Gin rummy (or Gin for short) is a simple and popular two-player card game created by Elwood T. Baker in 1909. Gin, which evolved from 18th-century Whiskey Poker (according to John Scarne), was created with the intention of being faster than standard rummy, but not as spontaneous as knock rummy.
Gin is played with a standard 52-card pack of playing card. Aces are played only as low; the ranking from low-to-high is A-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K.
The objective in Gin Rummy is to score more points than your opponent.
The basic game strategy is to improve one's hand by forming melds and eliminating deadwood. Two types of meld exist:
A player's "deadwood" cards are those not in any meld. His deadwood count is the sum of the point values of the deadwood cards aces are scored at 1 point, face cards at 10, and others according to their numerical values. Intersecting melds are not allowed; therefore, if a player has a 3-card set and a 3-card run sharing a common card, he can only count...
