Gin Rummy Tips,
Guidelines & Strategy -
How To Win At Gin Rummy
While having a
game plan in Gin Rummy
may not be essential, the strategy element ranks high and there are many
methods which can be used in game play. One can incorporate statistics, percentage play, discarding, forcing a draw,
baiting, taking cards on spec and there are many other smart ways to out
manoeuvre your opponent. Here are just a few minor tips and tactics that might
just help you win the game.
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The mathematics of Gin
Rummy shows that there are 15,820,024,220 (almost 16 billion variations)
possible hands that can be formed from the ten cards in a single hand
(as shown on the left). Once the draw and discard starts, this number can
rise into the trillions! |
Strategy at a Glance
It’s one thing to master the rules, it’s another
to practice strategy to your advantage. Winning is your priority so mastering
the strategies takes precedence over just knowing the rules.
Memory
Do not get caught sleeping on the job. As soon as
the cards are dealt, try to have two antennas working simultaneously. One for
your own game and the other on what your opponent is doing. Make a
mental tally of what he’s putting on the discard pile. Watch his facial
expressions and read his body language. If you are employing this strategy for
the first time, you may have a bit of difficulty initially, but practice makes
perfect. Sherlock Holmes didn’t become the ace detective in his first year of
practice!
Is
your opponent throwing more spades and hearts? Then it’s safe to conclude that
he’s waiting for diamonds or clubs. Did he throw low numbered diamonds
awhile back? Then chances are he’s holding matching cards in the high numbers
– possibly waiting for a 5
,
6,
7,
8,
9
or 10.
Knocking
If the risk of undercut appears to be low,
knock and do it quickly. As soon as your deadwood is low enough, knock. If
you’re faced with the decision of knocking but you’re afraid of being
undercut, knock anyway. If you discard a card and think it will lead your
opponent to going gin, again knock anyway. Your opponent will most
likely go gin rather than get exposed to an undercut. A typical game
terminates when the deck is down to half and some use this as a signal that
knocking should happen soon.
Figuring Out Your
Opponent’s Cards
As soon as the game begins, keep an eye out for
what your opponent is putting on the discard pile. If in the next two or three
rounds he throws out cards of a particular shape, let us assume hearts and
spades, that could mean that he is batting for diamonds and clubs. Is he throwing high or low numbers? If he’s in the habit of
throwing high numbers, do not throw out any low numbers.
Some Gin Rummy experts advise picking up cards
from the stock rather than from the discard pile. If you take a lot of cards
from the discard pile, your opponent will have an idea of what cards you’re
holding. You’re also picking up cards that are totally useless to your
opponent. If you draw from the deck (the stock pile) you keep him in the
dark and you could prevent him from going gin.
Taking a card from the discard pile is
recommended if you need the card to turn two cards that match into a meld of
three or more. This way you are removing about 3 deadwood cards, and it might
also enable you to knock early.
Get Those Melds Early and
Quickly
Form those melds as quickly and as early in the
game as you can. If your opponent throws out cards that you need to help
complete a meld, pick them up right away. The closer you come to knocking or
going to gin, the better. Having a meld puts you at an advantage. And, if
early in the game, you only need one card for a meld, you increase your
chances of knocking early too. When it comes to high value cards, be wary that
these are equally high value deadwood. Meld face cards or discard them
quickly.
Seven Is A Lucky
Number
This is because it is considered the most
valuable card by players. It has the potential to extend melds right at
mid-point and in either direction. A player can extend a meld at the lower end
of the number series, or from the high end number series. Its extension
capabilities are superior compared to other numbers. If you hold a 7, try not
to discard it too early in the game.
Statistics
If you’re aiming for a sequence meld, you know
that they can be extended at the low and high ends. This means that if you’re
holding 5
6
7, you can extend
your possibilities by considering a 2
3 and 4
(low end) or 8 9
10 (high end).
This points to increased probabilities of extended existing melds as well as
making a much longer sequence with all or part of another unfinished sequence.
However, If you’re aiming for the same suit, your three of a kind can only be
extended one more way. So bear in mind that a sequence has more chance of
extension.
Keep these statistics in mind as you devise your
strategy:
(1)
How many ten-card hands are possible in Gin
Rummy? Answer: 15,820,024,220
(almost 16 million)
(2)
Each player cannot play the same game on a
consistent and regular basis
(3)
Each player will have different uses for those
cards that they pick up from the stock and discard piles. There is no
universal use for any one card.
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