Gin Rummy Rules:
Gin Rummy is
a two player card game using a standard deck of 52 cards. The
Face cards (Jack, Queen, King) are worth 10 points, and the
number cards (Ace - Ten) are worth their number value (Ace
being 1).
The game is played in turns, with each player trying to
collect suits that are either three or four of a kind (three
aces, four kings, etc.) or three or more cards in consecutive
order (ace, two, three, four; ten, jack, queen; etc)
The dealer shuffles and deals ten cards to each player. The
deck is placed between the players with one card turned face
up. This card is the discard pile, the remainder of the deck
is the draw pile. Play begins with the non-dealer.
On the players turn they may either draw one card from the top
of the discard pile, or they may take the top card from the
draw pile. The goal is to start making suits with your cards
as soon as possible. Players try to complete as many suits as
possible before their opponent. When a player is done with his
turn he discards one card to the discard pile.
At any time during a players turn, before they discard, the
player can declare Gin, sometimes called “knocking”. At
this point the player puts all their cards face up on the
table. Any cards that are in suits are ignored, and points are
calculated for any cards that are not in suits. If all the
cards in the players hand can be placed into suits the player
has completed a “Gin” and scores 25 points.
Points are then calculated for all the non suited cards in
both hands. If the player who knocked has a lower point total
they score the difference between the two hands. Otherwise the
other player scores 10 points, plus the difference in the two
hands.
The
opponent who didn’t knock may play their cards into any of
the knockers suits.
If after any player discards there are only two cards in the
draw pile the turn is considered a draw, and the players
reshuffle and re-deal. Rounds are played until one player
reaches an agreed upon total (usually 100).
