Great Britain Bet

Know the Score When Playing Gin Rummy

If a player's knock is successful (his opponent's unmelded points are higher than his) he receives the difference in unmelded points between himself and his opponent plus a "box" bonus of 25 points for winning the hand. If, however, the opponent's unmelded points are equal to or lower than the knocker's, the opponent is said to have "undercut" and receives the difference in points plus a 25-point undercut bonus as well as the box bonus.

If a player goes gin he receives the total of his opponent's unmelded points plus a gin bonus of 25 points and the box bonus.

Play continues until one player scores the agreed game total or more. If the agreed total was 100, the winning player receives a game bonus of 100 points and wins the difference in points between the two scores. The bonus is always the game-winning total. If the loser has not scored at all during the game the winner doubles the entire score.

Finally, keep in mind that variations in the scoring of bonuses are common. Players should make sure that they agreed on the ground rules before play begins.

There are a number of variations of the game. When there are three players, one is captain (by pick of the highest card). The second highest plays against the captain until he loses. Then the third player takes his place until he loses. The second player comes back, and so on until the end of the game. The captain wins from both the other players or loses to both. The same principle holds true wherever there is an odd number of players. The most common variations are Oklahoma Gin and Hollywood. In Oklahoma Gin, play is exactly the same as in the standard game except that the value of the first card of the discard pile determines the knocking number. Thus, if the up card is a 7, a player must have 7 unmatched points or less to knock. (If, however, the up card is an ace, the players must go for gin.) In addition, if the card is a spade, the scoring on that hand is doubled.

In Hollywood only the scoring differs from the regular game. In effect, three games are scored simultaneously. The score sheet contains three double columns, one for each game. The first hand won by each player is entered only in game one. His second winning hand is entered in games one and two; his third winning hand and all subsequent wins are credited in all three games. When either player reaches the agreed winning total or more points in a game, that game is ended and no more scores are entered in it, but play goes on in the other games until they reach the winning total of points.

Team play is very popular. There may be two, three, or four on a side. In some games one team sits on one side of the table, the other on the opposite side. In this variation the players on each team may look at his partner's hand or hands if there are more than two on a team. Most team play is by alternate arrangement; one from Team A sits next to one from Team B and so on. The members of a team do not see each other's cards. The strategy in team play is much more complex than in head-to-head play.