How to play gin rummy: rules, knocking and scoring
Rules in short: two players get ten cards each. On your turn, draw one card from the stock or the discard pile, then discard one. Try to arrange your cards into melds: sets of three or four of a kind, or runs of three or more in one suit. Cards outside melds are deadwood. When your deadwood totals 10 or less you may knock to end the hand; with no deadwood at all you go gin. The first player to 100 points wins the game.
Deal Melds and deadwood A turn Knocking Laying off Scoring Scoring chart Example Winning the game Oklahoma Hollywood Strategy By the numbers FAQ
Quick answers
- Players
- Two.
- Cards
- A standard 52-card deck. Aces are low (1), face cards count 10, others count their number.
- Hand
- Ten cards each. Card 21 starts the discard pile; the rest is the stock.
- Knock
- End the hand when your deadwood is 10 or less after discarding.
- Gin
- All ten cards melded: 25-point bonus, and your opponent can't lay off.
- Undercut
- The defender's deadwood is equal to or lower than the knocker's: the defender scores the difference plus 25.
- Goal
- First to 100 points, then add the game and box bonuses.
The deal
Cut for the first deal; after that the deal alternates (some homes let the winner of each hand deal the next one). The dealer gives ten cards to each player, one at a time, starting with the opponent. The 21st card is turned face up to start the discard pile, and the rest of the deck goes face down as the stock.
The first upcard is special. The non-dealer may take it or pass. If they pass, the dealer may take it or pass. If both pass, the non-dealer draws the top card of the stock and play goes on normally. On Snug Table every deal is sealed before the cards come out, so you can check afterwards that the shuffle was fixed in advance.
Melds and deadwood
- Set: three or four cards of the same rank, such as 8♣ 8♦ 8♠.
- Run: three or more cards of the same suit in sequence, such as 4♥ 5♥ 6♥. Aces are low only: A-2-3 is a run, Q-K-A is not.
- Deadwood: every card that isn't part of a meld. Add up its value: aces 1, number cards their number, jacks, queens and kings 10.
A card can only belong to one meld at a time. With 7♠ 7♥ 7♣ 8♠ 9♠ you can use the 7♠ in the set or in the run, not both, so you pick whichever leaves less deadwood. On Snug Table your hand is grouped into its best melds automatically and a counter shows your deadwood.
A turn
Draw one card: either the top of the stock (face down) or the top of the discard pile (face up). Then discard one card face up. You may not throw back the card you just picked up from the discard pile in the same turn. Taking the discard shows your opponent what you are collecting, so it carries information as well as a card.
If the stock gets down to two cards and the player who drew last discards without knocking, the hand is a draw: nobody scores and the same dealer deals again (on Snug Table the deal simply moves on).
Knocking and going gin
After drawing, if you can discard so that your remaining ten cards have 10 or less deadwood, you may knock: discard face down and lay out your hand in melds and deadwood. You don't have to knock just because you can. If your deadwood is zero, you go gin. If all eleven cards are melded right after you draw, you may lay them all down without discarding: that is big gin.
Laying off
After a knock, the other player (the defender) lays out their own melds and may then lay off deadwood cards onto the knocker's melds: a fourth card on a set, or cards that extend a run at either end. Lay-offs can chain: on a 5-6-7♠ run you can add the 8♠ and then the 9♠. The defender can never lay off on a gin hand, and the knocker never lays off on the defender's melds.
Scoring a hand
- Knock: if the knocker's deadwood is lower, the knocker scores the difference. Knock with 6 against 23 and you score 17.
- Undercut: if the defender's deadwood (after lay-offs) is the same or lower, the defender scores the difference plus a 25-point undercut bonus. A tie is worth 25.
- Gin: the opponent's full deadwood plus a 25-point bonus. A gin hand can't be undercut.
- Big gin: the opponent's full deadwood plus a 31-point bonus.
Gin rummy scoring chart
| Result | Who scores | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Knock (knocker lower) | Knocker | difference |
| Undercut (defender equal or lower) | Defender | difference + 25 |
| Gin | Gin player | opponent's deadwood + 25 |
| Big gin (all 11 cards) | Gin player | opponent's deadwood + 31 |
| Stock runs out (2 cards left) | Nobody | 0 |
| Box bonus, each hand won | At game end, both players | 25 per hand |
| Game bonus | First to 100 | 100 |
| Shutout (loser won no hands) | Winner | total doubled |
Bonus amounts vary from table to table: older books give 20 for gin and 10 or 20 for an undercut. Snug Table uses the common modern values above.
An example hand
You hold A♣ 2♣ 3♣ · 7♦ 7♥ 7♠ · 9♥ 10♥ J♥ · 4♦ and draw the K♠. Discard the K♠ and your only deadwood is the 4♦: 4 points, so you knock.
Your opponent shows 4♠ 4♣ 4♥ · Q♠ Q♦ Q♣ with 8♥ 5♠ 6♦ 9♣ left over. They lay off the 8♥ on your 9-10-J♥ run, leaving 5 + 6 + 9 = 20. You score 20 − 4 = 16.
Winning the game
Keep a running total. The first player to reach 100 wins the game. Then add the bonuses: 100 to the winner, 25 to each player for every hand they won (the box or line bonus), and if the loser won no hands at all, the winner's total is doubled (a shutout, or schneider). The difference between the final totals is the margin of victory.
Oklahoma gin
In Oklahoma gin the first upcard sets the knock limit for that hand. A 7 means you may knock with 7 or less; a face card or ten means 10; an ace means gin only. Many players also double every score in a hand whose first upcard is a spade. Because hands can be worth more, the game usually goes to 150. Both rules are built into the Oklahoma mode on Snug Table.
Hollywood gin scoring
Hollywood is a way of scoring three games at once, not a change to the play. Draw three columns. The first hand a player wins is scored in game 1 only; their second win is scored in games 1 and 2; their third and every later win in all three games. Each game ends when someone reaches 100 and gets its own bonuses; later wins go into the games that are still open. The match ends when all three games are over. Pick Hollywood in the New game window to have it kept for you.
Gin rummy strategy
- Knock early. Most hands are won by a quick knock, not by waiting for gin. Waiting gives your opponent time to get under you.
- Throw high deadwood first. Kings and queens that don't connect cost 10 points each if your opponent knocks.
- Keep flexible cards. A 7♠ next to an 8♠ and another 7 can grow into a run or a set; an isolated king can't.
- Watch what your opponent picks up. If they take the 7♣, don't feed them the 7♦ or the 6♣ and 8♣.
- Use their discards. Cards your opponent throws away, and ranks next to them, are usually safe to discard.
- Take the discard only when it helps. Picking it up to complete a meld is good; picking it up for a maybe gives away information.
- Late in the hand, play safe. When the stock is low, holding a safe card can matter more than reducing deadwood by a point or two.
On Snug Table the coach checks every draw, discard and knock against all the cards you haven't seen, and tells you when a discard was risky because of a card your opponent picked up.
Gin rummy by the numbers
We played 2,000 hands between two copies of the Snug Table hard computer, which knocks at the first good chance. 94% of hands ended in a plain knock, 3.9% in an undercut and 1.8% in gin (big gin came up twice). The average knock was made with 7 deadwood, the average hand was worth 16 points, and a hand lasted about 11 turns in all, five or six each. A fresh ten-card deal carries about 57 points of deadwood on average. Players who wait for gin will see more gins and more undercuts than this.
Gin rummy FAQ
How many cards do you get in gin rummy?
Ten cards each for two players. The 21st card starts the discard pile and the rest of the deck is the stock.
When can you knock in gin rummy?
After you draw, if you can discard so that your unmelded cards add up to 10 or less. In Oklahoma gin the limit is the value of the first upcard instead.
What is an undercut in gin rummy?
When the player who didn't knock has the same or less deadwood than the knocker after laying off. The defender then scores the difference plus a 25-point bonus.
Is the ace high or low in gin rummy?
Low. It counts 1 point and only makes runs with the 2 and 3, such as A-2-3. Q-K-A is not a run.
Can you lay off on a gin hand?
No. When a player goes gin the opponent can't lay off any cards; they just lay down their own melds and count their deadwood.
Can you pick up a discard and throw it right back?
No. The card you take from the discard pile can't be discarded on the same turn.
What happens if the stock runs out?
When only two cards are left in the stock and nobody has knocked, the hand is a draw and no one scores.
What is big gin?
All eleven cards in your hand are melded right after you draw. You lay them all down without discarding and score your opponent's deadwood plus 31.
Does the computer see my cards?
No. On Snug Table the computer decides only from what a player in its seat would know: its own hand, the discard pile, and the cards you take from it or pass on. Each deal is sealed before it starts, and you can verify the shuffle when the hand ends.