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Gin Rummy Rules: How to Play Gin Rummy, Step by Step

Gin rummy is a two-player card game. You draw and discard to build your hand into sets and runs, and when the cards left over add up to 10 points or less, you knock to end the hand. The first player to 100 points wins.

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Gin rummy at a glance

Melds and deadwood

A meld is a group of cards that belong together. There are two kinds:

• Set: three or four cards of the same rank, such as 9♣ 9♦ 9♠.
• Run: three or more cards in sequence in the same suit, such as 5♥︎ 6♥︎ 7♥︎.

Ace is always low: A-2-3 is a run, but Q-K-A is not. Each card can belong to only one meld at a time.

Cards that aren’t in a meld are deadwood. Deadwood is counted by value:

Example. The hand 5♥︎ 6♥︎ 7♥︎ · 9♣ 9♦︎ 9♠ · K♣ Q♦︎ 3♠ 2♦︎ has a run and a set. The deadwood is K + Q + 3 + 2 = 25.

The deal

To choose the first dealer, each player cuts the deck. In our game the lower card deals; some players let the higher card choose instead. After that, the deal alternates each hand.

The dealer gives 10 cards to each player, one at a time. The next card is turned face up to start the discard pile, and the rest of the deck is placed face down beside it as the stock.

The first card

The dealer’s opponent may take the face-up card to start. If they don’t want it, the dealer may take it. If both pass, the dealer’s opponent draws the top card of the stock, and play continues normally.

Taking a turn

1. Draw one card: either the top card of the discard pile or the top card of the stock.
2. Discard one card face up onto the discard pile. You may not throw back the card you just took from the discard pile in the same turn.

Remember that your opponent sees every card you take from the discard pile. Taking a 7 tells them you are collecting 7s or cards near it.

If only two cards are left in the stock and nobody has knocked, the hand is a draw and nobody scores.

Knocking and going gin

After you draw, if you can discard and be left with 10 points or less of deadwood, you may knock: discard, then lay your cards face up, arranged into melds and deadwood. The hand is over.

If your deadwood is zero, every card is in a meld, and that is called going gin. Gin earns a bonus and your opponent can’t lay off any cards.

You don’t have to knock as soon as you can. Waiting might get you to gin, but it gives your opponent more turns to lower their own deadwood.

Laying off

When you knock (but not when you go gin), your opponent lays out their own melds and may then lay off their deadwood cards onto your melds, as long as the cards fit:

• the fourth card of one of your sets, or
• a card that extends one of your runs at either end, in the same suit, and they can keep extending it.

Laid-off cards no longer count as deadwood for your opponent. Only the player who didn’t knock can lay off.

How to score gin rummy

Only the player who wins the hand scores. Count each player’s deadwood (aces 1, number cards their value, face cards 10), then:

A knock, worked through

You knock holding 4♠ 5♠ 6♠ · K♥︎ K♦︎ K♣ · 9♥︎ 9♣ 9♦︎ with 3♥︎ left over: 3 deadwood.

Your opponent holds A♣ A♦︎ A♥︎ · 2♣ 3♣ 4♣ · 7♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♦︎. They meld the aces and the club run, then lay off the 7♠ on your 4-5-6♠ run. Their deadwood is Q + J + 10 = 30.

You score 30 − 3 = 27.

An undercut

If you knock with 8 deadwood and your opponent ends up with only 5 after laying off, they have undercut you. They score 8 − 5 + 25 = 28.

Winning the game

Scores carry over from hand to hand. The first player to reach 100 points wins the game. Then the bonuses are added:

The difference between the two totals is the margin of victory. Many families use slightly different bonus amounts. These are the ones our game uses.

Gin rummy for three or four players

Gin rummy is made for two. A hand of gin is always one player against one other, so groups of three or four take turns or split into pairs. These are the usual ways. The game on this site is the two-player version, against the computer.

Three players

1. Everyone cuts the deck. The player with the lowest card sits out the first hand and deals it to the other two.
2. The other two play a normal two-player hand: 10 cards each, knock with 10 or less, the same scoring as above.
3. The loser of each hand sits out the next one and deals it. The winner stays in and plays the player who was sitting out.

Each player keeps their own score, and the first to reach 100 wins.

Four players

1. Play as two teams of two.
2. Each player plays a separate two-player hand against one member of the other team, so two hands go on at once.
3. When both hands are over, each team adds up what its two players scored. The team with more points wins the difference.
4. For the next hand, partners switch opponents, so you play against each member of the other team in turn.

Team games are usually played to a higher target, such as 125 points, because points arrive from two hands at a time.

If you would rather have everyone in one hand at the same table, Rummy 500 is the rummy game built for that: it takes two to eight players.

Tips for beginners

• Throw high, unmatched cards early. A lone King costs 10 points if your opponent knocks.
• Watch the discard pile. Every card your opponent picks up is a clue. Avoid discarding cards that fit with it.
• Knock early when you can. Early in the hand your opponent usually has a lot of deadwood, so a quick knock often scores well.
• Keep flexible cards. A 7♥ next to 8♥ and another 7 can grow into either a run or a set.

Gin rummy words

Meld

A set (same rank) or a run (same suit, in sequence) of three or more cards.

Deadwood

Cards not in any meld, and their total value.

Knock

Ending the hand with 10 or less in deadwood.

Gin

Knocking with no deadwood at all.

Undercut

When the player who didn’t knock has as little deadwood as the knocker, or less.

Lay off

Adding your deadwood cards to the knocker’s melds.

Stock

The face-down pile you draw from.

Upcard

The first face-up card that starts the discard pile.

Box (line)

A hand won, worth a 25-point bonus at the end of the game.

Shutout (schneider)

Winning a game in which the opponent didn’t win a single hand.

Seven-card gin rummy

Gin rummy is dealt 10 cards each, and there is no official seven-card version. When people search for seven-card gin, they usually mean one of two home games:

• Basic rummy. With three or four players, rummy is often dealt 7 cards each, and melds are laid on the table as you go. That game is closer to our Rummy 500.
• Quick gin for two. Deal 7 cards each and take turns exactly as in gin: draw from the stock or the discard pile, then discard. Because seven cards make one group of three and one of four, most families skip knocking and play to gin only: the first player whose seven cards are all in melds after discarding wins the hand and scores the deadwood left in the other hand.

Agree on which version you’re playing before the deal. The game on this site uses the standard 10-card rules.

Common questions