Gin Rummy

Make Sets and Runs, Then Knock. Free Online

Play Gin Rummy, the classic two-player card game, free online in your browser against a computer player or a friend, with no download or account needed.

Gin Rummy is the card game for two that most people mean when they say gin. You draw a card, you throw one away, and turn by turn a hand of ten loose cards becomes sets and runs. The skill is in the timing: knock early with a few points still in your hand and take a small, safe win, or wait one more draw for gin and the bonus, knowing your opponent is doing the same sum.

This version plays the classic knock game. Ten cards each, knock at 10 or less, 25 for gin, 31 for big gin, 25 for an undercut, and a match to 100, or to 50 if you want a quick one. Your hand sorts itself into sets and runs as you play and the deadwood count is always in view, so you can spend your attention on the decision, not on the arithmetic. Play one of the regulars, or start a table and deal in a friend. It is free here at CardAndPuzzle.com, plays in your browser with no download or sign-up, and saves your match on your device.

How Do You Play Gin Rummy?

The rules take a few minutes, and the first match walks you through them on a real deal:

• The Deal: You and your opponent get ten cards each from a standard 52-card deck. The next card is turned face up to start the discard pile, and the rest is the stock.
• The First Card: The player who did not deal may take the face-up card or pass. If they pass, the dealer gets the same choice. If both pass, the first player draws from the stock and the hand is under way.
• Draw, Then Discard: Every turn starts with a draw, from the stock or from the top of the discard pile, and ends with a discard. A card you just took from the discard pile cannot go straight back.
• Sets and Runs: A set is three or four cards of one rank. A run is three or more cards in a row in one suit. Everything else in your hand is deadwood.
• Knock: When the cards you would keep have 10 points of deadwood or less, you can end the hand: tap Knock, then the card to discard.
• Counting Up: Both hands go on the table. The other player lays off any cards that fit your sets and runs, and the lower deadwood count wins the hand and scores the difference.

Want every rule with examples? Read the complete Gin Rummy Guide →

What Are Sets, Runs and Deadwood?

Every card in your hand is in one of three places: a set, a run, or the pile of loose cards called deadwood. A card can only count in one group at a time, so the 7 of hearts can sit with two other 7s or between the 6 and the 8 of hearts, not both.

You never have to sort the cards yourself. After every draw and discard the game arranges your hand the best way it can be read, sets and runs on the left and deadwood on the right, and shows the deadwood count beside it.

How Is Gin Rummy Scored?

A hand ends when someone knocks. What it is worth depends on how the two deadwood counts compare:

Before the counts are compared, the player who did not knock lays off: any of their loose cards that fit the knocker's sets and runs are added to them and stop counting. There are no layoffs against gin. Hand scores add up, and the first player to reach the target wins the match. You choose the target before the first deal: Classic is a match to 100, Quick match is a match to 50.

Can You Play Gin Rummy with a Friend?

Yes. Gin Rummy is a game for two, so a table has exactly two seats:

• Start a Table: Choose Play with friends, pick a match to 50 or to 100, and the game gives you a six-character code and a link. Share it however you like.
• Never an Empty Chair: Until your friend sits down, one of the regulars holds the seat, so you can start as soon as you like.
• Turns Stay Moving: Each turn has a 30-second timer. If time runs out, or you drop out, the computer plays your seat until you are back.
• The Showdown: When someone knocks, both hands are turned face up, the layoffs are made and the scorecard counts it, exactly as in the solo game.
• Joining Is Easy: Tap the link, or open the game and type the code under Join with a code. Either one takes you straight to the table.

Who Are You Playing Against?

Gin Rummy is a game for two, so one computer player sits down across from you:

• One of Sixteen Regulars: Nova, Sam, Atlas, Ruby, Sage, Max, Luna, Felix, Echo, Juno, Remy, Iris, Bo, Mia, Cleo and Leo, each with a face and a short bio. A different one may be waiting each match.
• They Play Real Gin: Your opponent takes a discard when it improves their hand, throws away the cards that cost the most, and avoids feeding the suits and ranks you have been picking up. When they can knock, they knock.
• Same Cards, Same Rules: The computer sees its own hand and the discards, nothing else. It does not know your cards or the order of the stock.

What Are the Best Gin Rummy Strategies?

• Throw the Big Cards Early: A loose King costs 10 if you are caught with it, a loose 3 costs 3. Unless a face card is already part of a pair you have a real chance to fill, it goes before the small cards do.
• Keep the Cards That Go Two Ways: The 7 of hearts next to the 7 of spades and the 8 of hearts can become a set or a run. A pair of Kings can only become a set. Flexible cards fill twice as often.
• Watch What Is Picked Up: A card taken from the discard pile is a card your opponent needed. Hold back its neighbours: the same rank, and the cards beside it in the same suit.
• Watch What Is Thrown: A discarded 9 tells you your opponent is probably not collecting 9s. A card of the same rank is usually a safer discard than a card nobody has shown interest in.
• Knock Early in the Hand: In the first few turns your opponent is almost certainly holding a lot of deadwood. A knock with 8 or 9 then is worth more than waiting for gin and being knocked on yourself.
• Be Careful Knocking Late: Deep in a hand your opponent's count is low too, and they get to lay off on your sets and runs. A late knock with 10 is how undercuts happen.
• Count the Stock: A hand with two cards left in the stock scores nothing. If the stock is thin and you can knock, knock.

Why Play Gin Rummy Here?

• Your Hand Sorts Itself: Sets and runs on the left, deadwood on the right, rearranged after every card so the best reading of your hand is always the one you see.
• The Count Is Always in View: Your deadwood total sits beside your hand, and the Knock button appears the moment a knock is possible.
• Both Hands on the Table: When a hand ends, both hands are laid out in their sets and runs, the layoffs move across, and a scorecard shows how the points were made.
• Learn at the Table: An interactive coach plays your first match with you on a real deal: sets and runs, the draw, the discard, the knock and the count. You can replay it any time from the Game menu.
• Hints When You Want One: Not sure what to throw? The hint shows the play the game's own strategy would make.
• Classic or Quick: A match to 100, or a match to 50 when you want a shorter game.
• Play a Friend: Start a table, share the code or the link, and play the same game head to head from wherever you both are.
• Free in Your Browser: No download, no app store, no account needed. It works the moment the page loads, on any device.
• Picks Up Where You Left Off: Your match in progress, your lifetime stats and your settings all save automatically on your device, and on every device once you sign in.

One Card from Gin

Every hand of Gin Rummy comes down to the same quiet moment. You are holding two runs and a pair, four points of deadwood, and the Knock button is lit. One more card of the right rank and it is gin, 25 extra points and nothing your opponent can do about it. But they have picked up two cards from the pile in the last three turns, and they are looking at their own button. Knock now, or draw once more? Deal a hand and find out which kind of player you are.

More Free Card Games

Looking for more to play with two? Rummy is the classic where the melds go on the table, Trash is a quick race for two players, and Crazy 8s plays well head to head. For trick-taking, Hearts, Spades and Euchre are all here to play against the regulars or at a table with friends, and there is always a game of Klondike Solitaire to unwind with.