Gin Rummy guide: how to play, rules and tips

1. Pick a level and tap Play. You each get ten cards and one card is turned face up.
2. That first card is offered to the non-dealer, then the dealer: tap Take or Pass (if both pass, the non-dealer draws). The bot deals first, so you get the first offer.
3. On your turn, tap the stock or the discard pile to draw.
4. Tap a card to lift it, then tap it again (or press Discard) to throw it.
5. With 10 or less deadwood after your throw, a Knock button appears. At zero it says Gin!
6. Both hands are shown, the other player lays off onto your melds, and the hand is scored. Play on until someone reaches 100.

Melds. Three or four of a rank, or three or more in a row of one suit. Ace is low only: A, 2, 3 is a run, Q, K, A is not.

Deadwood. Every card outside a meld. Ace 1, number cards their value, J, Q and K 10.

No throwing back a pickup. You can't throw the card you just took from the discard pile, including the first face-up card.

Knocking and scoring. Knocking at 10 or less is a choice, not a must. The knocker scores the difference in deadwood, after layoffs.

Undercut. If the other player ends level with the knocker or lower, they score the difference plus 25.

Gin. Zero deadwood scores 25 extra plus the other player's deadwood. Nobody lays off on gin, and it can't be undercut.

Layoffs. Only the player who did not knock lays off: a fourth card to a set, or cards extending a run. When it is you, the game picks the best layoffs for you.

Low stock. If someone throws without knocking with only 2 cards left in the stock, the hand is void and the same dealer deals again.

The game. First to 100 wins. The winner adds a 100 point game bonus, and each player adds 25 per hand won.

Throw high deadwood first. In the Melds sort, loose cards sit at the right end, lowest to highest.

Watch the Took box. Cards the bot took from the pile stay face up beside its hand. Don't feed it more of the same.

Knock early, but mind the undercut. Hard and Expert wait for low counts, so a knock at 9 or 10 against them can be undercut.

Keep cards that work two ways. A 7 of hearts beside a pair of 8s that includes the 8 of hearts can grow into a run or a set.

You play the bot at four levels:

• Easy: knocks the moment it can. Great for learning.
• Medium: plays tidy and knocks early.
• Hard: watches your pickups and waits for a low count.
• Expert: reads every discard. Expect gin and undercuts.

On Easy and Medium a Hint button suggests a move for your own cards and says why. It never plays for you.

The result screen keeps your wins and losses per level on this device, and an unfinished game picks up where you left off on the same device.

With an optional garden name (no email, no password) your wins go on the Gin Rummy leaderboards. Each finished match is checked by the server replaying the match before it counts. A 12-character garden key restores your name and points on another device.