Objective
Arrange your ten cards into melds (sets and runs) so the point value of your leftover unmatched cards, called deadwood, is as low as possible, then end the hand favorably.
Card ranking
Within a suit, low to high: A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 J Q K. Ace is always low, so A-2-3 is a run but Q-K-A is not.
Card values
Face cards (K, Q, J) = 10 each. Ace = 1. Number cards = their face value.
Melds
- Run (sequence): three or more cards of the same suit in consecutive order, e.g. 4-5-6 of clubs.
- Set (group): three or four cards of the same rank, e.g. three sevens.
- Any single card can be used in only one meld at a time.
Setup
- 1Deal ten cards to each player, one at a time.
- 2Turn the 21st card face up to start the discard pile; place the rest face down beside it as the stock.
- 3First turn only: the non-dealer may take the face-up card, or decline. If declined, the dealer may take it. If both decline, the non-dealer draws the top stock card. That player then discards, and normal turns begin.
How to play
- On your turn, first draw one card, either the top of the stock (unseen) or the top of the discard pile (visible).
- Then discard one card face up to the discard pile.
- If you took the top discard, you must discard a different card that same turn (you may discard it on a later turn).
- Turns alternate. You keep improving your hand toward low deadwood.
Special rules
- Knocking: on your turn, after drawing, if your deadwood totals 10 points or less you may end the hand. Discard one card face down, then lay out your hand arranged into melds with deadwood separate.
- Going gin: knocking with zero deadwood (all ten cards melded) earns a bonus. A gin hand can never be undercut.
- Laying off: when the knocker has NOT gone gin, the opponent may extend the knocker's melds with their own unmatched cards to reduce their deadwood. No lay-offs are allowed against a gin hand.
- If the stock is reduced to two cards and the player who drew the third-from-last card discards without knocking, the hand is void (no score) and is redealt by the same dealer.
Scoring
Scored in points · play to 100
Each hand
- Each player totals the value of their unmatched (deadwood) cards.
- If the knocker's deadwood is lower, the knocker scores the difference between the two counts.
- Undercut: if the knocker did NOT go gin and the opponent's deadwood is equal or lower, the opponent scores the difference plus a 10-point bonus.
- Gin: the player who went gin scores 20 points plus the opponent's full deadwood count.
End-of-game bonuses
- Game ends when a player's cumulative score reaches 100 or more.
- That player adds a 100-point game bonus (200 if the opponent scored zero all game).
- Each player adds a 20-point 'box'/'line' bonus for every hand they won (boxes do not count toward reaching 100).
- Final margin is the difference between the two players' totals after bonuses.
Common variants
- Gin bonus 25 and undercut bonus 20.
- Oklahoma Gin: the up-card sets the maximum deadwood you may knock with; target often 150.
Winning
The first player to reach 100+ cumulative points ends the game and, after all bonuses, the player with the higher total wins.