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How to Play Oklahoma Gin

August 3, 2009

 
Oklahoma Gin is a popular spin-off from the most favored rummy online game, Gin Rummy. Card players round the world have been playing Oklahoma Gin and other rummy card games for countless years, but the recent introduction of rummy online games over the last decade have further solidified its unwavering presence.
 
Oklahoma Gin rummy online follows the exact same rules as Gin Rummy, with one distinct, and very interesting, variation.
It has everything to do with the first card played in the Open Pile, immediately after players are dealt their hands.
In Gin Rummy, players must have 10 or less ‘Deadwood’ in order to knock.
In Oklahoma Gin, this ever-important card determines the amount of Deadwood they may knock with.
In some cases, they may be required to Go Gin to win, they may even receive double score for certain cards.
 
 
Object of Oklahoma Gin
The object of Oklahoma Gin is simple enough – be the first to run out of cards. Players can accomplish this by placing “melds” on the table.
Melds are combinations of cards, including “sets” – 3 or more cards of the same rank – and “runs” – 4 or more sequenced cards of the same suit.
When each hand ends, score is taken.
The first player to reach the predetermined winning-score amount is the winner.
 
 
Structure of Oklahoma Gin
Oklahoma Gin is a rummy card game played by two people, with a standard deck of 52 cards.
Home games will sometimes make way for 4 people to play, requiring two decks of cards.
 
 
Glossary of Oklahoma Gin Terms
Various terms are used to define different hand structures and ways to win Oklahoma Gin.
We have listed all of the common Oklahoma Gin terms below, along with their basic meanings.
 
Set: A combination of 3 or more cards of the same rank. [Ex: 3-3-3, K-K-K-K]
 
Run: A combination of 4 or more same-suit cards running in sequence. Note that Aces are always low in Oklahoma Gin.
A Run of Ah-2h-3h-4h is valid, but Jh-Qh-Kh-Ah is not.
 
Meld: All sets and runs placed on the table are called Melds.
A player may play Melds only when it is their turn, after drawing a card, but before discarding.
 
Knock: Once a player has Melded, if they have equal or less than the required Deadwood left in their hand, they may Knock.
This means the other player has one more turn to Lay-Off before the hand is over. When a player knocks, they must place all Deadwood on the discard pile.
 
Lay-Off: If you opponent Knocks, you have one more play in which to Meld, and build on current Melds.
Building on a Meld means to add appropriate cards to a current Meld.
For example, if a player has Melds a Run of 5-6-7-8-9 in Hearts, you may add a 4 of Hearts or 10 of Hearts.
If you add a 4 of Hearts, you may also add a 3 of Hearts, and so on.
A player should try to get rid of as many cards as possible when Laying-Off.
All remaining cards will count against you when scoring.
 
Deadwood: The cards left in a players hand when the hand is over are called Deadwood.
The player who knocks must have a minimum amount of Deadwood, corresponding to the first card placed in the discard pile, or Open Pile, when the hand begins.
The player to Lay-Off will try to have as little Deadwood as possible.
 
Going Gin: Going Gin is the best way to win Oklahoma Gin.
This means a player has gotten rid of all of his cards, without any Deadwood remaining.
When this happens, the player does not need to knock, therefore his opponent is not able to Lay-Off cards.
 
 
Taking Score in Oklahoma Gin
Oklahoma Gin is scored the same as Gin Rummy, in most ways.
When the hand ends, all cards remaining in a player’s hand are added up.
The player who Knocks or Goes Gin is awarded these points, minus his own Deadwood.
There is normally a predetermined “winning-score”.
The player who first reaches this score wins the rummy online game.
 
If one player Knocks, his Deadwood is calculated.
The opponent then Lays-Off, and his own Deadwood is added up.
The player to knock will subtract his own Deadwood from his opponents.
The difference becomes the winner’s score.
Should the loser end up with less Deadwood than the winner (the one who Knocked), the winner is awarded an additional 25 point bonus for “Undercutting”.
 
If a player Goes Gin, there is no Lay-Off phase.
All cards remaining in the opponents hand are added up, and this becomes the winners score.
The winner is also awarded an extra 25 point bonus for going Gin.
 
Card values are scored in the following manner:
 
2-10 = Face Value [2 = 2 points, 3 = 3 points … 10 = 10 points]
Face Cards = 10 Points
Aces = 1 Point
 
 
Bonus Scoring in Gin Rummy
We mentioned a few ways to get bonus score in Oklahoma Gin.
We’ll better define these below.
 
Going Gin grants the winner an extra 25 point in bonus score.
A player must Meld all of his card, with no Deadwood remaining, in order to Go Gin.
 
Undercutting happens when a player Lays-Off, and ends up with less Deadwood than his opponent knocked with.
Let’s say you knock with 5 Deadwood.
Your opponent then Lay-Off and ends up with 3 Deadwood.
This is Undercutting, and is worth 25 bonus points to the winner.
 
 
How To Play Oklahoma Gin – The Deal
Each player will first draw a card to determine the dealer.
The highest card deals first.
Cards are then shuffled and cut.
The dealer will give each player 10 cards.
The next card will be placed face up to start the discard pile, or Open Pile.
This card is extremely important!
 
The first card on the Open Pile determines how much Deadwood a player can have in order to knock.
If this card is a 7, the Deadwood limit is 7.
A King gives a deadwood limit of 10, and so forth.
There are sometimes special rules given to certain cards and suits.
The most common rules are:
 
If the first card is an Ace, a player must Go Gin to win. Knocking is not allowed.
If the card is a Spade, standard rules apply, but Double Score is taken at the end of the hand.
 
The game continues with each player taking turns.
On a player’s turn, they will first draw one card from the Draw Pile, or Stock Pile (the stack of cards remaining after the deal phase).
The player may then Meld, if they wish.
When they are done, they must discard one card into the Open Pile.
 
Play continues in this fashion until one player Knocks or Goes Gin.
If the player Goes Gin, the hand is over and score is taken.
If the player Knocks, the opponent enters the Lay-Off phase, after which the hand is over and score is taken.
 
 
Oklahoma Gin – Notes
If the Draw Pile decreases to only 2 cards remaining, the game immediately ends.
There is no winner, no score is taken.
A new hand will be dealt.
 
A player may not pick up a card from the Open Pile, and at the end of the same turn, discard that same card.

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