Gin Rummy

Overview

This is standard two-handed Gin Rummy: one 52-card pack, ten cards each, and the first player past 100 points wins the game.

The deal and the first turn

Each player gets ten cards. The next card is turned face up to start the discard pile and the rest forms the stock. The non-dealer is offered that upcard first; if they pass, the dealer may take it; if both pass, the non-dealer draws from the stock and play begins. The deal alternates every hand.

Your turn

Draw one card, from the stock or the top of the discard pile, then discard one. A card you have just taken from the discard pile cannot be thrown straight back the same turn.

Melds and deadwood

A run is three or more cards in sequence in one suit; a set is three or four cards of the same rank. Each card can belong to only one meld. Aces are always low: A-2-3 is a run, Q-K-A is not.

Everything left over is deadwood: aces count 1, number cards their face value, and jacks, queens and kings 10. The game works out your best arrangement for you and shows your deadwood under your hand.

Knocking and going gin

Once your deadwood is 10 or less you may knock after drawing: discard, lay your hand down, and the hand ends. You are never forced to knock. Knocking with no deadwood at all is gin, worth a 25-point bonus, and gin can never be undercut.

Laying off and the undercut

Against an ordinary knock, the defender may lay off deadwood onto the knocker's melds. Nothing can be laid off against gin. If the defender's deadwood then ends up equal to or lower than the knocker's, that is an undercut: the defender scores the difference plus 25, and the knocker scores nothing.

Scoring and winning

An ordinary knock scores the difference between the two deadwood counts. When someone passes 100, the winner adds 100 for the game and 25 for every hand they won; if the loser never scored at all, the winner's total is doubled. If the stock is worn down to two cards with nobody knocking, the hand is abandoned and dealt again.

Strategy tips

• Knock early when you can: waiting for gin gives your opponent time to undercut you.
• Shed high cards that are not in a meld; a stray king is ten points of risk.
• Watch the discards. If your opponent picks up a card, avoid throwing them its neighbours.
• Keep flexible pairs that can grow into either a run or a set.

Play Gin Rummy online

Choose Play Online to join the Gin lobby and challenge another player. Browser players and the Rummymates Android app share the same lobby, so a laptop and a phone can play each other. Set your name in Settings so friends can find you.

Controls

• Tap the stock or the discard pile to draw. On the first turn use Take or Pass for the upcard.
• Tap a card to select it, then Discard to end your turn, or Knock once your deadwood is 10 or less.
• Sort rearranges your hand; you can also drag cards into your own order. Melded cards sit on a green plate.

If you like Gin Rummy

Canasta is the bigger rummy game of melds and canastas, Rummymates is 13-card Indian Rummy, and 31 (Scat) is a quicker draw-and-discard game.