Play Gin Rummy free online
Gin Rummy is the card game for two: ten cards each, and the first to tidy their hand into sets and runs wins the hand. Here you play against the computer, with big, clear cards that read well on a tablet or a phone. Your cards are laid out for you as you play, sets and runs first with a bar under them, the loose cards last, and your deadwood is counted as you go. There is nothing to download and nothing to sign up for, and a game you start is saved in this browser.
How to play
- Draw. Tap the stock for an unknown card, or the pile to take the card on top.
- Throw. Tap one of your cards to put it on the pile. A card you just took from the pile cannot go straight back.
- Knock. When the cards that fit no set or run (your deadwood) add up to 10 or less after you throw, a Knock button appears. Knock, and both hands go face up and are scored. With no deadwood at all it says Go gin.
A set is three or four cards of the same rank, such as three 7s. A run is three or more cards in a row of the same suit, such as the 4, 5 and 6 of hearts. The Ace is low: A, 2, 3 is a run, Queen, King, Ace is not. Picture cards count 10, the Ace 1 and the rest their number. The full Gin Rummy rules, with hands worked through.
Scoring
- Knock: the other player lays off any loose cards that fit your sets and runs, then you score the difference between your deadwood and theirs.
- Gin: no deadwood at all scores 25 plus all of the other player’s deadwood, and nothing may be laid off.
- Undercut: if the other player ends with as little deadwood as the knocker, or less, they score the difference plus 25.
- The game ends when one player reaches 100. They add 100 for the game, and each player adds 25 for every hand they won. Win without the computer winning a hand, and the game bonus is 200.
Controls
Tap or click the stock or the pile to draw, then a card to throw it. On the very first card of a hand you may take it or pass. With a keyboard, S draws from the stock, P takes from the pile, Tab and the arrow keys move between your cards and Enter throws one, K knocks, H asks for a hint, U takes back your last step and N starts a new game. Big cards makes every card larger.
Hint names one card and says why in a plain sentence. Undo takes back your last step within the hand, as many times as you like.
A fair computer player
The computer sees only its own cards, the pile and the cards you take or throw, never your hand or the order of the stock. It takes from the pile only what it can use, throws the card it needs least, holds back cards you seem to be collecting, and knocks as soon as it can.
A few tips
- Throw high loose cards early. A King that fits nothing costs 10 if the computer knocks.
- Watch the pile. If the computer picks up a 7, think twice before you throw it the other 7s.
- Knock early when you can. Waiting for gin gives the computer time to undercut you.
Read how to play Gin Rummy for layoffs, undercuts and the scoring in full. Fancy a card game with more players? Try Hearts or Spades, or play Klondike Solitaire on your own.