract meld, in subsequent turns he may lay off either one or two cards on each of his melds on the table. He can not lay off cards on his opponent’s melds. Of course, the player can also lay down any new melds he likes (each consisting of three or more cards).

Play differs from regular Gin in that there is no “discard pile.” (After dealing cards to each player, you do not turn up a card to start the discard pile.) Instead of discarding, a player holds up one card from his hand and offers it to his opponent. The opponent may say “I’ll take it,” and put it into his hand. If the opponent rejects the card, the player must put it back into his own hand.

A player can not offer to his opponent the same card he just accepted from his opponent in the prior turn. If the pro-offered discard is an Ace, and the player accepts it, that player loses his draw from the draw pile on his next turn.

Whether the second player accepts the discard (and puts it into his hand) or not, he still always starts his turn by drawing the top card from the stock pile. The single exception is if he accepted the offered discard from his opponent and that card was an Ace.

When a player has only 1 card left in his hand, he does not offer a potential discard to his opponent. Instead, he just says “last card” and keeps that card in his hand.

Scoring differs from regular Gin in that Aces are worth 15 points (instead of 1 point). A player who goes gin receives the total value of all cards in his opponent’s hand (regardless of whether they are meldable or not). The player who goes out does not receive any points for cards his opponent has already melded to the table.

Going gin also scores a gin bonus of 20 points. This doubles to 40 points if the opponent has not yet put his required contract meld to the table.

Since Skarney Gin does not have a discard pile, you must go out by melding all cards in your hand without a discard.

There is no knocking in Skarney Gin. The hand ends by a gin. If players draw all the way through the deck (with the exception of the last two cards, which are never drawn), the hand ends without the last player offering a potential discard. The player holding the lower total value for unmelded cards in his hand scores the difference in the unmelded point totals.

A Game is 200 points or more across hands.

Strategy

As you’ve probably guessed, this game is way different from standard Gin!

The number of cards in a player’s hand varies during a hand. There is no knocking, only gin (or else the hand ends when the draw pile is exhausted). And there is the presence of a third meld, the poker straight in which cards are in sequence but not in suit.

Poker straights are often easier to extend than sets or sequences in one suit.

You’ll have to think very carefully about when to lay down your contract meld. Too early and you could end up stuck with a single card in hand and little flexibility. Too late, and your opponent may gin and catch you with all cards in hand. Remember that all cards in hand count against you if your opponent gins (whether matched or not). And, only cards in hand count in the scoring (cards melded to the table are not part of the score).

Enhanced Rules

We’ve simplified by leaving out Scarne’s system for scoring Games for the purposes of settling.

More Information

See John Scarne’s Encyclopedia of Card Games, one of the classic card game compendiums. The book has a chapter on Skarney Gin and its rummy relative, Skarney.

Also Try

If you like Skarney Gin, you might also try Scarne’s partnership scoring rummy, Skarney.

Colonel

Colonel is a variation of standard Gin Rummy in which the two players lay melds on the table. This adds interest to the game as the melds progressively yield more information as the game evolves. This is a fast, fun, simple card game for two.

As in standard Gin Rummy, this the two players use one 52-card deck. Cards rank from Ace (high) to 2 (low). The Ace is always played as high card in sequences (A-K-Q-J...), never as the low card (A-2-3...).

The goal is to win the hand by being first to go out of cards. Like Gin Rummy, the only scoring is done at the end of the hand.

The allowable melds are:

1. Sets of 3 or 4 cards of the same rank
2. Sequences of 3 or more cards in the same suit

Dealer starts the hand by dealing each player 10 cards face-down, one at a time. He turns one card face-up to start the Discard Pile, and the remaining cards remain face-down and become the drawing Stock.

In his turn each player:

1. Either draws the top card from the Stock or takes the face up card from the top of the Discard Pile
2. Optionally melds as many sets and sequences as he or she can.
   The player may also optionally add one or more cards to any set or sequence already on the table, regardless of who originally placed that meld on the table. Thus one can play cards on the opponent’s melds.
3. Discards one card to the top of the Discard Pile. This should cover up all previous cards in the pile.

The first player to play all cards from his hand wins the hand. You can either go out on a discard or solely through melding.

Scoring

Gin Rummy Play It

The player who rummies (goes out) scores 10 points for each Ace, King, Queen and Jack remaining in his opponent’s hand. All other cards score their pip value.

Gin Rummy Beim Poker

If the game ends by the exhaustion of the Stock, players each total the points in their hands. The player with the lower total wins the hand. He scores points by subtracting his remaining point total from his opponent’s.

Optional Rule

At any time a player may challenge his opponent. The opponent may either accept or reject the Challenge. If he accepts the Challenge, both players total the points in their hands, and the player with the lower point total wins the hand. He scores the total points in his opponent’s hand -- without deducting his own remaining point total.

If the player rejects the Challenge, play of the hand continues as per usual.

Strategy

Gin Rummy Play Free

Tension in this game centers on when to play your melds to the table. Doing so early reduces your chance of being stuck with lots of cards in hand, should your opponent rummy. However, this also exposes your sets and sequences so that your opponent can play his cards on them to reduce his hand.

A player who is having trouble melding might stock up his hand with low point total cards, then challenge his opponent. The large hand with a deceptively low point total will often succeed in a Challenge.

Gin Rummy And Poker Card Game

More Information

Gin Rummy And Poker Zynga

Colonel is described in George F. Hervey’s compendium of card games, published in the UK several times by Hamlyn since 1973. I know of no other published source for this game.