Basic Steps
The major activity of any game of Gin Rummy is the arranging of cards into what are known as “runs” and “sets”

• A run is built from cards in the same suit, and must contain three more cards, in order. An example of a run is the five, six, seven, and eight of hearts.
• A set is built on cards of the same rank. For instance, a player holding the five of hearts, clubs, and spades could meld them to the table.

A set is simply three or more cards of the same rank.
OR

A run is a sequence of three or more cards, but all in the same suit and in order.
OR

In addition to looking for the availability of runs or sets in the hand, the player is going to have to create a strategy for keeping the value of the deadwood in their hand as low as possible too. This is because Gin Rummy can be won in more than one way, and having too many points in deadwood reduces the player’s chances of winning.
Players will be able to usually win in one of three ways – by Going Gin, Knocking, or Undercutting. It is Knocking and Undercutting that take the value of deadwood into account.
The most basic tool of play, however, is the deck of cards:

Gin Rummy uses a traditional deck of 52 playing cards, with the Jokers removed. All numeric cards are assigned points by the face value. For instance, the three of clubs is worth three points, etc.
All face cards have a ten point value, and all Aces have a value of one point each.

The four suits

The cards and their values
1 point 2 points 3 points 4 points 5 points   6 points 7 points 8 points 9 points 10 points  10 points10 points10 points

How to Play a Game of Gin Rummy
Gin Rummy is a game that requires from two to four players for each round. Should the game have only two players they will each receive ten cards from the deck, and should there be from three to four at the table, they each get seven cards instead.
After dealing out the appropriate number of cards, the dealer then places the remaining cards, face down, in the center of the table. They turn the top card over and lay this next to the deck facing upwards. The pile of cards facing downward is known as the “stock pile”, and the pile with the overturned card is the “discard pile”.
Each player will then take a turn, which demands that they first take a single card from one of the two piles, and add this to their hand. They must complete their turn by placing a single card in the discard pile. If, at any time, the players work their way to the bottom of the stock pile, and have only two cards remaining in the deck, the dealer must shuffle the cards from the discard pile and lay them face down as the new stock pile. The final discarded card remains in place as the first in the new discard pile.

• Going Gin – when a player disposes of all of their cards at a single time, without any deadwood; or
• Knocking – when a player has less than ten points in deadwood, and is the first to layer their cards on the table.

As soon as one player does either of the actions above, the remaining players must stop and layoff their hands too.
Laying Off Cards
Laying off is a last chance to reduce the points remaining in the hand. It allows all but the player who brought the game to a close to reduce the deadwood they are holding by using any runs or sets of other players. This is a strategic way to increase other players’ point counts by discarding cards to their runs and sets, but it cannot be used on a player who has Gone Gin. Should a player have Knocked, however, the next player can use their sets and runs accordingly.
Need an example? A player Knocked to bring the game to a close, and in their hand is a set of fours in all four suits, and a run of six through eight of clubs. Because the first player knocked, the next player can layoff their five and nine of clubs on the other player’s holdings.
The Rules of Laying Off
Naturally, this isn’t a free for all period, and there are a few rules around laying off:

• Using another player’s deadwood to lay off is not acceptable; and
• Using the hand of a player who has Gone Gin is not allowed either.

After the laying off is done it is time to move on to the scoring.
Winning and Scoring
While the most frequent ways to win a game of Gin is through Going Gin and Knocking, there is a third known as Undercutting.

• Undercutting is when a player is holding a lower amount of deadwood than the player who Knocked. This can be determined before the laying off period begins, or it can also be achieved by successfully laying off most of the deadwood in a single hand.

To determine a winner requires the scoring to be done. The scoring must follow some guidelines based on the way the winner actually finished the hand. For instance:

• Going Gin – this automatically assigns 25 points to the opponents PLUS the value of their deadwood;
• Knocking – this automatically assigns the value of the individual deadwood to each opponent, but they REDUCE their count by the value of the Knocker’s total deadwood; and
• Undercutting – this automatically assigns the value of the individual deadwood to the opponents, and the Knocker must take an additional 25 point penalty.

The Payout Table
If a game of Gin Rummy has a pool it is usually distributed along a pre-set plan. Generally the winner gets 75% of the prize, and the remainder is divided between the remaining opponents. Any player who is over 50 points behind the winning score does not get a share.



Click here to see examples.