Two-player rummy. Lay melds, knock when your deadwood is 10 or less, race to 100.
Setup & play
Standard 52-card deck. Each player is dealt 10 cards; the 21st card is flipped face-up to start the discard pile, and the rest become the stock. The non-dealer gets first chance at the upcard. If they pass, the dealer can take it; if both pass, the non-dealer draws from the stock.
On your turn, draw from the stock or the discard pile, then discard one card. You may knock at any point after drawing if your unmatched cards (deadwood) total 10 or fewer.
Scoring
Card values: Aces = 1, face cards = 10, others = pip value.
Knocking: Your opponent reveals their hand and lays off any cards onto your melds. The knocker scores the difference between the two deadwood totals. If the opponent's deadwood is lower (an undercut), they score the difference plus an undercut bonus (default 25).
Gin: If your deadwood is 0 when you go out, you score the opponent's full deadwood plus the gin bonus (default 25). Opponent cannot lay off when you gin.
Big Gin: Gin with 11 cards (without discarding) scores a bigger bonus (default 31).
Boxes & game-end: Each hand won = one box (default 25 each). When someone reaches the target (100/150/250), they win the game and add the game-end bonus (default 100). Schneider (shutout) often doubles the winner's total.
Variants
- Standard
2 players. Knock at 10 or fewer. The classic and the default.
- Oklahoma
The face-up card on the deal sets the knock limit (Ace = knock-only-on-gin, face cards = 10, others = pip value). If the upcard is a spade, the hand is double-scored.
- Hollywood
Three games tracked in parallel — first win goes in column 1, second win in columns 1+2, third onward in all three. First to reach the target in each column wins that column. More boxes, longer night.
- Straight Gin
No knocking allowed — players must go gin (deadwood = 0) to score. Less common, much tighter game.
- Cutthroat (3-handed)
Three players take turns being the dealer; the dealer plays against the other two, and each non-dealer scores their own column against the dealer.
- Partnership (2v2)
Four players auto-paired into two teams. Each player still has a 10-card hand, but partners pool their hand scores after each deal. Use the Pairing card in the start form to lock in or shuffle the teams.
Common house-rule decisions
These are the questions that come up most often. The Rules tab toggles between the common choices — agree before the first hand or you’ll re-litigate them mid-game.
- Knock limit (10 in Standard; variable in Oklahoma).
- Round-the-corner runs (Q-K-A-2 allowed?) — off by default.
- Big Gin bonus value — 31 is the most common; some groups use 25.
- Undercut bonus and whether undercut doubles the score.
- Schneider doubling — does a shutout double the winner's game-end total?
- Ace value — strict A = 1, or low/high flexible (interacts with round-the-corner).
- Box bonus per hand — 25 is the most common.
- Game target — 100 is classic, 150/250 for longer matches.
Strategy notes
Watch what your opponent discards — it tells you which suits and ranks they're collecting. Discard high cards early to keep your deadwood low in case the hand ends fast. Knock early on close hands; if you wait for gin, the opponent might gin first or undercut.