In 1909 Elwood T. Baker decided to take the popular game “Knock Rummy” and improve it. He decided to call in “Gin” because the parent game was already called “Rum” and he thought people would find it more appealing to play if it had an interesting name. Knock Rummy was already so popular among card players that he knew that Gin Rummy could become equally as popular. Indeed it has. It is now the most popular two-handed card game in the world and an excellent way of using your brain while you are having some fun as well.

Since the explosion of the Internet, Gin Rummy has become even more popular. This lets the player play the game “live” with people living in other states, and countries. It also allows people who can’t find any Gin Rummy tournaments in their city to play the tournaments no matter where it is located. They also are able to learn the game, and get better as they practice before entering live games, if they even want to. You can always find...

The rules of Gin Rummy are pretty simply actually. The basic rules that is – as you move up as a player you’ll find many things about Gin Rummy that will take a lot of effort and strategy but for now you need to know the basic rules.

In a standard game of Gin Rummy there are two people, and one deck of cards. The dealer alternately gives ten cards face down and the turns the 21st card face up next to the remainder of the deck which is called the stock. That means that 31 cards left, of which 29 are playable. You don’t play the last 2 cards at all if you reach that point. The value of the cards is face value which means the Ace is worth 1, the two is worth 2 and so on. The Jacks, Queens, and Kings all are worth 10 points each.

The non-dealer has the option to take the upcard which is the card that is turned over when the cards are all dealt out. If the non-dealer refuses the card, then the dealer has the option to take that card. If neither accepts the...

Whether you are playing Gin Rummy against your friend for fun, or you are playing in a Gin Rummy tournament for money, it is always more fun to win than to lose obviously. However, to win you need to give yourself an advantage, and not just count on lucking out. In order to do this you must have the percentages on your side. This means that although luck does play a part in this game, it is important that you can overcome the percentages of winning or losing a game.

The odds of winning a hand depends greatly on what cards your opponent has as well as what cards you have, and what cards you pick up throughout the game. The more cards you get that help you raise your percentages of winning the game. However, if you are not getting the cards you need then you need to depend on mental discipline and making the right moves to get the cards that you need. This is where the expert play comes into this game and when you stop relying on luck to win it.

The luck of the...

Reading your opponent is very important to the game of Gin Rummy. You should be aware of body language when playing someone in person, as opposed to playing someone online. Unlike playing on the Internet you have an opportunity to observe the person you are playing. You should be watching for gestures, shaking hands, grimaces, and almost everything they do that gives them a nervous or happy appearance.

Another important part of reading your opponent is watching where they put their cards in their hand. Some expert players will put every card in their hand first, and then shift the cards around. Then they will discard so you will never be sure which cards they are throwing or in which order the cards are sitting in their hands. This is especially important when they are picking out of the stock. You won’t know if it was useful for them or whether or not they kept it. Watching closely when a play puts a car in their hand is important, because some players will move their...

The upcard is the card that is turned face up after the players are dealt their ten cards, and is a very important card to start the game. If you have the first choice of whether or not to take this card and it matches two or more cards in your hand then there is no question that you should take this card. If you don’t and your opponent takes it then you will have two or more cards in your hand that you can’t use or dispose of until you find out why your opponent took the upcard, and how it is being used. This is obviously not a good position to be in to start a hand.

The only exception to this rule is if your hand is so good that you only need one or two cards to knock, or if you have no convenient cards to discard. That means if all of your cards are in potential groups or runs then you should pass on taking the upcard, but this is rare that it actually happens like that. Here is an example of when you should and should not take the upcard:

Example of why to...

As we said, rearranging your hand is an excellent way to throw your opponent off from guessing what cards you may have and which cards you may need to make your hand. However, you still need to know what you have so that you can process your hand quickly if you need to. In the beginning you don’t want to get too fancy and try to rearrange your cards in a way to confuse your opponent. You need to concentrate on getting the cards you need to make your hand. That being said, there is a way to properly arrange your cards so that you can at least know what you have and what you need.

Your Hand: 2♥, 2♠, 3♥, 5♦, 5♣, 6♦, 8♥, 8♦, 10♥, 10♠.
The way your hand should be arranged: 2♠, 2♥, 3♥, 5♣, 5♦, 6♦, 8♦, 8♥, 10♥, 10♠

The 2♥ and 3♥ should be touching so that you know that you need an Ace♥ or 4♥ in order to make a run. The 5♦ and 6♦ should be touching so that you know you need a 4♦ or 7♦ which would tie in with...

Knocking is one of the most important aspects of Gin Rummy, and above all else, you need to be fully aware of when and when not to knock. The actual object of Gin Rummy is not to gin most of the time, it is to knock as soon as possible to get the most points from your opponent. You need to limit your opponent to as few draws as possible so that they can not develop their hand, which they will most likely do as the hand progresses into the late cards. Sometimes only one draw is necessary to change a hand from a 30 point loss to a 30 point win, and that will all depend on when you knock. Here is an example of a knock hand:

Your Hand: 2♠, 2♥, 3♥, 3♠, 4♦, 5♦, 6♦, Q♣, Q♥, K♥
Your Opponent’s Hand: 4♠, 5♠, 6♠, 8♥, 9♥, 10♥, 10♣, J♣, K♣, K♦
The Knock is 10

You draw the J♥ to make two spreads with the 2 combos and the 3 combos in two suits. This is very tempting to play to gin, but being a knowledgeable player you knock...

The one thing that you should immediately know about speculating in Gin Rummy is that you should never pick up a face card to speculate. That may sound very basic but there is reasoning behind it. The only reason to ever pick up a face card to speculate is that if it matches two or more cards in your hand and you do not have anything else in your hand from which to draw. However, you still want to dump them as soon as you can get a card for a smaller pair or and Ace or Deuce to swap for the face card you might have picked up.

It does benefit you to speculate on the smaller cards. Even if you don’t make a spread with them, you may need them to knock and if you get caught with them once your opponent knocks, they only count for a few points. That just means that they are more valuable to you then the face cards or higher cards.

This may be especially important if you know once seeing your hand that you have a pitiful hand and one that probably cannot be won. You...

Since we have already established that the object in Gin Rummy is to knock and not necessarily to gin, you usually need to make two spreads and have your deadwood totally 10 points or less. Deadwood are the cards in which you cannot play in a group or run and therefore are of no use to use. However, that does not make them any less important.

When making hands in general you should try to make runs instead of groups because runs can have any number of cards, and you will possibly be able to use your deadwood later on in the hand as your hand develops. Even if you can not use the deadwood, runs are just easier to get and will usually give you a quicker knock hand then sets will because of the limitations of only being able to get 4 cards maximum when making sets.

When you first begin every hand, you should try to assemble four deadwood cards that total 10 or less. This is unless your hand is so good that it is not necessary to have any deadwood, or just one or two...

If you think defense is only used in basketball and football, then you would be very wrong. Defense also works in card games such as Gin Rummy. It could absolutely be the difference in winning and losing a hand.

The most important part about defense in Gin Rummy is to make sure you do not give your opponent a card that they need. This “suspect” card could be the card that has them knocking or worse yet, ginning a hand. If you know they may need this suspect card to win then even if you have to throw away a card that you may need in the future of this hand it is best to do so in order to play defense and not let them win. For example if you discard a 7 of hearts, and they pick it up, then chances are you do not want to be throwing another 7 or the 6 or 8 of hearts to them, as they may need that and you are putting them in a position of developing their hand to win the game.

Sooner or later in the course of playing a Gin Rummy hand, you are going to be holding...

Most of the percentages in Gin Rummy are more common sense then a bunch of numbers that you probably won’t remember anyhow. When you read a book on Gin Rummy chances are they will give you the numbers and say that if you remember all of the percentages you too can be an expert player. Yes, percentages are important; there is no question about it. However, Gin Rummy is more simplistic then it is sometimes made out to be.

In the majority of hands played in Gin Rummy, the cards dictate the play of the hand. You simply cannot make something out of what you do not hold in your hand. You have to work with what is dealt to you. Also, the type of game you are playing is going to dictate your strategy for the most part. If you are playing Oklahoma Gin Rummy then you must keep a card or combination of cards that will allow you to knock – it is as simple as that.

If percentages are not that common sense to you then here are some tips to remember. A completely wild card,...

Other than knocking first, the most important aspect of the game is to remember all of the discards that have been put down by your opponent or by you. Although that sounds difficult, it actually isn’t that hard to do.

The majority of hands only last through a couple of draws by each player. Again, the faster you can knock the better off you are, so if both of you are well aware of this general rule, each hand goes relatively quickly. That makes it easier to remember all of the discards. However, you can’t catch all of you cards you need as early as you would like to and there will be hands that last much longer than normal. That is why it is imperative that you remember the cards that have already been put down so that you are making sure you are playing your hand correctly. You cannot just rely on luck unfortunately, because luck will usually not hold up consistently in the game of Gin Rummy.

There are some tips for remembering the discards that have already...

Many of the Gin Rummy Tournaments are played the Oklahoma way. You should always feel comfortable with this style before you play, especially if you are playing for money. In live games most Oklahoma tournaments are played to 100 to 150 points per game, without the spades being doubled, and Aces are low only. Online tournaments are also played Oklahoma style to 100 points which is fast and doesn’t favor the superior player because the game is too short. It does give everyone a chance to win and that is just as much fun.

The difference in Oklahoma is that you are regulated to knock by the value of the upcard. That means that if the upcard is a 5 for example, you cannot knock until the deadwood in your hand is five points or less. If it is a 2 then you must have 2 points or less, and so on. If it is an Ace, then you must gin your hand.

This means that you need to have a bit of a different strategy in the play of the hand. Since there are 20 cards with the value...

In Gin Rummy there is only way to be a consistent success in the game, and that is playing every hand to its fullest potential. You have to be mentally alert to every facet of the game. You have to look at every possibility of your opponent’s hand, as every facet of your hand. You should know the percentages of completely spreads and you need to really visualize all of the possibilities of your opponent’s hand as well.

If the hand is over within the initial three or four draws then there really is not going to be much strategy or visualization going on. That can be just as nice as well, to catch some of the “no brainers”, but they only happen every so often. It is usually when each player has drawn and discarded four or five times that you start to really have to put that brain to work and think about what kind of possibilities exist in both your hand and your opponent’s.

For example, if your opponent has picked up the upcard or one of your early discards,...

There are many winning tactics in Gin Rummy that expert players employ to consistently win in Gin Rummy. However, when you talk about the winning tactics you must also talk about the way not to play Gin Rummy. There is one certain way to lose consistently in this game. That is by picking up every discard that matches anything in your hand.

There are the players that will pick up cards that make pairs or a two card run. They are also the players that will pick up a King if they have a Jack of the same suit in their hands. It may sound ludicrous to you, the decent player, but to some people it makes perfect sense to have as many options as you can. But with these options you also have to discard other important and more essential cards. The simple fact is that you just cannot make five or six spreads with ten cards and that is what this strategy seems to indicate that they are trying to do. These are the people that may beat you once, but will not win in the long run....

When you are playing online Gin Rummy you will meet all types of players. Most of them are courteous, friendly players who just are playing to have a little fun and relieve some stress. Then there are a few that are arrogant, obnoxious, and generally rude to you and rather than be nice to a stranger they tend to let the more unbearable side of themselves show.

These are the people that you would like to avoid if possible. Since you are playing on the Internet it is very easy to simply leave that game and find another. It is a whole lot easier then suffering through game after game when you aren’t enjoying yourself.

As an Internet player yourself, you need to be polite to the person you are playing so that you will both enjoy yourself and might even strike up a pleasant conversation. That is why people play others after all; to chat with someone that they may have something in common with. You might not become best friends, but at least you can have fun for an...

You will hear many Gin Rummy players speak of “The Card Gods.” These Gods are the ones that are in charge of who gets which cards and whatever they draw throughout the game. If you play your cards well, the card gods will smile on you and continue to give you good cards. However, if you make not so great moves too often, then you will make them unhappy and they will no longer give you those good cards. Poor play and poor decisions supposedly anger these card goods and it takes a lot of excellent play on your behalf to get them back.

If you think the above statement sounds ridiculous then you obviously have not played many games of Gin Rummy. To the players who have been playing a very long time, these card gods are real! For most of us though, these card gods are simply your mind playing tricks with you. You think that you can will the cards to come your way, and when you are in a zone, it is quite possible that you can. It is called being in harmony with your cards,...

Playing on the Internet does not afford much opportunity for cheating, because about the only thing you can do is “grab” the upcard so fast that your opponent hasn’t had a chance to see it before it is gone. They may ask what that card was, but if you say that you don’t remember chances are that they will not ask again. However, they probably will not play with you again either. Playing in person though is a whole other storey.

There are so many ways to cheat in Gin Rummy when playing live and in person. One of the most common ways that you will see people cheat is when shuffling the cards. If you watch the cards while they are being shuffled you may notice where a few of them are. For example, if you see the 2♥ and the K♦ at the bottom of the deck and after you shuffle a couple of times they will most likely be in approximately the same location. Then you offer your opponent the chance to cut the deck. If you pay close attention to the depth of the cut then...

As you have already seen there are very common ways to cheat in Gin Rummy. There is another common way of cheating and that is through discarding. Some players choose to continually straighten out the discards by picking up the entire pile and arranging them so you can’t see any of the prior discards. They may be doing this simply because they are neat and tidy, but they may be doing this so that they can get a look at the previous discards without you being aware of it. This is also something they do when they purposely pick up two cards and try to discard two cards at the same time.

When someone has a very bad hand they may purposely pick up two cards; not to keep them but to wait until after you draw and then announce that it is a misdeal because they have “suddenly” discovered that they had 11 cards instead of 10. If you have a good hand and they are the dealer then you can simply tell them to forfeit their next hand draw and just discard. Now, if you have a...

Gin Rummy is no doubt a game of skill rather than luck, and you need to rely on your skill as a player to beat your opponent so that you consistently win. Remember, you do not have to win all of the time, just most of the time. There are many ways to do this, but the best way to do this is just to learn the game.

There is both the offensive and defensive portions of the game, and you need to know which one to use and when. Being offensive all of the time will not get you anywhere in the long run, just as being defensive all of the time will not get you anywhere. You need to have a very middle of the road approach to playing Gin Rummy. You need to be offensive when the cards are in your favor and you have a good chance to gin, just as you need to be defensive when the cards in your hand are horrible and you need to lose as few points as possible. The best gin player will recognize these hands almost immediately when they happen and be able to play accordingly.

When...