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May 2, 02:49 AM: Gin Rummy
Gin (or Gin Rummy) is a simple and popular two-player card game created by Elwood T. Baker in 1909. Gin, which evolved from 18th-century Whiskey Poker (according to John Scarne), was created with the intention of being faster than standard rummy, but not as spontaneous as knock rummy.
Gin is played with a standard 52-card pack of playing cards with Aces are played only as low.
The objective in Gin Rummy is to score more points than your opponent. The basic game strategy is to improve one’s hand by forming melds and eliminating deadwood. Two types of meld exist:
- Sets of 3 or 4 cards sharing the same rank.
- Runs of 3 or more cards in sequence, of the same suit.
A player’s “deadwood” cards are those not in any meld. His 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. Intersecting melds are not allowed; therefore, if a player has a 3-card set and a 3-card run sharing a common card, he can only count one of them and must count two cards as deadwood.
Dealership alternates from round to round (the dealer to the first round is usually determined by cutting the deck; low card deals). The dealer deals a ten-card hand to his opponent and himself. The 21st card, the upcard, is placed face-up in a central location known as the discard pile. The remainder of the pack, placed face down next to the discard pile, is called the stock pile. The non-dealing player has the option of taking the upcard and playing first. If he or she does not, the option to take the upcard passes to the dealer. If the dealer does not want the upcard, play proceeds with the non-dealing player taking a card from the stock pile.
On each turn, a player:
- draws either the (face-up) top card of the discard pile, or one card from the stock pile
- may “knock”, ending the round, under certain conditions
- discards one card from his or her hand onto the discard pile
Play continues, in alternating turns, until one player knocks or only 2 cards remain in the stock pile. In that case, the hand would end in a draw.
In standard Gin, a player may not knock unless he has 10 or fewer points of deadwood. He must knock if he has 0 points of deadwood (known as going Gin or having a Gin hand). To knock, the knocking player ends his turn by discarding as usual, announces that he is knocking (generally by simply placing his discard face down), and lays his hand out with the melds clearly indicated and deadwood separated. The other (“defending”) player is then entitled to lay off any of his deadwood cards that fit into the knocking player’s melds.
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. If the knocking player has gone gin, however, the defending player is not allowed to lay off.
The number of points awarded for bonuses may vary from region to region. No matter what the bonus amounts are, 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 their opponent’s hand. There is no chance to lay off when a player goes Gin.
UnderCut – (sometimes called underknocking) occurs when the defending player has a deadwood count lower than or equal to that of the knocking player. In this case, the defender scores an undercut bonus of 25 points plus the difference between the two hands. (In some rule sets, the bonus is only 10 or 20 points, or is not awarded in case of a tie.)
Game Bonus – once a player has acquired 100 points (or some other agreed upon number) the match is over, and that player receives a Game Bonus of 100 points.
Line Bonus – (also known as a box bonus) is added at the end of the match. For every hand a player won during the match, 25 points is added to their score.
Big Gin – prior to knocking, if all 11 cards in a player’s hand form a legal gin, the player can retain the extra card as part of their hand, and is awarded an extra 6 points per the “Big Gin” bonus.
Shutout Bonus – if a match is completed with the winner having won every hand, the points for each hand are doubled before adding the Line Bonus.
