Oklahoma Gin Rules

 

Oklahoma Gin is very similar to playing gin rummy so if you know how to play gin rummy then it will be simple to learn the rule changes for Oklahoma gin. The game is played with only two players and uses a full fifty-two card deck with no jokers and no cards wild. When you play Oklahoma gin the aces are always considered to be low. The goal in this card game is to collect sets which are three or more of the same card and runes which are three or more consecutive cards in the same suit. To start a game you decide who is going to deal and then that player deals out ten cards face down to each player and then flips over the top card from the draw pile and puts in face up next to the draw pile. The flipped card is the discard pile and is important in Oklahoma Gin.

 

The discard pile is what you need to always look at when you’re thinking about knocking in this game because you can’t have more deadwood in your hand then the value of the card on the discard pile. Once the deal takes place the player who didn’t deal can take the discard pile card or take the top card from the draw pile. Once they have taken a card if they can’t finish the hand then they need to discard a card into the discard pile. The other player can now take the card the other player discarded or he/she can take the top card from the draw pile.

 

The two players continue doing this until one player can win the hand by knocking. In order to knock you need to have less deadwood in your hand then the value of the top card on the discard pile. If the top card on the discard pile is an 8 then you need less then 8 deadwood in your hand in order to go out. You can also win the hand by having gin which is when you can meld all of your cards leaving one to discard with no deadwood. If you knock and meld your cards and you have deadwood then your opponent is allowed to meld there cards to see if they have less deadwood. If they have equal or less amount of deadwood then you then they win the hand and this is known as undercutting.

 

If you win the hand by going gin then you get 25 point bonus plus the difference between your deadwood and your opponent’s deadwood added to your score. If you undercut your opponent then you get a 10 point bonus plus the difference between your deadwood and your opponent’s deadwood. Another important rule to note is that if the draw pile runs down to 2 cards or less you need to shuffle the cards and re-deal a new hand with no points being distributed for the previous hand. As you can see the rules are basically the same in gin rummy and Oklahoma gin with the only difference being you need to have a certain amount of deadwood when you knock in this game.