Gin Rummy Variations

Gin has been around for over one hundred years. Consequently, it is not surprising that there have been many variations that have developed throughout the years. Some Gin Rummy variations are new rules, some variations are new ways of scoring and some variations add additional players or teams of players. See which variations interest you and challenge you. There is always a little something for everyone when it comes to variations. Below a few of the most interesting variations are discussed:

Straight Gin

• Allow a player to pick up and discard the same playing card on the same play.
• If a player goes gin, the bonus is worth 25 points.
• If a player undercuts, the bonus is worth 20 points.
• The bonus for the undercut, for going gin and for the box bonus are each worth 25 points.
• If a player does not score at all during the game, the winner’s score in its entirety is doubled.

Oklahoma Gin

Oklahoma Gin Rummy: The upcard indicates the knock number or the number of points you must reduce down to before you can knock. If the upcard is a Jack, Queen or King, players must get down to ten or less. If the upcard is an Ace, knocking is not allowed and players must play until they’ve gone gin. The goal is to reach 150 points. Another variation inside this variation is that if the upcard is a spades, all points are doubled.

Three Player Gin

Three Players: Each of the three players draw cards, the highest is the dealer, then the players arrange themselves, depending on who has the next highest card, to his left. The players take cards from the stock pile or from the two other players’ discards. When the hand is over, the player who won calculates the difference between his score and the combined score of the other two players. The undercutting bonus is eliminated. Players are only allowed to lay off on the knocker’s cards. Forty points are awarded for the gin bonus. 200 points wins the match.

Four Player Gin

Four Players: Two partnerships are formed. Each player plays against a player of the other team. At the end of the hand the team combines their score. The winning partnership is the first partnership to reach 125 points.

Hollywood Gin

Hollywood Gin: Hollywood Gin is played like normal gin, but the scoring is very different. Three different games are scored at once. The first win for a player is recorded as Game One. The second win for that player is Game Two. The third win for that player is scored for Game Three. When three hands are won, only then can scoring be initiated.