Gin Rummy rules: how to play the classic two-player game

The object of the game

Gin Rummy is a card game for two in which each player tries to arrange their ten cards into melds — sets of the same rank or runs of the same suit — and shed the cards that do not fit. Cards outside a meld are called deadwood, and each one counts against you. A hand ends when one player either knocks with ten or fewer points of deadwood or goes gin with none at all. Points are scored on the difference in deadwood, and the first player to 100 points wins the game.

That is the whole game in four sentences. Everything below is the detail that makes it work.

Cards, players and the deal

You need a standard 52-card deck with no jokers. Aces are low: they sit below the two and never above the king, so ace-two-three is a run and queen-king-ace is not. For counting deadwood, face cards are worth 10 points each, aces are worth 1, and every other card is worth its face value.

Each player is dealt ten cards. The next card is turned face up to start the discard pile and the rest of the deck goes face down beside it as the stock. The non-dealer takes the first turn and has a choice: take the face-up card, or pass. If the non-dealer passes, the dealer may take it or pass in turn. If both pass, the non-dealer draws from the stock and normal play begins. Whoever takes the first upcard must discard a different card; you cannot take it and put it straight back.

The deal alternates in some circles and goes to the loser of the previous hand in others. Agree which before you start.

Sets, runs and deadwood

A meld is a group of three or more cards that belong together in one of two ways:

• A set is three or four cards of the same rank, such as 7♣ 7♥ 7♠.
• A run is three or more cards of the same suit in consecutive order, such as 4♦ 5♦ 6♦ 7♦.

A card can belong to only one meld at a time. If you hold 7♣ 7♥ 7♠ together with 5♠ 6♠, the 7♠ cannot serve both the set and the run. When you lay the hand down you choose whichever arrangement leaves the least deadwood.

Deadwood is everything that is not in a meld, and its value is the total of those cards’ point values. A hand of two melds plus 4♥ and K♣ has 14 points of deadwood. Keeping that number low is the entire craft of the game, and the strategy guide covers how.

A turn: draw, then discard

On your turn you draw one card, either the top card of the stock or the top card of the discard pile, and then discard one card face up. You always finish a turn holding ten cards. You may not draw the top discard and put the same card straight back.

Taking from the discard pile is public: your opponent sees the card and can infer what you are collecting. Taking from the stock is private. That trade-off between the certain card and the hidden card is where most of the game’s decisions live.

If the stock runs down to two cards and nobody has knocked, the hand is void and the same dealer deals again. Some groups play to the last card; the two-card rule is the standard.

Knocking, going gin and laying off

A hand ends when a player chooses to end it. There are two ways to do so, and both happen after drawing, by placing your final discard face down.

Knocking

If your deadwood totals 10 points or fewer after your discard, you may knock. You lay your melds face up, set your deadwood aside, and your opponent then lays down their own melds. Knocking is optional: a player with a low count may keep playing for gin if they judge the risk worth it.

Laying off

After a knock, the opponent may lay off any of their deadwood onto the knocker’s melds — adding a fourth 7 to a set of 7s, say, or extending a run at either end. Cards laid off no longer count as deadwood. The knocker cannot lay off, and nothing may be laid off on a gin hand.

Going gin

If all ten of your cards are in melds after your discard, you go gin. Your deadwood is zero, your opponent cannot lay anything off, and you earn a bonus on top of the deadwood difference.

The undercut

If you knock and your opponent’s deadwood, after laying off, is equal to or lower than yours, you have been undercut. The opponent scores the difference plus an undercut bonus, and you score nothing for the hand. This is the penalty that keeps early knocking honest.

Scoring a hand

A worked example: you knock with 6 points of deadwood. Your opponent lays off one card and is left with 19, so you score 13. If instead they lay off enough to get down to 5, they have undercut you: they score the 1-point difference plus 25, for 26, and you score nothing.

Playing to 100: line and box bonuses

Hands are played until one player’s running total reaches 100 points; some play to 150 or 250. Once that happens the game is settled with bonuses:

• The winner adds a game bonus of 100 points.
• Each player adds a line bonus (also called a box bonus) of 25 points for every hand they won.
• If the loser won no hands at all, the winner’s game bonus is doubled to 200. This is a shutout, sometimes called a schneider or a blitz.

The final margin is the difference between the two totals. That matters if you are keeping a running tally across several games; for a single friendly game, most people stop at 100 and call it.

How does Piece of Cake play it?

The turn itself is the traditional one. You take one card from the stock or the discard pile, then discard one card to end your turn. Sets are three or more cards of the same value, runs are three or more cards in sequence of the same suit, and cards outside a meld are deadwood that counts against you.

The other difference is the size of the table. Traditional Gin Rummy is a duel; Piece of Cake adapts it for two to fourteen players by adding extra decks. Each round, the player who goes gin wins that round and leaves the table, everyone else is redealt, and the rounds continue until only one player remains — and that last player left is the loser. It plays as a game of elimination rather than a race to 100 points. The full in-app rules are under Profile, then Rules, then Gin Rummy, and every move is validated server-side, so nobody can see another hand or fudge a turn.

The guides that sit next to this one are Switch rules and Farkle rules and scoring.

Frequently asked questions

Can you knock in Gin Rummy with exactly 10 points?

Yes. In the traditional game you may knock whenever your deadwood, after discarding, totals 10 points or fewer. Knocking is optional, and it carries the risk of being undercut if your opponent can get to the same count or lower after laying off.

What is the difference between knocking and going gin?

Knocking ends the hand with up to 10 points of deadwood, lets your opponent lay off cards onto your melds, and scores only the difference in deadwood. Going gin ends the hand with zero deadwood, blocks any lay-offs, and adds a 25-point bonus to your opponent’s full deadwood count.

How many cards do you get in Gin Rummy?

Ten each, from a standard 52-card deck with no jokers. Aces are low, so they count 1 point and can only start a run, never finish one after the king.

Does Piece of Cake let you knock?

No. In Piece of Cake the only way to end a round is to go gin with zero deadwood. The app also seats up to fourteen players using extra decks: the player who goes gin leaves the table each round and the last player left is the loser.

What happens if the stock runs out before anyone knocks?

Under the standard rule, once the stock is down to two cards with no knock, the hand is void and is redealt by the same dealer. Nobody scores for it.

Independent guide: the rules described here are the traditional versions of each game; where Piece of Cake plays a variant, the guide says so explicitly. TritonApps is not affiliated with any games publisher.