Gin Rummy Rules
Gin Rummy is a member of the Rummy family of games. As with most games there are plenty of variations out there, so the game might not be exactly like you play it or have different points for some things. Below I'll explain the rules we use on this site. I'll start by explaining a few basic concepts, and then go over the gameplay and scoring of the game.
Basic concepts
- Set: Three or four cards of the same rank, for example H8 S8 D8 or H12 S12 D12 C12
- Run: Three or more cards in sequence in the same suit, for example H1 H2 H3 or C6 C7 C8 C9 C10. Aces are always low, never high, and runs can't wrap around, so Q,K,A,2 would not be a legal run.
- Meld: A word for both Sets and Runs. You might for example have three melds, where two af them are sets and one is a run. Each card can only be part of one set or run, for example if you have an 8 you cannot count it both as part of 8,8,8 and 7,8,9.
- Stock: A deck of facedown cards, in the middle of the table. Players draw one card from the stock in every round.
- Discard pile: A pile of faceup cards, placed next to the stock. Players discard one card onto the pile in every round.
- Deadwood: Any cards in your hand that are not part of a meld.
- Knocking: Ending the round by putting a card face down on the discard pile.
- Gin: When all 10 cards in your hand are parts of melds and you have no deadwood.
- Big Gin: When all 10 cards in your hand and the card you just drew are parts of melds, so you have 11 cards, all in melds.
- Lay off: Adding your deadwood cards to an opponents melds.
Gin Rummy Rules. Gin Rummy is a member of the Rummy family of games. As with most games there are plenty of variations out there, so the game might not be exactly like you play it or have different points for some things.
Objective
The objective of Gin Rummy is to collect cards into melds and have as little deadwood as possible at the end of a game. The game is scored based on how much deadwood you have at the end of each game. A game can span several rounds, it's over when one player reaches 100 points. At that point grand total for each player is calculated, with bonuses, and the player with the highest score wins the whole game.
Gameplay
Each player gets 10 cards. The remaining deck is put on the table between the players face down, and one card is put face up besides the deck to start the discard pile.
In each turn a player must start by drawing one card. He can either draw the top card from the deck or the top card from the discard pile. Generally you only draw the top card from the discard pile if you know that the card will help you create a meld with some of the other cards in your hand.
Note: In the first turn, the starting player must choose to either draw the face up card in the board or pass the turn. If the card is drawn, proceed normally. If the turn is passed, the other player gets to make the same choice. If they pass too, the first player takes their turn normally.
After the player has drawn a card he must discard one card by putting it face up on top of the discard pile. If the player has drawn the top card from the discard pile at the start of the turn he may not discard that card until his next turn (also, that wouldn't make any sense at all). He may however discard a card he has just drawn from the deck, or any other card he has in his hand.
The game continues like this, with players drawing and discard cards, while they try to build sets and runs in their hand. The round ends when one player knocks, by discarding a card and putting it face down on the discard pile. The player that knocked (the knocker) then shows his melds and his deadwood by putting it face up on the table. The opponent then shows his melds and deadwood. The opponent is allowed to lay off any of his deadwood cards onto the knocker's melds if he can. For example if the knocker had a meld, H1 H2 H3 and the opponent has a H4 as part of his deadwood he can add it to the knocker's meld, and then it won't count as deadwood anymore. The knocker cannot do the same, he can never lay off his deadwood. Additionally, if the knocker has Gin or Big Gin (no deadwood) then the opponent is not allowed to lay off any cards.
There are some rules for when you can knock. They vary between different versions, but this is how it's done on this site: You may only knock if you end up with 10 or fewer points of deadwood (human cards count as 10, aces as 1 and other cards their numeric values). The card you knock with (put facedown on the discard pile) is not included in that number. So, if you have just drawn and you have 3,5,9 as deadwood you would be allowed to knock with the 9, and then you'd end up with 3+5=8 points as deadwood.
Knocking with no deadwood, i.e. all 10 card in you hands forming melds is called going Gin. Going Big Gin is when you have 11 cards in melds, in which case you can say you have Big Gin and the game ends without you discarding the final card facedown.
The game also ends if neither player has knocked and there are only two cards left in the deck. In that case the hand is a tie, and neither player gets any points.
Scoring
Scoring is based on deadwood and bonuses, the actual melds don't actually count for anything, they're only good to minimize your deadwood.
- Knock points: After all lay offs are made, the knocker scores the difference between his deadwood and the opponents deadwood. For example, the knocker has 3 points of deadwood, and the opponent has 21 points of deadwood, then the knocker scores 21-3=18 points.
- Gin Bonus: If a player gets Gin he gets 25 extra points, added to the knock points he already got.
- Big Gin Bonus: If a player gets Big Gin he 31 extra points, added to the knock points he already got.
- Undercut: If a player knocks but the opponent has less or equal deadwood points, then the opponent gets 25 points plus the difference in deadwood points, and the knocker gets 0 points. However, if the knocker gets Gin there is never an undercut, even if the opponent also has 0 deadwood points.
- Game bonus: After a player has reached 100 points he gets a special game bonus, 100 points, added to his overall score.
- Line bonus or box bonus: This bonus is added at the end of the game, and adds 25 points for each hand won during the game.
- Shutout bonus: If the winner won every hand in the game then the points for each hand are doubled before adding the line bonus. I wasn't sure here how to handle it if someone has won all hands except for ones that end in a tie, so for now I'm requiring that you win all hands and none end in a tie to get this bonus. Let me know if you disagree with this.
And that's it. I'm sure there are plenty of people who prefer other rules, but you can never please everyone and these are the rules I'm going with.
Rummy Rules
Rummy is a classic cardgame where the objective is to be the first to get rid of all your cards, by creating melds, which can either be sets, three or four cards of the same rank, e.g. H8 S8 D8, or runs, which are three or more cards of the same suit in a sequence, e.g. H1 H2 H3. Aces are low, and sequences can not wrap around. There are many, many variations of Rummy that exist, this particular implementation is Basic Rummy, or Traditional Rummy.
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Gameplay
The game can have 2,3 or 4 players. If there are only two players they each get 10 cards, if there are three or four player then each player gets 7 cards. After the cards are dealt the deck is put facedown on the table, and one card face up next to it, to start the discard pile. The player to the left of the dealer starts the hand, and gameplay goes as follows:
- Start your turn by drawing card from either the deck or the discard pile.
- If possible, lay down a meld on the table. You are allowed to put down many melds in each round (in some versions only one meld per turn is allowed).
- Lay off cards on existing melds. For example if there's H5 H6 H7 on the table, and you have the H8 you may lay it off on the meld. Who put the meld down in the first place doesn't matter, as soon as a meld is on the table it doesn't belong to anyone anymore, anyone can use it. You are allowed to lay off as many cards as you want, and you may always lay off, also when you haven't put down a meld in the round.
- End your turn by discarding one card onto the discard pile. If you drew from the discard pile you can not discard that card in the same round. If you only have one card left to discard you put it face down on the discard pile and win the game.
The game continues like this until one player has finished all the cards from their hand. A player is not required to end the game by discarding a card onto the discard pile, if he can lay down all his cards in melds, or lay them off on existing melds the may do so, and will win the game.
If the deck is depleted before a player has won, then the discard pile is shuffled and used as a new deck. If the deck is depleted for a second time then the hand is considered a stalemate and finishes with no one getting any points.
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Scoring
The scoring in Rummy is winner-takes-all. When a player has won a round, the cards his opponents still have in their hands are counted and the winner gets points based on them. Face cards are worth 10 points each, aces are 1 point, and other cards are worth their rank, e.g. an 8 is worth 8 points. The points for all the losers are added together and given to the winner. (In some variations each player gets his points as penalty points, but not in this version). The score needed to win the entire game varies based on how many players there are. For 2 players the score is 100 points, for 3 players it's 150 points and for four players the score is 200. When a player reaches the target score he has won the entire game. Since scoring is based on cards left in hand it makes sense to try to meld and lay off as early as possible.
Going Rummy (Rummy bonus)
If a player has not melded or laid off any cards during the game, but can get rid of all his cards in one turn earns a bonus, his points are doubled! This is called Going Rummy, and is a risky move, since you have a lot of cards for a long time, but can really pay off if you manage to do it successfully!
Stalemate
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There are two cases where the game can end in a stalemate. One, as mentioned above, is when the stock has been depleted twice. The other is when the game detects that none of the players will be able to finish their hands. This can for example happen when all players have only one card left, and there are no possible lay offs on the melds on the table. When there's a stalemate all players get 0 points, and the game is considered a loss for all of them in the statistics. The way people handle this in real life varies greatly, but I've chosen this simple method here to avoid complications around two or more players having the same number of points etc.