How do you play Gin Rummy?

Gin Rummy is the most popular two-player member of the Rummy family, and its loop is quick to learn: draw a card, improve your hand, discard, and race to organise your cards into melds before your opponent does.

Quick answer: Gin Rummy is a two-player game. Each player gets 10 cards and takes turns drawing one card from the stock or discard pile, then discarding one. You arrange your hand into melds - sets and runs - and end the hand by knocking once your leftover deadwood is 10 points or less, or by going Gin with no deadwood at all.

Dealing and the goal

Gin Rummy uses a standard 52-card deck with no jokers. The dealer gives each player 10 cards, turns the next card face up to start the discard pile, and leaves the rest face down as the stock. Your goal is to arrange your hand into melds - three-of-a-kind or four-of-a-kind sets, and same-suit runs - while keeping your unmatched cards, called deadwood, as low as possible.

Your turn: draw and discard

On each turn you draw one card, either the top of the stock or the top of the discard pile, then discard one card face up. That is the whole rhythm. You are constantly deciding which cards bring you closer to a complete meld and which are dead weight. Aces are low in Gin Rummy, so a run goes Ace-2-3 and never wraps past the King.

Ending the hand

You end the hand by knocking once your deadwood totals 10 points or less, or by going Gin when every card is melded and your deadwood is zero. The player with less deadwood scores the difference. Games are usually played to 100 points. New here? The rules hub shows every step with pictures.

Play Gin Rummy

Related questions

What is a meld in Rummy?

A meld is any valid group of cards in Rummy. There are two kinds: a set (also called a group or book), which is three or four cards of the same rank, and a run (also called a sequence), which is three or more consecutive cards of the same suit. Turning your cards into melds is the entire object of every Rummy game.

What does it mean to knock in Gin Rummy?

Knocking is how you end a hand of Gin Rummy without going Gin. Once your unmatched deadwood totals 10 points or less, you can knock: place your final discard face down, lay out your melds, and reveal your deadwood. Your opponent then lays off cards, and the player with the lower deadwood total scores the difference.

How do you go Gin in Gin Rummy?

You go Gin when every card in your hand is part of a meld and your deadwood is zero. On your turn, you draw, arrange all 10 cards into sets and runs, and discard your final card face down. Going Gin earns a bonus of 25 points on top of your opponent's deadwood, and unlike a knock, your opponent cannot lay off or undercut you.