How to play Gin Rummy
Gin Rummy is a two-player card game about arranging a hand into melds while carrying as little loose 'deadwood' as possible. Draw a card, discard a card, and knock when your hand is tidy enough.
The goal
Build your ten-card hand into melds and cut your deadwood to ten or fewer, then knock to end the hand and score the difference. Reach the target score — 100 here — to win the match.
The deal
Both players are dealt ten cards. One card is turned face up to start the discard pile and the rest form the face-down stock. You play the lower seat against a single AI opponent.
Your turn
On each turn you first draw one card — the top of the stock, or the visible top of the discard pile — then discard one card face up. You may not discard the very card you just took from the discard pile.
Melds: runs and sets
A run is three or more cards of the same suit in sequence, like 5-6-7 of hearts. A set is three or four cards of the same rank, like three nines. A card can belong to only one meld at a time.
Deadwood and knocking
Every card outside a meld is deadwood, counted at face value — aces one, numbers their pips, faces ten. When your deadwood totals ten or fewer, you may knock: discard, lay down your melds, and end the hand.
Gin and laying off
Melding all ten cards for zero deadwood is Gin, worth a 25-point bonus, and the defender cannot lay off. On an ordinary knock, the defender may 'lay off' their deadwood onto your melds — extending runs or completing sets — to shrink their own count.
Scoring and the undercut
The knocker scores the difference between the two deadwood totals. But if the defender ties or beats the knocker's deadwood, they 'undercut' and score the difference plus a 25-point bonus instead. First player to the target score wins.
Common questions
- Can the ace be high in a run?
- No. The ace is always low here, so A-2-3 is a valid run but Q-K-A is not. The ace is worth one point as deadwood.
- What happens if the stock runs out?
- If it comes down to the last two cards of the stock with no knock, the hand is washed: no one scores, and a fresh hand is dealt.
- Must I knock as soon as I can?
- No. You can keep playing to reduce your deadwood further, or hold out for Gin — but every extra turn gives your opponent another chance to improve too.
- Does the game save if I leave?
- Yes. The current match and your statistics are stored in your browser, so the score is waiting when you return. Clearing your browsing data resets it.
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