Back when the internet was unknown, you’re probably wondering what people did to pass the time. Well, aside from baseball, people play card games, one of which is Gin Rummy. As you probably notice, the name of the card game says something about another favorite pastime, drinking. The card game for two was invented by Elwood T. Baker in 1909 and has been popular ever since. While he may think it’s an old game, it’s actually a later game that tried to compete with even more popular games like Cribbage and Pinoch; both were games dating back 400 years. Gin Rummy is closely linked to a card game genre known as Rummy, where the method being used is “draw and discard”. This means that on each turn, you draw a card from the pile and discard the unwanted card in return. The idea is to form sets of equal cards. The match can be 3 or 4 cards of the same value or of the same suit in sequence. With rules so easy to understand, it’s no wonder the game had a loyal following; and even gained notoriety for being such an addictive game.
Following the general rules of Rummy, the Gin Rummy version is as easy as pie. It starts with each player receiving 10 cards. The standard 52-card deck is classified as follows: Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Jack, Queen, and King. Each of the cards has corresponding values. Face cards are worth 10 points each and the Ace is worth 1 point. Other cards are worth their index value. The 21st card is turned face up to start the discard pile and the rest are turned face down, making up the stock pile. The object of the game is to accumulate a hand that can be combined into sets of 3 or more cards of the same suit in consecutive order; or a set of cards with the same rank. Any unmatched cards (or deadwood) you have should be discarded, and the ones left in your hand should have low point values.
In Gin Rummy, each player’s turn consists of “The Draw” and “The Discard”. When you draw a card from the supply, you add it to your hand and check to see if it can make a pair. Otherwise, you may have the option of taking it and dropping a higher value Peerless card into your hand, or just discard it outright. You can choose to end the game during your turn if you can form your cards into valid sets and runs. To signal your opponent, you must discard a card face down and expose your entire hand, arranged in the valid melds. Your unmatched cards must also total 10 points or less. This process is called “beating”. If you don’t have any dead cards when you hit, it’s known as “going to gin.” This gives you special bonus points. The game ends when the supply is reduced to two cards and the player can hit or go gin. The player who reaches 100 points first wins the game.
The trick in Gin Rummy is to look at the cards you have and the cards that have been discarded. If you can keep track of those, you can get an idea of what your opponent’s hand is, or what he or she is trying to post.