Create more sets and runs than your opponent.
Strategy
Keep an eye on the discard pile — it’s the best way to get a sense for your opponents hand. It’s typically safe to discard cards close to what your opponent is throwing away, and if they fish a card out of the discard pile, then you know exactly what cards they’re building their hand around.
How to Play
- Deal 10 cards to each player. From the remaining cards, place one face up in the center of the table, this is your Discard Pile. Place the remaining cards face up next to the discard pile, this is your Stock Deck.
- With the goal of creating a hand composed entirely of Sets and Runs (Aces are low, and can only form a run with a 2), the non-dealer player can either choose to replace a card from their hand with the face-up card the Discard Pile, or pass back to the dealer, who has the same option. Once either the non-dealer or the dealer takes the face-up card, or both players pass, each player takes turns replacing a card from their hand with a card from the Stock Deck or Discard pile.
- Play continues and players create sets and runs within their hand. However, anytime the value of unmatched cards in a player’s hand totals less than 10 (Aces =1, Face cards = 10), that player is allowed to “Knock,” ending the hand.
- After a player Knocks, or there are two cards left in the Stock Deck, that player lays their cards face-up on the table, and announce the total value of their unmatched cards. The opposing player then does the same, but is able to add any unmatched cards to the knocking player’s sets and runs, removing them from their hand. (For example, if the knocking player has 3 jacks, and the opposing player has the fourth, they can add the jack to the knocking players hand.)
- The player with the lowest value of unmatched cards wins the hand, and is awarded a score equal to the difference between value of their opponents unmatched cards and their unmatched cards. If a player has no unmatched cards, they “Went Gin,“ and are awarded 25 bonus points along with the difference between the value of their opponent’s and their unmatched cards. An “Undercut” occurs when the value of the knocking player’s unmatched cards is higher than their opponents. Their opponent is awarded 25 bonus points along with the difference between the value of the knocking player and their unmatched cards.
- A player wins the game once they’ve reached 100 points.
