Melds and deadwood
Melds are three or more of a kind, or three or more in sequence in one suit. Everything unmelded is deadwood, counted at face value with face cards worth ten.
Gin Rummy against the computer
Gin Rummy is a two-player game, so a decent opponent matters more than the interface. Here you play a computer that discards defensively and knocks when the maths favours it, with full scoring to 100.
Play Gin RummyKnocking and gin
Knock once your deadwood is ten or less, or go gin with no deadwood at all for a bonus. Your opponent then lays off cards onto your melds before the difference is scored.
Undercut
If the opponent's deadwood equals or beats yours after laying off, they undercut you and take the points instead. That risk is why a marginal knock is often the wrong move.
Tips that actually help
- Watch every discard: what the computer picks up tells you which suits to hold.
- Drop high unmatched cards early, before they become expensive deadwood.
- Cards with two ways to meld are worth more than cards with one.
- Late in a hand, knocking small beats chasing gin.
Common questions
- How many points win the game?
- The first player to 100 points wins the match, with bonuses applied at the end.
- What is the difference between knocking and gin?
- Knocking means ten or less deadwood; gin means none at all, and it pays a bonus and cannot be undercut.
- Is the computer opponent difficult?
- It plays a solid discard and knock strategy — beatable, but it will punish held high cards.