CLASSIC TWO-PLAYER GIN
A good hand starts here.
Your first hand
- Take the opening upcard, or pass. The nondealer gets the first offer, then the dealer. If both pass, the nondealer must draw from stock.
- On later turns, draw from either pile. Build sets of 3–4 matching ranks and suited runs of 3 or more.
- Select one card, then press Discard selected. You cannot immediately return the card you just took from the discard pile.
- With 10 or fewer deadwood points after discarding, select Knock. With zero, select Gin. Review the melds before confirming.
Melds & deadwood
Aces are low, worth 1. Number cards count their rank; J, Q and K count 10. A–2–3 is valid; Q–K–A and wraparound runs are not. Each card belongs to at most one meld. Auto Arrange finds a minimum-deadwood arrangement; the knock preview lets you choose any legal arrangement at 10 or less.
Scoring
After a knock, the defender optimally melds and lays off onto the knocker’s melds, including chained extensions. If the defender has more deadwood, the knocker scores the difference. If the defender has equal or less, the defender scores the difference plus a 25-point undercut bonus.
Gin scores 25 plus the defender’s minimum deadwood. No layoffs against Gin. The first player to reach the match target wins. No box bonuses, Big Gin, Oklahoma Gin, or other variants.
The end of a hand
The player drawing the third-to-last stock card completes that turn and may knock or declare Gin. If they simply discard, the hand ends without scoring when two stock cards remain. Dealers alternate after every hand, including drawn hands. The first dealer is the second seat.
Privacy & online tables
Pass-and-play conceals the hand between turns. Online games send only your own hand until the hand ends. Both players must ready before starting, continuing, or rematching. Inactive rooms expire after 48 hours. Disconnects do not award points or forfeit a game; reconnect on the same browser to continue.
Controls & saves
Use touch, mouse, or Tab and Enter/Space. Left and Right arrows move between cards. Sort buttons and Auto Arrange require no dragging. On desktop, drag cards onto one another to reorder, or onto Discard selected to discard. Local games save after each action. Online tokens stay on this browser; do not share them. Settings persist separately.