How to Win at Gin Rummy

The best discard is usually the one that leaves the least deadwood

Every turn ends with a discard, so it is the choice you make most often. Try four hands below. The trainer counts the deadwood left by every possible discard and shows you the lowest.

In the first hand, throwing the K♠ leaves 6, while throwing the 7♥ would leave 33. In the third hand, the 9♥ and the 9♦ are equally good by count. That is where judgment comes in, as the tips below explain.

The trainer counts deadwood only. It doesn't know which cards your opponent wants, so the tips below can sometimes beat its answer.

Throw high cards early, keep low ones late

A loose king costs you 10 if your opponent knocks. A loose 2 costs you 2. Early in the hand, get rid of high cards that don't belong to a set or run. Later, when a knock could come any turn, low cards are what you want to be holding.

Keep cards that work two ways. A 7♥ next to a 6♥ and another 7 could become a run or a set. Those cards are worth more than a pair that can only become a set.

Watch what your opponent picks up

Every card your opponent takes from the discard pile tells you something. If they take a 9♣, they probably hold other 9s or the 8♣ and 10♣. Don't feed them more of the same. Every card they throw tells you what they are not collecting.

Discard cards your opponent can't use

• A card of the same rank your opponent just threw is usually safe.
• A card next to one they threw in the same suit is fairly safe.
• A card your opponent can no longer use is safe: if two 9s are already in the discard pile, a third 9 can't give them a set of 9s (though it could still fit a run).

Sometimes the safe discard is not the one with the lowest count. Giving up a couple of points is better than handing over the card that lets your opponent go gin.

Knock early, knock low, and don't wait too long for gin

Early in the hand, knock as soon as your deadwood reaches 10 or less; your opponent has had no time to improve. Later on, they probably have low deadwood too, so knock with a lower count to avoid an undercut (25 points to them). Holding out for gin is worth it when you are one card away and several cards can complete you. See knocking in gin rummy.

Count the cards you can still get

Before you wait on a card, check how many copies could still come. If you need the 5♠ for a run but your opponent already threw it, that run is dead. A set waiting on one of two remaining 8s is far better than a run waiting on one card. Simple counting like this wins more hands than any trick.

The best way to build these habits is to play. Our free gin rummy game shows your deadwood after every move, and the guided game explains each decision as you go.