Online Gin Rummy

» Gin Rummy Rules

Gin Rummy is the probably one of the best known card games around the world. It is a faster game than standard rummy and is generally played between by two players who each receive ten cards.

Gin rummy is played with a standard 52 card deck, the Ace is the lowest ranked card while 10, Jack, Queen and King are the highest of the cards in the game. Face cards as well as 10 each give 10 points while Ace is just 1 point and number cards are worth their index value.

• Dealing in Gin Rummy
• Gin Rummy Play
• Knocking in Gin Rummy
• Gin Rummy Scoring

» Dealing - Gin Rummy

The deal in Gin Rummy is something that a lot of players can do wrong, even though it is one of the simple parts of the game. Shuffling the cards well is important and it is a good idea to purchase a card shuffling machine. The card shuffling machines not only make the games faster but also settle any disputes a player may have in regards to how the deck was shuffled.

Each player is dealt 10 cards one at a time, the twenty-first card is turned face up in the middle to start what is known as the 'discard pile' and the rest of the deck is placed face down beside it to start the 'stock' pile. The gin rummy game can then begin and players can start to sort their cards.

» Play - Gin Rummy

A regular turn in Gin Rummy consists of two parts, that is the draw and the discard which basically what makes the game of Gin Rummy.

The Draw - When it's your turn you must begin by taking a card from either the stock pile or the top card on the discard pile and adding it to your hand. THe discard pile is the pile of cards that are face up, this pile has an advantage because you are able to see in advance what card you are getting.

The stock pile is the pile of cards that are face down, if you draw from this pile you are commiting to taking a card that you have not seen. Once drawing from the stock pile you must not show this card to the other players.

The Discard - to complete your turn, one card has to be discarded from your hand and placed on top of the discard pile (face up). If you took the top card from the discard pile, you must discard a different card. You are not permitted to take a card from the discard pile and then put the same card back down in the same turn.

For the first hand of the game, the draw is done in a different way to described above. The player who did not deal chooses whether to take the turned up-card (discard pile). If the non-dealer declines it, the dealer may take the card.

» Knocking

The rules of the knock are as follows: when a player knocks in the game of Gin Rummy it means that the he or she has reduced their hand to the maximum points allowed by what the value of the knock card is. This means for example if the knock card was a 9, then the person who is knocking has 9 or less points left behind in their hand. If the knock card is an Ace, then the game must be played to Gin.

A player can knock in any turn of play, but it must be after drawing and before discarding his final card. If the player forgets to knock before he discards then he cannot do so until the next play of his hand which happens after his opponent has his chance to play.

When a player is ready to knock, they must clearly state their intent. The way to do this is by saying the word "knock", announcing the total value of your unmatched hands (also known as the count), exposing your entire hand arranged into matched sets and unmatched cards and finally by discarding face down next to his hand, never on the discard pile. If the player places the card he is discarding on the discard pile then this is considered to be cheating and the hand will have to be forfeited.

» Gin Rummy Scoring

After knocking, the count is figured by placing value on the unmatched cards. The melded cards are counted as zero and placed into piles seperate from the unmatched cards. The unmatched cards are given points based on the value for that card.

After the player has announced his count, the opponent must then expose their hand for all players in the game. The other players are permitted to reduce their hand by placing any melds that he has on the table serperate from each other. The player is then able to take an unmatched cards from their hand that meld with the players hand that knocked and reduce those to zero, also called 'laying off cards'.

For example: if the player that knocked had a meld of an Ace, 2 and 3 of hearts and the player that did not knock had a 4 and a 5 of hearts then he is allowed to lay off those cards to the knockers cards. This will reduce his count and may possible reduce it enough to underknock his opponent.

The player that knocked is know permitted to lay off any of his unmatched cards to his opponents and if your opponent called gin you are not allowed to lay off any cards, even if you have cards that can be laid off.