Gin Rummy Rules, Scoring and Score Keeper
Gin Rummy is two players, one deck and ten cards each: make sets and runs, keep your loose cards low, and knock before the other player does. The play is the same everywhere. The scoring is not, so this page shows both common systems and lets the score keeper use either one.
Gin Rummy in 30 seconds
- Deal 10 cards each. Turn one card up to start the discard pile; the rest is the stock.
- On your turn, take the top discard or the top of the stock, then discard one card.
- Build sets (3 or 4 of a rank) and runs (3 or more in a row, one suit). Ace is low.
- Cards not in a set or run are deadwood: Ace 1, number cards face value, Jack, Queen and King 10.
- When your deadwood is 10 or less you may knock and end the hand. With no deadwood at all, that is gin.
- The lower deadwood scores the difference, plus bonuses for gin or an undercut. First to 100 wins the game.
Deadwood counter
Deadwood: 0
Scoring settings
Gin Rummy score keeper
How to play
The deal
Use one standard 52-card deck with no jokers. Draw cards to choose the first dealer. The dealer deals 10 cards to each player, one at a time, then turns the next card face up to start the discard pile (the upcard) and puts the rest face down as the stock. After the first hand, the winner of each hand usually deals the next; some tables have the loser deal or simply take turns.
The first turn
The first turn has its own rule. The non-dealer may take the upcard. If they pass, the dealer may take it. If both pass, the non-dealer starts by drawing from the stock. Whoever took a card finishes the turn with a discard, and play goes back and forth from there.
Every turn after that
- Draw the top card of the stock (you see it, the other player does not) or the top card of the discard pile (both of you see it).
- Discard one card face up. You cannot throw back the discard you took this turn.
- Or, if your deadwood after discarding is low enough, knock instead of an ordinary discard.
Melds
A set is three or four cards of one rank: 9♠ 9♥ 9♣. A run is three or more cards in a row in one suit: 4♦ 5♦ 6♦ 7♦. Aces are low, so A-2-3 works and Q-K-A does not. A card can only be in one meld at a time. Holding 7♠ 7♣ 7♦ 8♦ 9♦, the 7♦ can finish the set or the run, not both, so one of the two leaves deadwood behind. The deadwood counter above tries every option and picks the one with the least deadwood left.
Knocking and gin
To knock, draw as usual, then discard face down and lay your hand out in melds with your deadwood beside them. You can knock with 10 points of deadwood or less. If every card is melded, you have gone gin, which earns a bonus and blocks the other player from laying off. You never have to knock; waiting for gin is allowed.
Laying off
After a knock (not a gin), the other player lays out their own melds and may then lay off loose cards onto the knocker's melds: a fourth card on a set of three, or the next card at either end of a run. Cards cannot go onto the knocker's deadwood, and the knocker never lays off on the other player's melds. What is left is the defender's final deadwood.
When the stock runs low
The usual rule: when only two cards are left in the stock and the player who drew the card before them discards without knocking, the hand is dead. Nobody scores and the same dealer deals again. Our keeper has a button for this.
Gin Rummy scoring
Every rule set agrees on the base: when a knock stands, the knocker scores the difference between the two deadwood counts. If the defender ties or beats the knocker, that is an undercut and the defender scores the difference plus a bonus. Gin scores a bonus plus all of the defender's deadwood. Gin can never be undercut.
The bonuses are where tables split. We default to the North American 25s, because a Gettysburg College rules sheet describes 25-point bonuses as common in North America and Wikipedia's article uses the same values, and most of our readers play in the US. The Classic 20/10 values are the main rules on Bicycle and Pagat; the Gettysburg sheet notes they are the usual UK values. Pick either in the settings above, or type your own.
| Score | North American (default) | Classic 20/10 |
|---|---|---|
| Knock that stands | Difference | Difference |
| Undercut (tie counts) | 25 + difference | 10 + difference |
| Gin | 25 + their deadwood | 20 + their deadwood |
| Game | First to 100 | First to 100 |
| Game bonus | 100 | 100 |
| Box (line) bonus, each hand won | 25 | 20 |
| Shutout (loser scored 0) | Winner's hand points doubled | 100 more on the game bonus |
Box bonuses and the game bonus are added only when the game ends, and they do not count toward reaching 100. Pagat also lists tables that play 25 for gin with 20 for an undercut, or 25 for every bonus including each box. Wikipedia lists more regional values. The "My own numbers" setting covers any of them.
A worked hand
The knocker draws and lays out 8♣ 8♦ 8♠ | 3♥ 4♥ 5♥ | J♦ Q♦ K♦, with 2♣ as deadwood: 2 points.
The defender holds 7♦ 7♥ 7♠ | 9♣ 10♣ J♣ and loose 2♦ 6♥ 8♥ K♠, which is 26. They lay off the 6♥ on the heart run and the 8♥ on the 8s, removing 14. Their deadwood drops to 12, and the knocker scores 12 - 2 = 10 under either system.
Change one thing: the knocker knocks with 8 and the defender ends with 6. That is an undercut, worth 27 to the defender in North American scoring (25 + 2) or 12 in the 20/10 scoring (10 + 2).
Strategy that follows from the scoring
- Shed high cards early. A loose King costs 10 and a loose Ace costs 1. Early in a hand, a pair of Kings waiting for a third is a 20-point risk if the other player knocks fast.
- Knock early, wait late. Early in a hand the defender's deadwood is usually high, so a quick knock with 8 or 9 tends to stand. The longer the hand runs, the more melds they have built, the lower their deadwood, and the higher the undercut risk.
- Gin is worth chasing only when it is close. Gin adds the bonus and blocks lay-offs, but every extra turn is another chance for the other player to knock first.
- Read the discard pile. A card the other player picks up from the discards tells you what they are building. Avoid throwing them its neighbors in the same suit or another card of that rank.
- Lay-offs shrink your knock. Before knocking with 10, look at what your melds leave open. A run of 5-6-7 with both the 4 and the 8 still unseen gives the defender two places to unload.
Variations and house rules
- Big Gin (house rule). If all 11 cards meld right after you draw, you lay them all down without discarding. Wikipedia gives 31 as the usual bonus; some tables use 50. Turn it on in the settings.
- Oklahoma Gin (variant). The first upcard sets the knock limit for the hand: a 7 means you need 7 or less, a face card means 10. Pagat describes two more rules often played with it: an Ace upcard means only gin may end the hand, and a spade upcard doubles that hand's score. Set the knock limit to match for each hand.
- Hollywood scoring (variant). Three games are scored at once, each new win also counting in the later games. Keep three keepers if you play it; ours tracks one game.
- Who deals next. Pagat's rules give the deal to the winner of the hand; Bicycle has the winner of the game deal the next game. Either way, agree before the first hand.
Gin Rummy questions
How many cards do you deal in gin rummy?
Ten 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 goes face down beside it as the stock.
How much is gin worth in gin rummy?
A bonus plus all of the other player's deadwood. The bonus is 25 in the scoring most North American players use and 20 in the older 20/10 scoring found on Bicycle and Pagat. Nobody can lay off cards against a gin hand.
What is an undercut in gin rummy?
When a player knocks but the other player's deadwood, after laying off, is the same or lower. The defender then scores the difference plus an undercut bonus: 25 in North American scoring, 10 in the 20/10 scoring.
Can you lay off cards when someone goes gin?
No. Laying off is only allowed when the other player knocks with some deadwood. Against gin, every unmatched card in your hand counts.
Is the ace high or low in gin rummy?
Low only. A, 2, 3 of one suit is a run; Q, K, A is not. An unmatched Ace counts 1 point.
What happens if the stock runs out in gin rummy?
Under the usual rule, once only two cards are left in the stock and the player who drew the card before them discards without knocking, the hand is dead. Nobody scores and the same dealer deals again.