Gin Rummy Rules: How to Play, Score & Win

Gin Rummy is a fast, strategic two-player card game played with a standard 52-card deck. It was invented in 1909 by Elwood T. Baker and his son C. Graham Baker, and it remains one of the most popular two-handed card games in the world. The game blends short rounds with long-term scoring, so a single match usually plays out across multiple hands until one player reaches the target score — most commonly 100 points.

The goal of Gin Rummy is simple to state and surprisingly deep in practice: arrange the ten cards in your hand into melds (sets and runs), reduce the value of your unmatched cards — your deadwood — and end the round before your opponent does. You can end the round by knocking when your deadwood is low, or by going gin when you have no deadwood at all. This page walks through every rule you need, then shows you exactly how scoring works with a reference table and worked examples.

What you need to play

• A standard 52-card deck (no jokers).
• Exactly two players. Variants for 3–4 players exist, but classic Gin Rummy is heads-up.
• A way to keep score — pencil and paper, a notes app, or the Gin Score app.
• A target score, typically 100 points. Some house rules use 150 or 250.

Setting up the deal

Players cut for the deal — low card deals first. Each player is dealt 10 cards, one at a time, face down. The 21st card is turned face up beside the deck to start the discard pile, and the remaining 31 cards form the face-down stock pile. The non-dealer has the first option to take the face-up card. If they decline, the dealer may take it. If both pass, the non-dealer draws from the stock and play proceeds normally.

After each round, the deal alternates. Some informal games let the winner of the previous hand choose who deals — either is fine as long as both players agree before the match starts.

Playing a turn: draw and discard

On every turn, you do two things in order: draw one card, then discard one card. You draw from either the top of the stock pile (a hidden card) or the top of the discard pile (a card your opponent just rejected). After drawing, you must discard one card from your hand face up onto the discard pile. Your hand always returns to exactly 10 cards at the end of your turn.

You may not discard the same card you just drew from the discard pile on the same turn — that would be a wasted move and is disallowed. If the stock pile runs down to two cards and neither player has knocked or gone gin, the hand is a wash (no score) and the same dealer redeals.

Melds: sets and runs

A meld is a group of cards that score zero deadwood. There are exactly two kinds:

A single card can only belong to one meld at a time. If the 7♥ is used in a set of three 7s, it cannot also belong to a 5-6-7 of hearts run in the same hand. Choosing the meld layout that minimizes your deadwood is one of the core skills of Gin Rummy.

Deadwood: what counts and how much

Deadwood is every card in your hand that isn't part of a meld. The total deadwood value drives the score for the round, so card values matter:

• Ace = 1 point
• 2 through 10 = face value
• Jack, Queen, King = 10 points each

Ending the round: knock, gin, or undercut

Knocking

You may knock when your deadwood total is 10 or fewer. To knock, discard one card face down (the traditional signal) and lay your hand out: melds to one side, deadwood to the other. Your opponent then lays down their melds and may lay off any of their deadwood that extends your melds — for example, adding a fourth 7 to your set of three 7s. Laying off reduces the defender's deadwood but is not allowed against a gin hand.

Going gin

If all 10 of your cards form melds and you have zero deadwood, you have gone gin. Gin pays your opponent's full deadwood plus a 25-point gin bonus. Your opponent cannot lay off against a gin hand.

Undercutting

After the knocker lays down, the defender totals their remaining deadwood (after laying off). If the defender's deadwood is equal to or less than the knocker's deadwood, the defender has undercut the knocker. The defender scores the difference plus a 25-point undercut bonus. Knocking with very low deadwood (0–2) is risky for exactly this reason.

Gin Rummy scoring table

Here is every scoring value in one place. Bonus amounts use standard Hollywood Gin / Baker rules; some house variants use different bonus totals, so confirm with your opponent.

Worked scoring examples

1. Clean knock. You knock with 4 deadwood. Your opponent lays off two cards and is left with 18 deadwood. You score 18 − 4 = 14 points.
2. Going gin. You meld all 10 cards. Your opponent is stuck with 12 deadwood (no lay-offs allowed against gin). You score 12 + 25 = 37 points.
3. Undercut. You knock with 8 deadwood. Your opponent lays off one card and ends with 6 deadwood. They undercut you and score (8 − 6) + 25 = 27 points.
4. Tied deadwood. You knock with 5 deadwood and your opponent finishes with 5 as well. A tie counts as an undercut: your opponent scores 0 + 25 = 25 points.

Strategy basics

• Drop high cards early. Face cards are 10 points of deadwood each — clear them before they pile up.
• Watch the discard pile. Every card your opponent picks up tells you something about the melds they're building.
• Don't feed your opponent. Avoid discarding cards adjacent in rank or suit to what they've taken.
• Knock early in close games. A 4–7 deadwood knock is usually safer than waiting for gin if the round has gone long.
• Hold flexible cards. A middle card like the 7♥ can join a set or a run — that flexibility is worth keeping over a high card with one option.

Common house-rule variants

Most casual Gin Rummy games tweak a few rules. The most common variants you'll meet: Hollywood Gin (three games scored in parallel), Oklahoma Gin (the up-card determines the round's max knock value), and Straight Gin (no knocking — only gin ends a round). The core mechanics — draw, discard, meld, score — stay the same. Agree on variant and target score before you deal, and you'll never argue about a hand mid-game.

Score Gin Rummy automatically

Once you know the rules, the math is the slow part. Gin Score does the deadwood and bonus math for you on every round — type the result, or snap a photo of the table and let the app read the cards. Start a new game or read about the photo scoring feature.