Gin Rummy rules and scoring

• Sets & runs
• A turn
• Knocking
• Scoring
• Winning the game
• Score sheet

A two-player game. Draw and discard until your ten cards are organised into sets and runs, then end the hand by knocking. The cards that don't fit — your deadwood — must total 10 or less to knock, and the knocker scores the difference between the two hands' deadwood. First to 100 wins.

Sets, runs and deadwood

• A set is three or four cards of the same rank. A run is three or more in sequence, all one suit.
• Each card can be in only one set or run.
• Aces are low: A-2-3 is a run, but Q-K-A and K-A-2 are not.
• Deadwood counts face cards 10, aces 1, and everything else its number.

Dealing and taking a turn

• Deal ten cards each, one at a time. Turn the next card face up to start the discard pile; the rest is the stock.
• The non-dealer may take that first upcard; if they pass, the dealer may. If neither wants it, the non-dealer draws from the stock and play carries on normally.
• Each turn: draw one card — from the stock or the top of the discard pile — then discard one.
• If only two cards are left in the stock and the player who drew the third-from-last discards without knocking, the hand is void and nobody scores.

Knocking and laying off

• You may knock on your turn if your deadwood totals 10 or less: draw as usual, then discard face down. Spread your hand with sets and runs together and deadwood apart.
• You never have to knock — you can keep playing to cut your deadwood or go for gin.
• The other player then spreads their hand and may lay off: add their deadwood cards to the knocker's sets and runs, reducing their own count. They can't lay off onto the knocker's deadwood.
• After a gin, Pagat's rules allow no laying off; Bicycle's still let the opponent lay off.

How scoring works

Result	Score
KnockThe knocker has less deadwood than the opponent, after laying off.	the difference
GinAll ten cards in sets and runs. Scores the opponent's deadwood plus a bonus, and can't be undercut.	+20 or +25
Big GinAll eleven cards — including the one just drawn — in sets and runs, with no discard. A popular extra; not in every rulebook.	+31
UndercutThe opponent's deadwood is equal to or lower than the knocker's. The opponent scores the difference plus a bonus; the knocker scores nothing.	+10 to +25

Bonus values genuinely differ: Pagat's and Bicycle's rules give 20 for gin and 10 for an undercut, while 25 for both is widely played. Settle it before the first deal.

Winning the game

Hands continue until someone reaches 100. Traditional scoring then adds end-of-game bonuses before totting up:

• Game bonus: 100 to the winner.
• Line or box bonus: a bonus for every hand each player won — 20 a hand in Pagat's rules.
• Shutout: if the loser never scored, Pagat doubles the game bonus to 200; Bicycle adds an extra 100.

Plenty of tables skip these and simply play first to 100.

Quick answers

Can you knock with exactly 10?

Yes — 10 or less.

What if both hands have the same deadwood?

That counts as an undercut: the knocker's opponent wins the hand.