A card game of luck and smart discards
Gin rummy is one of the most popular two-player card games in the world. Each turn you draw a card – from the stock or the opponent’s discard – and throw one away, trying to arrange your ten cards into sets (three or four of a kind) and runs (three or more in a row of the same suit).
Here your hand is sorted automatically: melds are grouped and underlined, and your deadwood (the value of unmatched cards) is always shown. When it is 10 or less, the Knock button appears – or wait for gin. At the end of each hand both hands are shown with melds, lay-offs and points. First to 100 wins the match.
How to use
- Take the top discard or draw from the stock.
- Discard one card – try to keep cards that can form sets and runs.
- When your deadwood is 10 or less, press Knock (or wait for gin).
- Compare hands and score; play on until someone reaches 100.
Ideas for using it
- Learn the game. the meld lines show what counts as a set or run.
- Quick hand. one hand takes about five minutes.
- Strategy. watch what the computer picks up from the discard pile.
- Classic card night. gin rummy is the two-player favourite in many families.
Rules in short
- Each player has 10 cards. On your turn, take the top card of the discard pile or the stock, then discard one card.
- Melds are sets (3–4 cards of the same rank) or runs (3+ cards in a row of one suit, ace low). Unmatched cards are deadwood: aces 1, number cards their value, J/Q/K 10.
- With deadwood of 10 or less you may knock. The other player then adds their cards to your melds (laying off).
- Knocker scores the difference in deadwood. Gin (no deadwood) scores 25 + the opponent’s deadwood. If the opponent has the same or less deadwood, they score 25 + the difference (undercut).