Guide
How to Play Gin Rummy
Gin Rummy is a game of pattern and patience. Draw, build sets and runs, keep your deadwood low, and knock — or go Gin — before your opponent does.
Play Gin RummyThe objective
Meld your hand and go out before your opponent
Gin Rummy is played with one standard 52-card deck between you and a computer opponent. Each of you holds ten cards. You win a hand by arranging your cards into sets and runs and ending your turn with 10 or less in unmatched deadwood — or, best of all, with none at all.
Between the deal and the knock, the work is reading the discard pile: what your opponent takes tells you what they are building, and what you throw away tells them the same. There is no timer forcing your hand; the challenge is knowing when to end it.
The game is free, runs in the browser, and needs no account. Open the table when you want to play; use this guide for the rules, scoring, and the habits that win more hands.
The deal
Ten cards each, a stock, and one discard
You and the computer opponent are each dealt ten cards. The next card is turned face up to start the discard pile, and the rest of the deck becomes the face-down stock. Who takes the first turn alternates from hand to hand.
Every hand here is a fresh shuffle. Standard Gin Rummy stops drawing from the stock once two cards remain — if nobody has gone out by then, the hand is a scoreless wall and a new one is dealt.
Controls
Tap to draw, tap to act
Every method moves the same cards. Pick whichever fits the device in your hand.
Stock and discard pile
Tap to draw
Tap the stock pile for a hidden card, or tap the discard pile to take the known top card. Only one is available at a time, on your turn, during the draw step.
Your hand
Tap to select, then act
Tap a card in your hand to select it. Discard and Knock buttons appear once a card is selected — Discard passes the turn, and Knock (or Go Gin) ends the hand immediately when your deadwood qualifies.
Desktop
Keyboard
D draws from the stock, F takes the discard pile, arrow keys move your selection, Space or Enter discards the selected card, K knocks when eligible, N deals the next hand, and M mutes the sound.
The loop
Four steps you repeat all hand
Reading the board, then choosing between these four is the whole game.
- 1
Read your hand
You and the computer opponent are each dealt ten cards. The rest of the deck forms a face-down stock, and one card is turned face up to start the discard pile. Your goal is to arrange your ten cards into sets and runs and keep whatever is left over — your deadwood — as low in value as possible.
- 2
Draw one card
On your turn, take either the face-up top card of the discard pile or the next face-down card from the stock. You now hold eleven cards; the card you took either extends a meld or replaces a card you no longer need.
- 3
Discard one card
Choose a card to discard face up, back down to ten cards. Aim to keep your hand meldable and avoid discarding a card that hands your opponent an easy set or run — watch what they pick up from the discard pile for clues about what they are collecting.
- 4
Knock or go Gin
Once your deadwood value is 10 points or less, you may knock instead of discarding normally: lay down your melds and let your opponent lay off matching cards before deadwood is compared. If your ten cards are all in melds with zero deadwood, you go Gin instead — a bigger bonus, and your opponent cannot lay off.
Rules & scoring
Every rule that decides a hand
The deal
One standard 52-card deck, no jokers. Each player is dealt ten cards; the next card is turned face up to start the discard pile, and the rest becomes the face-down stock. Who deals first alternates hand to hand.
Melds
A set is three or four cards of the same rank in different suits. A run is three or more cards of the same suit in unbroken sequence (Ace counts low only — there is no wrap from King to Ace). A card can belong to only one meld at a time.
Deadwood
Any card not in a meld is deadwood, valued at its face for 2 through 10, 10 points for J, Q, and K, and 1 point for an Ace. The game always shows your hand arranged into its lowest-possible deadwood total.
Knocking and Gin
You may knock once your deadwood is 10 or less; going out with zero deadwood is a Gin instead. Knocking ends the hand — your opponent lays off any deadwood cards that extend your exposed melds, then the two deadwood totals decide the score.
Scoring the hand
Gin: winner scores the opponent’s full deadwood plus 25. Knock: if the knocker’s deadwood is still lower after lay-offs, they score the difference. Undercut: if the defender’s deadwood is equal or lower, they score the difference plus 25 instead.
Winning the match
Hands are played one after another, with points carried forward, until one player reaches 100 total points. That player wins the match; the next match starts the score back at zero for both sides.
Ways a hand ends
Gin, knock, undercut, or wall
Every hand ends one of four ways. The live game always shows your current outcome (the Knock button label switches to Go Gin when you qualify).
- 01 · Zero deadwood — the biggest score
Gin
All ten of your cards are inside sets or runs with nothing left over. You score your opponent’s full deadwood value plus a 25-point Gin bonus, and your opponent gets no chance to lay off cards onto your melds.
- 02 · 10 or less deadwood
Knock
You lay down your melds and your remaining deadwood. Your opponent can then lay off any of their own deadwood cards that extend your melds before both hands are compared. If your deadwood is still lower, you score the difference.
- 03 · Your opponent turns the tables
Undercut
If your opponent’s deadwood — after laying off onto your melds — ends up equal to or lower than yours, they score the difference plus a 25-point undercut bonus instead of you. Knocking on a borderline hand always carries this risk.
- 04 · Stock runs out
Wall (blocked hand)
Standard Gin Rummy stops dealing from the stock once two cards remain, to keep a couple of cards unseen by either player. If nobody has gone out by then, the hand ends with no points scored and a fresh hand is dealt.
Common mistakes
Why winnable hands get undercut
Knocking too early with a shaky hand
Knocking at 9 or 10 deadwood when your opponent has drawn several cards from the discard pile invites an undercut. If they look close to their own low hand, consider playing on toward Gin instead.
Ignoring what your opponent is collecting
Every card your opponent takes from the discard pile — instead of drawing blind from the stock — reveals part of their hand. Passing that pattern with the same rank or suit later on is often a costly discard.
Holding deadwood too long
A high-value card that is not close to a meld is a liability. Cutting it loose early, while it still looks safe to discard, is usually better than being stuck holding it near the end of the stock.
Playing on when the stock is nearly empty
Once only a handful of cards remain in the stock, a hand that stalls out ends as a scoreless wall for both players. If your deadwood is already low enough to knock, take the points rather than risk a blocked hand.
- Keep your hand flexible early — hold cards that could join two different melds rather than committing to one shape too soon.
- Track every card your opponent takes from the discard pile; it tells you what rank or suit they are building toward.
- Discard high-value deadwood (face cards, tens) before low ones when you have a choice — they cost more if your opponent goes Gin.
- Do not knock the instant you hit 10 deadwood if the stock is deep and your hand is close to Gin; the bonus for Gin is worth the extra risk early in a hand.
- Do knock as soon as it is safe once the stock is running low — a blocked hand scores nothing for either side.
- Avoid discarding a card one rank away from cards you have already thrown — it is a strong hint you are sitting on the run around it.
- A near-complete run is usually safer to keep than an isolated pair chasing a set; runs are harder for an opponent to block by holding a key card.
Where you can play
Same game on phone and desktop
ginrummyonline.app runs in any modern browser with no app to install. Progress stays on the device you played on.
Desktop browsers
Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari all run the game with no plugin. Click the stock or discard pile to draw, click a card to select it, and use the keyboard shortcuts for drawing, discarding, and knocking.
Phones and tablets
The layout is touch-first: tap to draw, tap a card in your hand to select it, then tap Discard or Knock. Your hand, the stock, and the discard pile all stay on one screen in portrait, and dealing the next hand is instant.
Progress on this device
Matches won, hands played, Gins, knocks, undercuts, and your longest win streak live in local browser storage. They stay until you reset them or clear site data, and they do not sync between devices.
Still stuck on a rule? Read the Gin Rummy FAQ or jump in and play.
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