Gin Rummy Variations and House Rules

Gin rummy has been played in so many homes, clubs and break rooms that almost every table has a rule or two of its own. Here are the variations you're most likely to meet, what each one changes, and which of them you can turn on in Settings in our free gin rummy game. The standard rules are on the rules page.

The Standard Knock Limit: 10

In the standard game you may knock when your deadwood after discarding is 10 points or less. This is our game's default. It makes for a lively game: hands are often over within eight or ten turns, and a quick knock is a real weapon.

Oklahoma Gin

In Oklahoma gin, the first upcard of each hand sets the knock limit for that hand. Turn up a 7 and you may knock only with 7 or less. A face card or 10 means the usual 10. An ace means you can't knock at all: the hand must end in gin. On top of that, if the first upcard is a spade, the hand counts double, whoever wins it.

Oklahoma gin rewards patience: with a low limit you'll play more turns, and gin becomes more common. In our game, choose Oklahoma gin under House rules. The table shows the knock limit for the hand under the piles, and a note appears when a spade has doubled the hand.

Big Gin

Sometimes the card you draw completes your whole hand, so that all eleven cards form melds before you discard. Under the big gin rule you lay all eleven down at once without discarding, and score 31 points plus your opponent's deadwood instead of the usual 25. Without the rule you simply discard one card and go gin as normal. Turn on Allow big gin in Settings to play it.

Longer Games: 150 or 250

The usual game ends when a player reaches 100 points. Some players like a longer contest where one lucky gin doesn't decide everything, and play to 150 or even 250. The scoring of each hand is unchanged; you simply play more of them. Choose the target under Play the game to in Settings.

The Undercut Bonus: 25 or 10

When a player knocks and the opponent has as little deadwood or less, the opponent scores the difference plus a bonus. Most tables today use 25 points, the same as the gin bonus. Older rule books, and plenty of families, use 10. The smaller bonus makes a risky knock less costly, so it encourages earlier knocking. Choose 10 points under Undercut bonus to play this way.

Box and Game Bonuses

At the end of the standard game, each player gets 25 points for every hand they won. Score sheets often call these "boxes" or "lines", after the boxes drawn on the paper. The winner also gets a 100-point game bonus. These bonuses matter when you're playing for a running total over many games, because they reward winning lots of hands rather than one big one.

If you just want to know who won, you can switch the bonuses off by unticking Add bonuses at the end. The final score is then the points from the hands alone.

Shutouts. Many tables double the whole score when the loser didn't win a single hand, which is called a shutout or a "schneider". Our game doesn't do this, but the hands-won bonus already rewards a one-sided game.

Other Rules You May Meet

Who deals next

Some families have the winner of each hand deal the next one; others have the loser deal. Our game simply alternates, and the same player deals again after a drawn hand.

Hollywood gin

A popular way to keep score in which three games are played at once on one sheet. Your first winning hand counts in game one, your second in games one and two, and your third and later in all three. It's a scorekeeping system rather than a change to the play, so any hand of ordinary gin works with it.

Three or four players

Gin is really a two-player game. With three, one player sits out each hand and plays the winner next. With four, two partnerships play separate games and add their scores together.

Straight gin

In straight gin there's no knocking at all: every hand must end in gin. It is slower and more of a puzzle. You can get close to it in our game by choosing Oklahoma gin and hoping for an ace upcard.

Whatever rules your family played, the heart of the game is the same: build your melds, keep the deadwood low, and know when to knock. Play gin rummy now or read the strategy guide.