The goal of the game is to collect a hand that is made up entirely of sets and runs. Sets are 3 or 4 cards of the same number (ie. 7 of hearts, 7 of diamonds, 7 of clubs, and 7 of spades). Runs are 3 or more cards in consecutive order and with the same suit (ie. 3 of spades, 4 of spades, 5 of spades).





;
, Face cards (Jacks, Queens, and Kings) are worth 10 points, Aces are worth 1, and normal number cards are worth the number they represent (ie. a card with a 6 on it is worth 6 points).








Note that aces are always low in Gin Rummy. A-2-3 is a valid run but A-King-Queen is not.
 You will need a standard 52-card deck of playing cards, a pad of paper to keep score on, a pen or pencil, and a friend to play with. Gin Rummy is played between 2 people.









Playing with 3 people: The deal deals to the other two players but does not deal to his/herself. The dealer sits out while the other two players play. The loser of each hand becomes the dealer. The winner and the previous dealer play the next hand.
Playing with 4 people: Pair up into teams of 2. Each player in a team plays a separate game with one of the opposing team members. At the end of the hand, if both players on the same team won, that team scores the total of their points. If one player from each team won, the team with the higher total score scores the difference between the two teams scores. (Playing and Scoring are described in detail below).
 The dealer will deal 10 cards to each player, alternating between players for each card. The players may look at and sort their cards. Set the rest of the cards in a tidy stack in between the two players.
 Place the card face up next to the deck. This card forms the discard pile. The remainder of the deck remains face down on the table to form the stock.
 Begin play by drawing a card either from the top of the deck or from the discard pile and adding it to your hand. This is called The Draw. When you draw from the deck, do not show your opponent your card.
 This is called the Discard. You may not throw away a card that you just drew from the discard pile during the first part of this turn; however, you may throw away a card just drawn from the deck during this turn.
 To knock, throw a card face down on the discard pile and show your remaining cards. You must be able to match almost all of your remaining cards into sets and runs. Any cards you cannot match are called ‘deadwood’. The total score of your deadwood cards must be 10 points or less. A player can knock on any of his








Example of a valid Knock hand: 1 card to discard face down, a set of three 7’s, a run of 3-4-5 in spades, and a 2, a 7, and an ace. In this case, you can lay down your set and run, and your deadwood, when added up, equals 10.
 Players who “go gin” get a special bonus when scoring their points.








An acceptable “going gin” hand would be: 1 card to discard face down, a set of 7’s, a run of 3-4-5 in spades, and a set of 10’s.
 The non-knocker must spread his/her cards face up and create any runs or sets if he/she has the ability to do so.
 If the knocker did not go gin, the non-knocker is allowed to ‘lay off cards’. If the knocker ‘went gin’, the non-knocker cannot lay off cards. After creating any possible runs or sets (refer to the previous step) the non-knocker can lay off his








Example:If the knocker put down a set of 7’s and a run of 3-4-5 in spades, the non-knocker could ‘lay off’ cards by adding a 7 to the set or a 2 or 6 of spades to the run. The non-knocker can extend a run by as many cards as possible (ie. he/she could add a 2, 6, 7 etc. of spades to the run if possible, so long as the numbers in the run remain consecutive).
 If this happens, no score is counted and the same dealer deals the cards again.
 If the knocker goes gin, the knocker scores the non-knocker’s number of deadwood points, plus a 25 point bonus. If the knocker’s score is lower than the non-knocker’s score, the knocker scores the difference between the two totals of deadwood. If the knocker’s score is tied with the non-knocker’s score, or is higher than the non-knocker’s score, the non-knocker scores the difference and gets a bonus of 25 points.








Example of a knocker who went gin: The non-knocker had a total of 21 points of deadwood so the knocker gets 21 points plus the 25 point bonus for a total of 46 points.
Example of a knocker with a lower score: If the knocker had a total of 3 deadwood, and the non-knocker had a total of 12 deadwood, the knocker scores 9.
Example of a knocker and non-knocker with a tied score: If the knocker has a total of 10 deadwood and the non-knocker has 10 deadwood, the non-knocker scores 0 but gets a 25 point bonus.
Example of a knocker with a higher score: If the knocker has 10 deadwood and the non-knocker has 6 deadwood, the non-knocker scores 4 points, plus a 25 point bonus.
 Another common scoring system is: “going gin” earns 20 points, and a non-knocker with a lower deadwood score scores the difference between the two scores and a 10 point bonus.
 The winner gains a 100-point bonus for winning, unless the loser did not score at all, in which case the bonus is 200 points. Both players gain 20 points for each winning hand, totaled at the end of the game, not at the end of each hand. If you are playing for money or tokens, the loser pays the winner the difference between the scores.
Know the object of the game.
Know how many points each card is worth.
Gather your supplies.
Pick a dealer.
Turn over the top card on the deck.
Begin by having the player who did not deal go first.
Discard one card from your hand.
End the hand by ‘Knocking’.
Call “Going Gin” when you are able to Knock but you do not have any deadwood in your hand.
Allow the person who did not knock or go gin to play his/her cards.
Lay off any unmatched cards.
End the hand if there are only 2 cards remaining in the stockpile and the player who took the third to last card from the stock discards a card without knocking.
Count each player’s score of deadwood.
Note that some people play with different scoring systems.
Play until one player reaches 100 points.
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