About Gin Rummy
Draw, discard and turn ten cards into sets and runs. Knock with a little deadwood or keep playing for gin, risking an undercut if your opponent can lay off enough cards.
Play Learner or Careful, inspect finished hands and the reasons behind the opponent’s choices. Fastest win and fewest hands have independent records.
How to play
- Goal
- Reach 100 points before your opponent by making melds and reducing your unmelded cards.
- How it ends
- A match ends when either player reaches 100 points; that player wins.
- Record
- Your fastest win and fewest hands are kept for each opponent; the ten best of each enter that opponent's public Top 10.
- Each player gets 10 cards. Draw one from the face-down stock or take the face-up upcard, then discard one. You cannot immediately return an upcard you just took.
- A meld is 3 or 4 cards of one rank, or at least 3 consecutive cards of one suit. Ace is low; Q–K–A does not work. Each card belongs to only one meld.
- Unmelded cards are deadwood: aces count 1, picture cards 10, and other ranks their number. The displayed count uses your best available melds without choosing a discard.
- Select a discard and choose Knock when the remaining deadwood is 10 or less. Choose your declared meld layout before seeing the other hand. You may instead discard normally and keep playing.
- The defender forms melds and lays cards onto your declared melds. Lower deadwood wins the difference; a tie or better defender count earns the defender 25 plus the difference, an undercut.
- Zero deadwood is gin: score 25 plus the defender’s deadwood, with no layoffs. Reach 100 to win. Hand review explains melds, layoffs and the points.
- A stock draw leaving two cards may still end in a knock; otherwise the hand is canceled without points. Every dealt hand counts toward Fewest hands.
Controls
| Input | Action |
|---|---|
| Tap or click piles and cards | Draw, select a discard, then choose Discard or Knock |
| Sort | Change hand arrangement without playing a card |
| Arrow keys, then Enter or Space | Move focus and activate a card |
| Tab / Escape / ? | Reach controls / close a panel or open Menu / open rules |
| R | Request Restart with confirmation |
Tips
- Read the upcard Taking a visible card shows your opponent something about your hand. Consider what you discard after picking it up.
- Choose the declaration Two meld layouts can allow different layoffs. The smallest deadwood is not always the safest knock.
Good to know
The clock keeps running in menus. A complete Practice win may improve personal bests. Numbered matches keep separate saves. Music, Effects and Reduced motion are independent settings. Browser storage is needed to retain progress.
Watch how to play
Questions
Does the computer know my cards?
It chooses from its own hand and visible play. Finished-hand review reveals both hands and the reasons recorded when the opponent chose.
Can I change the rules?
This game uses one classic profile: a 100-point match with 25-point gin and undercut bonuses, no stock recycling, Big Gin or box bonuses.
Can a loss set a fastest-win record?
No. Both success records require a complete match win. Fewest hands includes canceled hands.
