Most Comprehensive Gin Rummy Guide Online

Cheating at Gin Rummy

• Card Manipulation

  Card manipulation is another technique that a cheater may employ in the game of gin rummy. It is relatively easy for someone to do with the proper amount of practice ...

• Cheating at Gin

  No matter how skilled you are or may become in the game of gin rummy, you stand no chance against dishonesty. Granted, there are certain specific rules of the game ...

• Cheating On the Score

  There is one particular type of cheating which, although it has no bearing on the actual play of a hand, can be very costly. This is cheating on the part ...

• Cheating the Money Card

  The money card is another place where a dishonest scorekeeper can cheat. The money card is employed to keep track of the winnings and losing of each player in the ...

• Illegal Hands

  It is true that on occasion a player may, accidentally, have an extra card in his hand. For instance, he may have been dealt 11 or 12 cards in error. ...

• Protection Against Cheating on the Score

  The most obvious protection against incorrect score keeping is for each team to have their own scorekeeper, or failing this, to have the opposing team double check all of the ...

• The Conspiracy Theory

  In addition to be cheated in play by an opponent, you can also be cheated by outsiders or people who observe your hand and inform your opponent’s of what you ...

• The Counterfeit Meld or Count

  A person who has a counterfeit meld or count rarely does so on purpose, and most of the time it was an accident and he truly believe in what he ...

• Ungentlemanly Conduct

  There are also methods of cheating called “coffee-housing” or ungentlemanly conduct. These methods tend to take advantage of factors not ordinarily considered proper in playing to win any gin rummy ...

Mathematics of Gin Rummy

• Beating the Price

  One major factor that separates the expert from the good player is the ability to “beat the price”. This means that every single play in every hand from the first ...

• Choosing the Right Discard Using the Safety Point Count System

  Using the safety factor point count system should be done in order to win the game obviously, but more so it should be utilized to help you figure out which ...

• Condition of the Score

  Before you give full consideration to the offensive or defensive play of your hand, you have one other thing to consider. It is called the condition of the score. At ...

• Keeping Under Count

  It cannot be stressed enough the importance of keeping under count. That means you need to reduce the point total in your hand so that even if your opponent should ...

• Strategy Based On the Status of Your Hand

  As you know by now, at the deal, a hand may be considered a winning or losing one. If it is a winning type of hand, you should play it ...

• Taking Full Advantage of the Odds

  Since gin rummy is a game of percentages and odds, an expert player takes advantage of any odds that favor him. However, there is no rule of thumb in the ...

• The Basics of the Safety Factor Point Count System

  The calculations mentioned in the mathematic and odds article are gin mathematical problems and solutions, but they are not of great strategic value to the player in the game. In ...

• The Mathematics and Odds of Gin Rummy

  When gin rummy became really popular in the 1970’s, there were some players who decided to do a little computer work on the actual mathematics and odds of gin rummy. ...

• Using the Safety Factor Point Count System to Your Advantage

  This safety factor point count system that was previously described can be used to your advantage not only for proper defense, but also to enable you to determine your opponent’s ...

Middle and Late Play

• Appraising Your Hand in Later Stages of the Hand

  While appraising your hand is important at any given moment in the game, it is especially important as you get down to the end of the hand. There are three ...

• Middle and Late Play of a Gin Rummy Hand

  By now, it should be obvious that many gin hands are played on a purely mechanical basis. There are the so called “no-brainers”, in which play ends before any cards ...

• Picking an Opponent’s Discard

  When you are down to approximately the last 12 cards, it is considered to be late play in the hand of the game. You should at this point make it ...

• Playing For Gin – What Is Considered To be A Gin Hand

  When playing for gin, you need to remember that basically a hand does not become what is generally considered a gin hand until there are either nine melded cards, or ...

• Reading Your Opponent’s Hand

  Reading your opponent’s hand, especially in middle to late stages of play, is a matter of skill which you need to build up over time. The beginner has virtually no ...

• Underknocking in the Late Play of a Hand

  When you are knocked against, it is vitally important that you are able to read and alter your hand for the purpose of laying off to your best advantage. Underknocks ...

• When to Knock in the Middle to Late Stages of the Hand

  In gin rummy, there is an old adage that many people still play by. It is “When in doubt – knock!” In the early play of any hand except if ...

• When to Knock, Play for Gin, or Underknock

  The decision of when to knock, play for gin, or play for the underknock often depends on the condition of the score and on your hand.

  If you are on a ...

• When to Throw an Add-on

  An add-on or a throw-in is any card discarded to your opponent with the full knowledge that it is a card that can be used by him to be added ...

• Your Discards

  When there are about 12 cards remaining in the unused stock and you are approaching the late stages of a hand, you may have to make some choices about which ...

Offensive and Defensive Opponents

• Gin Solitaire Example Hand

  Take a look at this sample hand of gin rummy solitaire. It will give you a better idea of how you can play gin by yourself in order to perfect ...

• Making Defensive Decisions

  Making the right defensive decision in a game of gin rummy comes down to the basics of knowing how to do so. There are certainly right and wrong decisions to ...

• Playing for Gin Offensively and Defensively

  Under most circumstances, when you have at least one more way of ginning than your opponent, the hand should be played to its utmost offensively. However, if your opponent has ...

• Playing Gin Solitaire to Better Your Defensive Skills

  Since the fact has been established that no one can win gin consistently by playing predominately defensive at all times. Granted, there are times when a player can develop a ...

• Playing To the Wall in a Defensive Manner

  One of the most important areas of defensive play is playing a hand to the wall or for a tie. There are three most important occasions when this procedure should ...

• Strategy Against the Happy Medium Player

  Although there is a lot of strategy you can employ against the defensive and offensive player, there is rarely any strategy against the player who has a style that is ...

• The Basics of Defense in the Late Stages of a Hand

  By now you should know that the odds in gin rummy usually favor the offensive player. As it is with almost all games, the person who plays with the prime ...

• The Risk of Playing To the Wall

  The risk in defensive play of playing to the wall is the extraordinary high point count that you will be carrying, should you lose the hand. In fact, when attempting ...

• Using Psychological Strategy When Playing Against a Defensive Player

  Just as there is strategy when playing against an offensive player, there is also specific strategy that you can employ when you are playing against a defensive player.

  Against a defensive ...

• Using Psychological Strategy When Playing Against an Offensive Player

  One of the greatest mistakes most good players make is to adopt a set style and continue to play in that pattern, regardless of the opponent’s manner of playing. This ...

Opening Play

• Discarding a Low Card

  When discarding, even on the first play, it is so important to not only consider just the discard that you are making now, but the discard you will make for ...

• First Play of the Hand – Discarding a “Salesman”

  Discards are often used as salesmen throughout the game of gin rummy. A salesman is a card that is discarded when you want you opponent to give you another one ...

• First Play of the Hand – The Basics of the Discard

  If you have been dealt to, then you will be the person who is making the first play. The first play consists of discarding one card from the 11 in ...

• How to Appraise Your Hand – Part I

  One of the most important factors in playing better Gin Rummy is being able to evaluate your own hand, both at the time you received the deal, and also after ...

• How to Appraise Your Hand – Part II

  We have looked at the basics of appraising your hand in order to recognize what type of player you need to be, and whether or not you will have a ...

• Offensive and Defensive Value of the Cards

  The offensive and defensive value of the cards is in direct relation to how you are appraising your hand. You can immediately tell when you appraise your hand whether or ...

• Opening Hand Example – Hand #1

  Dealt: K♥, J♥, 10♥, 9♥, 6♥, 6♠, 6♦, 7♦, 10♦, 8♣, A♠
  Knock: 8♦

  This hand is shown to better explain the opening hand discards and to see how a beginner, ...

• Opening Hand Example – Hand #2

  Dealt: K♦, Q♦, 10♥, 10♦, 9♦, 8♣, 7♦, 6♠, 4♦, 3♦, A♠
  Knock: 8♦

  This hand is shown to better explain the opening hand discards and to see how a beginner, ...

• Opening Hand Example – Hand #3

  Dealt: J♣, 10♣, 9♣, K♦, Q♠, 8♥, 8♦, 4♠, 2♣, A♥, A♠
  Knock: 8♦

  This hand is shown to better explain the opening hand discards and to see how a beginner, ...

• Opening Hand Example – Hand #4

  Dealt: K♥, Q♣, Q♦, 10♥, 7♣, 6♣, 6♥, 5♠, 4♠, 2♣, A♦
  Knock: 8♦

  This hand is shown to better explain the opening hand discards and to see how a beginner, ...

• Opening Hand Example – Hand #5

  Dealt: K♠, Q♣, 10♦, 9♣, 8♠, 7♥, 6♣, 5♦, 4♠, 3♦, A♥
  Knock: 8♦

  This hand is shown to better explain the opening hand discards and to see how a beginner, ...

• Planning Your Strategy – Placement of Cards for the Score

  Even before a card is dealt, two of the most important considerations of gin rummy strategy come into play. They are the score, and the knock card value. The score ...

• Planning Your Strategy – Playing To Gin

  Planning your strategy after knowing what your knock card is extremely important. Before you even pick up a card, you should know generally if you need to play offensively or ...

• Planning Your Strategy – The Knock Card

  Now that you have your hand arranged to your satisfaction, a look at your cards should indicate to you whether you have what appears to be a winning or losing ...

• Strategy of “Freak” Hands in the Opening Play

  Gin Rummy is undoubtedly a game of skill. It has three phases of play; the beginning or opening play, middle play, and late play. Although each has its own individual ...

• The Pick in the Opening Plays

  The pick is the next phase of the opening play. This confronts the dealer who now has the opportunity to pick either his opponents discard or a card from the ...

• The Strategy of Early Discarding

  The strategy of early discards is very important. It should be based primarily on whether your play is to be offensive or defensive at that particular moment. It also is ...

• When You Are Dealt Cards That Are Combined

  This is something that happens more often then you may think. It is when you are dealt a hand in which every card in the hand is combined in some ...

Score Counts

• Are The Odds In Your Favor?

  Since the laws of probability have already been discussed it is only fair to discuss the odds that have so much to do with the probability. Reviewing the basics of ...

• Calculating the Total Score of the Game

  In calculating the total score of the game, you start with column one. This is taking into account that Player A won the game, but would simply be reversed if ...

• Card Memory

  Having what is known as “card memory” is extremely important in the game of gin rummy because as the play progresses you are going to be in dire straights if ...

• Luck and Skill

  Like all other card games, Gin Rummy consists of various elements of luck, as well as skill. However, this is a far greater element of skill in Gin than in ...

• Mathematics and Skillful Play

  As we’ve stated before, the mathematics of gin are based primarily on the law of probability. Considering that you will play thousands and thousands of hands you are going to ...

• Scoring in Gin Rummy

  The purpose of Gin is of course to win each individual hand, but the ultimate goal is to win the entire game. You do this through the individual hand scores ...

• Scoring Individual Hands of a Two-Handed Game

  For this article the two players are identified as Player A, who is the scorekeeper and Player B who is considered the opponent. On the score sheet the first three ...

• The Score and Counts

  The total score and count of each hand is extremely important obviously, but the score and count is equally as important in an incomplete game as well. This means that ...

• The Score Sheet

  If you are planning on playing Gin Rummy competitively with people that regularly play then it is advisable to come prepared with a standard score sheet. This score sheet consists ...

• The Scorekeeper

  In every game of Gin Rummy there must be a scorekeeper. This person is usually mutually decided upon by both players if there is a singles game and by all ...

• Variations on How Gin Rummy Is Scored

  When Gin Rummy became popular in the 1930’s, the scoring of the game was extremely simple. A game consisted of only one column, and was only scored to 100 points. ...

• Watching the Score

  When you are playing even the friendliest game of Gin Rummy, you must always take into consideration the state of the score with every play of a hand. This fact ...

• Watching the “Safe” Count

  Once you completely understand and have mastered the calculation of counts, then you will be well on your way to being able to win at Gin Rummy. In head to ...