Object of the Game

In Gin Rummy you have the simple goal of arranging as much of your hand of 10 cards into:

  1. sets of three or four of a kind (three 4's, for example), and/or

    4 of clubs, 4 of hearts, 4 of diamonds
    A set of three-of-a-kind

  2. sets of three or more cards in a row in the same suit

    A, 2, 3, and 4 of hearts

    A run of four

Once you have all ten of your cards arranged into completed sets (called melds), you have "Gin." More than likely, you'll have 2 sets of three, and 1 set of four, plus an extra card which you'll discard face down.

10 cards, arranged in 3 sets

A "Gin" hand

However, in any game variation besides "No-Knock" Gin Rummy, most games end with a player "knocking."

Knocking

A player knocks when most of her cards fit into melds, with few total points in the leftover cards.  You can think of a knock as an "incomplete" Gin hand:

A hand of 11 cards, perfect to knock with

In the hand of 11 cards shown above, all cards fit into distinct melds except the ace of hearts and the eight of diamonds.  If the game variation allows it (see Classic Gin Rummy Game Variations), the player can flip and discard the eight of diamonds and knock with the ace of hearts left over.


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