How many cards do you get in Gin Rummy?

Each player gets 10 cards. The next card is turned face up to start the discard pile, and the rest of the deck is the stock.

Can you knock on your first turn in Gin Rummy?

Yes. Any turn, including your first, you can knock after drawing if your deadwood is 10 or less. You don't have to knock; you can keep playing for gin.

Is an ace high or low in Gin Rummy?

Low. An ace counts 1 point and runs below the 2, so A-2-3 is a run and Q-K-A is not.

What is the difference between knocking and gin?

Knocking ends the hand with up to 10 points of deadwood, and the other player can lay off cards on your melds. Gin is going out with no deadwood at all: it scores a 20-point bonus, the other player can't lay off, and it can't be undercut.

What happens when the stock runs out in Gin Rummy?

If the player who takes the third-to-last card of the stock throws without knocking, the hand is cancelled. Nobody scores, and the same dealer deals again.

How to play Gin Rummy: rules for 2 players, step by step

Gin Rummy is a card game for 2 players with a 52-card deck. Each player gets 10 cards. On your turn you take the top card of the stock or the discard pile, then throw 1 card away. You try to sort your hand into melds: sets of 3 or 4 cards of 1 rank, and runs of 3 or more cards in a row in 1 suit. Cards outside a meld are deadwood. When your deadwood adds up to 10 or less you can knock to end the hand, and you score the difference between your deadwood and your opponent's.

The rules below are the standard 2-player game as pagat.com describes it, which is also how Card Table plays it. If you already know how a hand works and only want the points, go to Gin Rummy scoring.

The deal

One player deals 10 cards each, one at a time. The 21st card goes face up beside the deck to start the discard pile, and the rest of the deck is the stock, face down. After the first hand, whoever won the last hand deals.

The first turn has a small extra rule. The player who didn’t deal may take the face-up card. If they pass, the dealer may take it. If both pass, the non-dealer draws from the stock instead, and play goes on as normal.

What do you do on your turn?

Every turn has 2 parts, always in this order:

Draw 1 card, either the top card of the stock (unseen) or the top card of the discard pile (seen by both of you).
Throw 1 card face up on the discard pile.

You always end your turn holding 10 cards. The one thing you can’t do is take the top discard and throw it straight back on the same turn.

Taking from the discard pile tells your opponent what you’re collecting, so many players take from it only when the card finishes or extends a meld.

Sets, runs and deadwood

A meld is either:

a set: 3 or 4 cards of 1 rank, such as 7♠ 7♥ 7♦;
a run: 3 or more cards in a row in 1 suit, such as 4♥ 5♥ 6♥.

Aces are low, so A-2-3 is a run and Q-K-A isn’t. Each card can be in only 1 meld at a time.

Every card that isn’t in a meld is deadwood, and it counts against you: aces 1, number cards their face value, and jacks, queens and kings 10 each. The whole game is about getting that number down.

A hand played through

Say you’re dealt 7♠ 7♥ 7♦ 4♥ 5♥ 6♥ K♠ 2♠ 9♣ Q♦.

The three 7s are a set and the 4-5-6 of hearts is a run. That leaves K♠, 2♠, 9♣ and Q♦ as deadwood: 10 + 2 + 9 + 10 = 31.

On your turn the top discard is the 3♥. It extends your run to 3-4-5-6, so you take it. Now you hold 11 cards and must throw 1. The queen of diamonds is the costliest card that helps nothing, so it goes. Your deadwood is now K♠ 2♠ 9♣: 21.

A few turns later you hold your 2 melds plus A♣ 2♠ 3♣ K♦. Throw the K♦ and your deadwood is 1 + 2 + 3 = 6. That is 10 or less, so you can knock.

When can you knock?

After you draw, you may knock if your deadwood would be 10 or less once you’ve thrown your last card. To knock, lay that card face down on the discard pile and spread your hand face up, melds grouped and deadwood to the side.

Knocking is never required. With a low hand early, you might keep drawing to try for gin, at the risk that your opponent goes out first.

Your opponent then spreads their hand too, and may lay off: add their deadwood cards to your melds. If you knocked with a run of 3-4-5-6 of hearts, their 7♥ can go on the end, and it no longer counts against them. The knocker never lays off.

Then you compare deadwood. If yours is lower, you score the difference. If theirs is the same or lower, that’s an undercut, and they score the difference plus a bonus.

What is gin?

Gin is knocking with no deadwood at all: all 10 cards in melds. It scores a bonus of 20 plus your opponent’s deadwood, your opponent can’t lay off, and gin can’t be undercut.

How does the game end?

Hands are added up until one player reaches 100 points. That player wins and gets a game bonus, and both players get a bonus for every hand they won. The full table, with a whole game added up, is in Gin Rummy scoring.

If the stock gets down to its last 2 cards and the player who took the third-to-last card throws without knocking, the hand is cancelled. No one scores, and the same dealer deals again.

Practise a hand

Card Table teaches these rules on the table: a short lesson has you tap cards into a set and a run, draw, throw and knock, using the same hand as above, and a Hint button suggests a play whenever you want one. It also plays Cribbage, with the same table and the same deck, and the computer is built to see only its own cards.