Directions to the Gin Rummy Card Game
In these days of high-tech video games and interactive media, card games remain a popular pastime. Usually a two-person card game, gin rummy involves both strategy and chance and can be enjoyed amongst friends, couples and family. Once understood, the game will challenge as well as improve your tactical card-playing skills.
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Instructions
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Choose a dealer to shuffle the deck and hand out 10 cards to each player. As the dealer, deal the first card to the other player.
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Place the next card, after all cards are dealt, face-up on the table between the players. This will be the start of the discard pile.
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Place the remaining stack of cards face down next to the card that is facing up.
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Try to form groups of three to four cards with the same number, or runs of three to four cards with the same suit.
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Make the starting play. In the starting play, the opponent can choose to accept or take the face-up card. If it's not wanted by the opponent, the dealer can choose to accept or take the face-up card. If still not wanted, the opponent then takes the first card on top of the stack.
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Take turns making plays. The person not dealing plays first. To make a play, take either the face-up card in the discard pile or the first card on top of the stack. Then discard any one card from your hand.
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Observe the points you have in hand. In gin rummy, aces are worth 1 point, face cards are worth 10 points and number cards are worth their number value. Once a player has less than 10 points in cards that are not part of a run or set (also known as "deadwood"), they can optionally knock on the table to "knock" the other player. At this point, the knocker discards one card then lays down all runs and sets. The other player lays down his cards and the knocker can take any cards that can be applied to his runs or sets. Subtract the knocker's deadwood from the other player's deadwood and write down that number as points for the knocker. If the other player ends up having less points in deadwood than the knocker, this is known as an "undercut" and the other player gets 20 points plus the difference between the two players' deadwood points.
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Deal a new hand after knocking. The loser deals.
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Call out "gin" when, after discarding a card, your hand has all runs and sets, and no deadwood. Give 25 points plus the points in the other player's deadwood to the player who achieves the gin.
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Play until one player reaches 100 points. Then give the person who reached 100 points an extra 100 points. Give each player 25 extra points for each hand they won. If one player has not won any hands, double the points they have and add 100 points. Add up the total points to determine the winner.
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Call the game a tie if it continues to the point that there are only two cards left in the stack.
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References
- Photo Credit playing cards image by Warren Millar from Fotolia.com
