4/12/2022

Gin Rummy Online 4 Players

Gin Rummy Rules

Gin Rummy is a member of the Rummy family of games. As with most games there are plenty of variations out there, so the game might not be exactly like you play it or have different points for some things. Below I'll explain the rules we use on this site. I'll start by explaining a few basic concepts, and then go over the gameplay and scoring of the game.

Basic concepts

Playing Gin Rummy with friends, family, and millions of players worldwide has never been easier! The objective is simple: Build a winning hand before your opponent. Match cards into sets of the same rank (7, 7, 7) or runs of consecutive cards in one suit (7, 8, 9). See full list on haveagoodtime.at. The game is usually played by 2,3 or 4 players. In our variant you can play Rummy for 4 players where each player scores for himself. All 52 cards from the standard French deck are used in the game. Depending on the session options, the Low Ace or High Ace rule is applied. Yes, there are games that are played with three to four players, and those games do have rule adaptations, but the gin rummy being talked about for the purposes of this strategy guide is a two-player game. This is why the game is fun – there is not too much.

Set: Three or four cards of the same rank, for example H8 S8 D8 or H12 S12 D12 C12
Run: Three or more cards in sequence in the same suit, for example H1 H2 H3 or C6 C7 C8 C9 C10. Aces are always low, never high, and runs can't wrap around, so Q,K,A,2 would not be a legal run.
Meld: A word for both Sets and Runs. You might for example have three melds, where two of them are sets and one is a run. Each card can only be part of one set or run, for example if you have an 8 you cannot count it both as part of 8,8,8 and 7,8,9.
Stock: A deck of facedown cards, in the middle of the table. Players draw one card from the stock in every round.
Discard pile: A pile of faceup cards, placed next to the stock. Players discard one card onto the pile in every round.
Deadwood: Any cards in your hand that are not part of a meld.
Knocking: Ending the round by putting a card face down on the discard pile.
Gin: When all 10 cards in your hand are parts of melds and you have no deadwood.
Big Gin: When all 10 cards in your hand and the card you just drew are parts of melds, so you have 11 cards, all in melds.
Lay off: Adding your deadwood cards to an opponents melds.

Objective

The objective of Gin Rummy is to collect cards into melds and have as little deadwood as possible at the end of a game. The game is scored based on how much deadwood you have at the end of each game. A game can span several rounds, it's over when one player reaches 100 points. At that point grand total for each player is calculated, with bonuses, and the player with the highest score wins the whole game.

Gameplay

Each player gets 10 cards. The remaining deck is put on the table between the players face down, and one card is put face up besides the deck to start the discard pile.

In each turn a player must start by drawing one card. He can either draw the top card from the deck or the top card from the discard pile. Generally you only draw the top card from the discard pile if you know that the card will help you create a meld with some of the other cards in your hand.

Note: In the first turn, the starting player must choose to either draw the face up card in the board or pass the turn. If the card is drawn, proceed normally. If the turn is passed, the other player gets to make the same choice. If they pass too, the first player takes their turn normally.

After the player has drawn a card he must discard one card by putting it face up on top of the discard pile. If the player has drawn the top card from the discard pile at the start of the turn he may not discard that card until his next turn (also, that wouldn't make any sense at all). He may however discard a card he has just drawn from the deck, or any other card he has in his hand.

The game continues like this, with players drawing and discard cards, while they try to build sets and runs in their hand. The round ends when one player knocks, by discarding a card and putting it face down on the discard pile. The player that knocked (the knocker) then shows his melds and his deadwood by putting it face up on the table. The opponent then shows his melds and deadwood. The opponent is allowed to lay off any of his deadwood cards onto the knocker's melds if he can. For example if the knocker had a meld, H1 H2 H3 and the opponent has a H4 as part of his deadwood he can add it to the knocker's meld, and then it won't count as deadwood anymore. The knocker cannot do the same, he can never lay off his deadwood. Additionally, if the knocker has Gin or Big Gin (no deadwood) then the opponent is not allowed to lay off any cards.

There are some rules for when you can knock. They vary between different versions, but this is how it's done on this site: You may only knock if you end up with 10 or fewer points of deadwood (human cards count as 10, aces as 1 and other cards their numeric values). The card you knock with (put facedown on the discard pile) is not included in that number. So, if you have just drawn and you have 3,5,9 as deadwood you would be allowed to knock with the 9, and then you'd end up with 3+5=8 points as deadwood.

Knocking with no deadwood, i.e. all 10 card in you hands forming melds is called going Gin. Going Big Gin is when you have 11 cards in melds, in which case you can say you have Big Gin and the game ends without you discarding the final card facedown.

The game also ends if neither player has knocked and there are only two cards left in the deck. In that case the hand is a tie, and neither player gets any points.

Scoring

Scoring is based on deadwood and bonuses, the actual melds don't actually count for anything, they're only good to minimize your deadwood.

Knock points: After all lay offs are made, the knocker scores the difference between his deadwood and the opponents deadwood. For example, the knocker has 3 points of deadwood, and the opponent has 21 points of deadwood, then the knocker scores 21-3=18 points.
Gin Bonus: If a player gets Gin he gets 25 extra points, added to the knock points he already got.
Big Gin Bonus: If a player gets Big Gin he 31 extra points, added to the knock points he already got.
Undercut: If a player knocks but the opponent has less or equal deadwood points, then the opponent gets 25 points plus the difference in deadwood points, and the knocker gets 0 points. However, if the knocker gets Gin there is never an undercut, even if the opponent also has 0 deadwood points.
Game bonus: After a player has reached 100 points he gets a special game bonus, 100 points, added to his overall score.
Line bonus or box bonus: This bonus is added at the end of the game, and adds 25 points for each hand won during the game.
Shutout bonus: If the winner won every hand in the game then the points for each hand are doubled before adding the line bonus. I wasn't sure here how to handle it if someone has won all hands except for ones that end in a tie, so for now I'm requiring that you win all hands and none end in a tie to get this bonus. Let me know if you disagree with this.

And that's it. I'm sure there are plenty of people who prefer other rules, but you can never please everyone and these are the rules I'm going with.

Rules

Objective

The objective in gin rummy is to score points and reach 100, before your opponent does.

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The basic game strategy is to improve one's hand by forming melds and eliminating deadwood. Gin has two types of meld: Sets of 3 or 4 cards sharing the same rank, e.g. 8♥8♦8♠; and runs of 3 or more cards in sequence, of the same suit. e.g. 3♥4♥5♥ or more. Deadwood cards are those not in any meld. In gin rummy aces are considered low and can form any set of aces but only the low end of runs (e.g. A♠2♠3♠ etc.). Q♠K♠A♠ is not a legal run in gin rummy. A player can form any combination of melds within their hand, whether it contains all sets, all runs, or both.

The deadwood count is the sum of the point values of the deadwood cards - aces are scored at 1 point, face cards at 10, and others according to their numerical values.

Dealing

Dealership alternates from round to round. The dealer deals 10 cards to both players, and then places the next card in the deck face up. This begins the discard pile. The face down pile is known as the stock pile. On the first turn, the non-dealing player has first option of taking the upcard on the discard pile or passing. If the non-dealing player passes the upcard, the dealer is then given the opportunity to take the upcard or pass. If the dealer also passes, the non-dealing player must draw from the stock pile. Once the first upcard has been drawn into a player's hand or both players have passed it, subsequently each player may choose from which pile to draw.

Gameplay

On each turn, a player must: draw either the (up card) top card of the discard pile, or the (face-down) top card from the stock pile, and discard one card from his or her hand onto the discard pile.

Players alternate taking turns until one player ends the round by knocking, going Gin, or until only two cards remain in the stock pile, in which case the round ends in a draw and no points are awarded. The game ends when a player reaches 100 or more points.

Knocking

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A player may only knock if he has 10 or fewer points of deadwood. Knocking with 0 points of deadwood is known as going Gin.

To knock, the knocking player ends his turn by discarding as usual, announces that he is knocking , and lays his hand out with the melds clearly indicated and deadwood separated. The other ('defending') player is then entitled to lay out any melds in his or her hand and can then lay off any of his or her remaining deadwood cards that fit into the knocking player's melds, provided that the knocking player does not have a gin hand.

For example, the knocking player has a meld of three Kings. The defending player has a king as part of his deadwood. He can lay off that king, reducing his deadwood count by ten. The knocking player can never lay off his or her deadwood into the defending player's melds.

The knocking player then subtracts his deadwood points from the defending player's deadwood points. The result is the number of points the knocking player receives. An undercut occurs if a player knocks and the defending player's deadwood points are less or equal than the knocking player's. In this case the defending player receives an undercut bonus (25 points) plus the difference in deadwood points.

Gin

If all 10 or 11 cards in a player's hand fit into melds and thereby the player has no deadwood, player receives a Gin bonus of 25 points plus any deadwood points in the opponent's hand. The defending opponent can only lay out his or her melds and cannot lay off any deadwood into the melds of an opponent that has declared Gin. A player can go Gin with a hand of three or fewer melds as long as all cards fit into a meld.

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Scoring

Aces are scored at 1 point, face cards at 10, and all other cards are scored at their numerical values. Points are scored in Gin for the following:

Knock Points: After a player knocks, and the lay offs are made, the knocking player receives a score equal to the difference between the two hands. For example, if a player knocks with 8, and the defender has 10 deadwood points in his or her hand after laying off, the knocking player receives 2 points for the hand.
Gin Bonus: After going gin, a player receives a bonus of 25 points plus the entire count of deadwood in his opponent's hand. There is no chance to lay off when a player goes gin.
Undercut: Occurs when the defending player has a deadwood count lower than or equal to that of the knocking player (this can occur either naturally or by laying off after a knock). In this case, the defender scores an undercut bonus of 25 points plus the difference between the two hands.