Oklahoma Gin

Rules of Oklahoma Gin

Oklahoma Gin may sound nice with tonic water but actually a unique variant of rummy played with one standard 52 card deck, and with no jokers. In Oklahoma Gin ace cards are always low and therefore may only appear in set melds or as a the 1 in a run. Penalty points are allocated according to the face value of the cards; picture cards count as 10 and aces are 1.

The first card to be turned for the discard pile’s face value sets the knock limit; in order to Knock, your dead wood must add up to no more than the value of this card. If that first card is an ace, knocking is not permitted; ginning is the only means of laying down cards.

There are three ways of winning at Oklahoma Gin:

Ginning; going all out, no deadwood.
Knocking; deadwood equals to or less than the knock limit.
Undercutting; if at the end of the round after one player has knocked and his opponent turns out to have the same value or less deadwood, the opponent wins. In this case the opponent receives 20 extra bonus points.

Playing the game itself is very straight forward:

• A card is dealt to each player; the highest card starts play.
• 10 cards are dealt to each player in a 2 player game; 7 cards in a 3 or 4 player game.
• The remaining cards are laid face down, and the top one is turned over and placed next to the stockpile face up; this is the discard pile.
• The first player chooses whether he wants the card on the discard pile or the stock pile.
• He takes a card accordingly.
• He throws away a card.
• Play moves to the other player.
• When your hand is completely in melds, or with deadwood equaling less than the first card turned over you are able to lay your cards down; Ginning.
• When your opponent Gins you can place your melds on the table too.
• If your opponent Gins you can’t add cards to his melds.
• If your opponent Knocks you may add to his melds, but only if they are in their original state, i.e. once one person has added to a meld, no one else can.

Scoring depends on the method in which you were defeated:

Ginning: you get the sum of your dead wood plus 25 penalty points.
Knocking: the sum of your own deadwood, minus the sum of the winners equals the number of penalty points you get.
Undercutting: As in Knocking but plus an additional 10 penalty points.

Oklahoma or Oklahoma Gin, as it is often termed, is a popular version of rummy and is a skill game that can be played online in sites like, Rummy Online. The game attracts many online players and is easier to play than it may sound. Try playing online to learn the game quicker.