Gin Rummy

Gin Rummy is a card game for two. You and a computer opponent take turns drawing and discarding, each trying to sort your hand into neat groups of cards before the other player can end the hand.

How to play

Each player is dealt ten cards, and one card is turned up beside the stock to start the discard pile. Aces are low, so a run can go ace, 2, 3, but never queen, king, ace.

Groups. A group is either three or four cards of the same number, such as three 7s, or three or more cards in a row of the same suit, such as the 4, 5 and 6 of hearts. The game finds your groups for you and marks them with colored bars under the cards.

Deadwood. Cards that are not in any group are your deadwood. An ace counts 1, a jack, queen or king counts 10, and every other card counts its number.

A turn. Draw one card, either from the stock or the top of the discard pile. Then choose one card, tap it, and press Discard. You may not throw back the very card you just picked up from the discard pile.

The first turn. The player who did not deal may take the turned-up card or pass. If they pass, the dealer gets the same choice. If both pass, the other player starts by drawing from the stock.

Knocking. When your deadwood is 10 or less, you may select a card and press Knock to end the hand. If you have no deadwood at all, that is called Gin.

Scoring. After a knock, the other player may add their stray cards to your groups, which the game does for them automatically. Then the hands are compared. If you have fewer deadwood points, you score the difference. If the other player has the same or fewer, that is an undercut, and they score 25 plus the difference. Gin scores 25 plus the other player's deadwood. If only two cards are left in the stock, the hand is a draw.

The game ends when a player reaches 100 points.

Drag a card to sort your hand, or tap it to select it. The Auto-sort button puts your groups together, and the Discards button shows the whole discard pile.

The levels

The levels change how well the computer plays. The rules never change.

• Easy: keeps pairs, throws away high cards and knocks only with very little deadwood.
• Medium: takes the discard when it helps, remembers what you pick up, and knocks as soon as it can.
• Hard: works out which unseen cards would help it, avoids giving you cards you want, and chooses its moment to knock.
• Expert: imagines your hand from what you have picked up and weighs each discard and each knock against it.

Today's game

The daily game is played at Medium. Everyone who plays on the same calendar day is dealt the same hands.

Tips

1. Take the discard only when it finishes a group or builds a near-group. Otherwise draw from the stock.
2. Throw away high cards early. Face cards are worth 10 each, and one left in your hand can hurt on a knock.
3. Keep pairs and cards that are close in a suit, such as a 5 and a 7. They can become groups on any draw.
4. Watch what your opponent picks up from the discard pile. It tells you which cards they are building with, so do not throw those.
5. Knock early when you can. A low deadwood count with the cards still in play is a quick win, but the other side can undercut you if you knock with 10.
6. Think before you knock with a high count. If your opponent might have a group ready, an undercut costs you 25 points.

A bit of history

Gin Rummy belongs to the rummy family of card games, which are built on matching groups of cards. It is usually played by two people and became popular in the United States in the early twentieth century.

Questions

What is deadwood? It is the total value of the cards that are not part of any group. Lower is better.

Do I have to knock when I can? No. You may keep playing for a lower count or for Gin. Knocking is your choice.

Do I have to add my stray cards to the other player's groups? No. When the computer knocks, the game finds the best way to add your matching cards to its groups and shows you the result.