What is deadwood in Rummy?

Deadwood is the enemy in Rummy. Every card you cannot fit into a meld drags down your hand, and learning to shed it quickly is the difference between winning and losing.

Quick answer: Deadwood is the collection of cards in your hand that are not part of any meld - not in a set and not in a run. Each unmatched card carries its point value, and the total is your deadwood count. In Gin Rummy you can only knock when your deadwood is 10 points or less, so keeping it low is everything.

What counts as deadwood

After you form your melds, whatever is left over is deadwood. Each card scores its face value - number cards their pip count, face cards 10 each, and Aces usually 1 in Gin Rummy. Add them up and you have your deadwood total.

Why it decides the hand

In Gin Rummy you can only knock when your deadwood is 10 or less, and when both players reveal, the one with less deadwood wins the difference in points. Reduce yours to zero and you have gone Gin for a bonus.

Managing your deadwood

Good players discard high unmatched cards early, before they get stuck holding a 10-point King with no way to meld it. Watching your deadwood also tells you when an undercut is possible against a careless opponent. Our strategy guide covers the timing.

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Related questions

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.

What are the card values in Rummy?

In most Rummy games, number cards are worth their pip value (a 7 is 7 points), face cards - Jack, Queen and King - are worth 10 each, and the Ace is worth 1. Some games change the Ace: in Rummy 500 an Ace played in a high run counts 15, and in Canasta the values are different again.

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.