Gin Rummy
Cribbage
Six-Card GolfRules summary
Goal
Be the first player to reach 100 points. The winner then scores a game bonus, and both players score a bonus for every hand they won.
Cards
Use a standard 52-card deck without Jokers.
Ranking
In each suit the cards run A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, and K. The Ace is always low.
Starting hand
Deal 10 cards to each player. Turn the next card face up to start the discard pile. The rest of the cards go face down as the stock.
Play
- The first turn. The player who didn’t deal may take the face-up card or pass. If they pass, the dealer may take it. If both pass, the player who didn’t deal draws the top card of the stock. Whoever took a card discards, and then the players take turns.
- Draw. Take the top card of the stock or the top card of the discard pile.
- Discard. Put one card face up on the discard pile. You can’t discard the card you just took from the discard pile.
- Knock. Your deadwood is the cards that aren’t in a meld. If your deadwood would count 10 or less after your discard, you may knock. Put the discard face down and spread your hand face up in melds and deadwood. Knocking with no deadwood at all is gin. You never have to knock.
- Lay off. After a knock, your opponent spreads their own melds. Unless you went gin, they can then lay off deadwood cards onto your melds. Nothing can be laid off onto deadwood, and the player who knocked never lays off.
- The stock runs out. If a player discards without knocking and leaves 2 cards in the stock, the hand is canceled. Nobody scores, and the same dealer deals again.
- The next hand. The winner of a hand deals the next one.
Scoring
Count each player’s deadwood after laying off: a J, Q, or K is 10, an Ace is 1, and every other card is its number.
| The hand | Who scores |
|---|---|
| The knocker’s count is lower | The knocker scores the difference. |
| The knocker’s count is equal or higher | The knocker is undercut. The opponent scores the difference plus 10. |
| The knocker went gin | The knocker scores 20 plus the opponent’s count. Gin is never undercut. |
The first player to reach 100 points or more wins the game and scores 100 more, or 200 more if the other player scored nothing all game. Then each player adds 20 points for every hand they won. These bonuses don’t count toward the 100 needed to win.
Meld types
- Run 3 or more cards of one suit in sequence
- Set 3 or 4 cards of the same rank
The Ace is low, so A, 2, 3 is a run and Q, K, A isn’t. A card can be in only one meld at a time. To lay off onto a set, add the fourth card of its rank. To lay off onto a run, add cards of its suit that continue the sequence at either end.
Examples
Three hands, each ended by Player 1 knocking. Each strip is a hand spread in melds, with its deadwood faded.
- Player 1 knocks with 2 Player 1 discards the 9♥ face down and spreads 3 melds. The 2♦ is the deadwood.
- Player 2 counts 24 A set of Kings, then the 6♠ laid off onto the spade run and the Q♣ onto the club run. The rest is deadwood, 8 + 4 + 2 + 1 + 9 = 24.
- A knock: Player 1 scores 22 Player 1’s 2 is lower than Player 2’s 24, so Player 1 scores the difference, 24 − 2 = 22.
- Player 1 knocks with 8 Player 1 discards the K♦ face down. The 8♥ is the deadwood.
- Player 2 counts 1 A set of 9s and a run of hearts, then the 4♠, the 6♠, and the K♠ laid off. Only the A♦ is left.
- An undercut: Player 2 scores 17 Player 1’s 8 isn’t lower than Player 2’s 1, so Player 2 scores the difference plus 10, 8 − 1 + 10 = 17.
- Player 1 goes gin Player 1 discards the 2♦ face down and has no deadwood at all.
- Player 2 counts 23 Nothing can be laid off against gin, so the 8♥ stays deadwood, though it would continue the heart run: 8 + 10 + 4 + 1 = 23.
- Gin: Player 1 scores 43 20 for gin plus Player 2’s count, 20 + 23 = 43.
Playing with your own deck
You need paper and a pencil to keep score. Write down each hand’s points and the running totals, and count the hands each player wins for the bonus at the end.
Strategy tips
- Throw the expensive cards out first. A King is 10 deadwood and its only run is J-Q-K; a 7 runs in both directions. A knock scores the difference between deadwood counts, and every high card you still hold is that difference.
- Their discards are half your information, and yours are theirs. A card taken off the discard pile says what they’re building, so stop feeding that suit and that rank. Drawing from the stock tells them nothing.
- Knock early rather than perfectly. Holding out for gin gives them turns to improve, and if they knock first you score only by undercutting them.
- A knock at 10 invites an undercut. They lay off spare cards onto your melds, which can pull their count below yours, and an undercut pays them the difference plus 10. The lower your count, the less room there is under it.
- Keep two suited cards in sequence over a pair. A sequence grows at either end, and if your opponent knocks you can often lay it off onto one of their runs. A pair grows only into a set, and it can never be laid off: your two leave only two of that rank for them, too few for the set you’d need to add to.
- The stock can run out. Two cards left and no knock cancels the hand, and nobody scores. If you need points, knock while there’s time.