The Ultimate Strategy Guide to Gin Rummy Č Back when the Internet was unheard of, you probably wonder what people were doing to while away the time. Well, aside from baseball, folks play card games, one of which is Gin Rummy. As you probably notice, the name of the card game says something about yet another favorite pastime, drinking. The card game for two was invented by Elwood T. Baker in 1909 and became popular since then. While you might think it’s an ancient game, it is actually a later comer that tried to compete with even more popular games such as Cribbage and Pinoche; both of which were games that go way back as early as 400 years ago. Gin Rummy is closely linked to a genre of card game known as Rummy, where the method that is being used is the “draw and discard”. This means that at every turn, you draw a card from the pile and discard the unwanted card in exchange. The idea is to form sets of matching cards. The match can be 3 or 4 cards of the same rank or same suit in sequence. With such easy to understand rules, it’s no wonder that the game had a loyal following; and it even garnered notoriety for being such an addictive game.
Following the general rules of Rummy, Gin Rummy version is as easy as pie. It starts with each player receiving 10 cards. The standard deck of 52 cards is ranked as follows: Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Jack, Queen, and King. Each of the cards has corresponding values. The face cards are 10 points each and the Ace is 1 point. Other cards are worth their index value. The 21st card is turned face up to start the discard pile and the rest will be faced down which constitute the stockpile. The object of the game is to collect a hand that can be combined into sets of 3 or more cards having the same suit in consecutive order; or a set of cards with the same rank. The unmatched card (or deadwood) you have should be discarded, and those that remain in your hand should have low point values.
In Gin Rummy, every player’s turn consists of “The Draw” and “The Discard”. When you draw a card from the stockpile, you add it to your hand and check if it can form a match. If not, you can have the option to take it and drop a higher value unmatched card in your hand, or just discard it outright. You can choose to end the play during your turn by if you are able to form your cards into valid sets and runs. To signal your opponent, you have to discard one card face down and reveal your stockpile. Your opponent can add a fourth card to you that constitutes his adding deadwood to your hand, and you add a fifth card to him by turning your hand face up. Thus, you are able to complete a valid set and score a bonus jackpot. your opponent can either ignore you or deal himself a fifth card if you score a full house.
On your opponent’s next turn, you will be able to draw a card from the discard pile to meet their requirements for a fifth card to a hand. As in the previous version of Gin Rummy, the unmatched card count as deadwood, and you will have the option to either end your turn by having your opponent “stand on 17”, or to end the play by having your hand “20” or “better”. The player who established the “stand on 17” option will not be able to stop you.
After you turn, you will again receive another card from the discard pile, but this time, you can only “draw” (acknowledge that you can) your entire hand, your opponent will be dealt a new card from the discard pile, and your hand will be reduced to the number of cards it was beginning with, as specified by the instructions. The game ends when the stockpile is down to two cards and the player can no longer add a new card to his hand by drawing from the discard pile.
The variants of Gin Rummy that were originally developed in America (before they became a global phenomenon) were known as Ginets, meaning “seven pairs”. The game was extremely popular in Europe, and a version of it known as the “PokerBo” style of Ginets is still played in many parts of the world. The “King of Stud” was a popular game that was supposed to be played with a maximum of five players. Each player would hold ten cards, and the rest of the deck was kept unchanged. version was thought to have been invented by Americans in 1790, but there are accounts of its invention dating back to the latter half of the 18th century.