How to score gin rummy

In gin rummy, only the winner of a hand scores. A knocker with less deadwood scores the difference between the two deadwood counts. Going gin scores 20 plus the other player's deadwood. If the defender ties or beats the knocker, that's an undercut: the difference plus 10. The first player to 100 gets a 100-point game bonus, and each player adds 20 for every hand they won.

By Emre Özen, updated October 8, 2026. The rules follow pagat.com's Gin Rummy page and Bicycle's rules. Every example below was scored by the same code that runs our online gin rummy game.

Deadwood calculator

Tap the cards in a hand to see its best melds and deadwood. Pick 11 cards and it tells you which one to throw. Switch to "Score a knock", enter both hands, and it lays off the defender's cards and scores the hand.

Count my deadwood Score a knock

Step 1: count the deadwood

Deadwood is every card that isn't in a set or a run. Add up its points:

Card	Points
Ace	1
2 to 10	Face value
Jack, queen, king	10

When a card could go in more than one meld, count the arrangement that leaves the least. Hold 7♥ 8♥ 9♥ 7♠ 7♣ 7♦ and the best split is the run 7♥ 8♥ 9♥ plus the set 7♠ 7♣ 7♦, with nothing left over. Use the 7♥ in the set instead and the 8♥ and 9♥ are deadwood, 17 points.

Step 2: score the hand

Result	Scorer	Points
Knock: knocker's deadwood is lower	Knocker	Defender's deadwood minus knocker's
Undercut: defender's deadwood is the same or lower	Defender	Knocker's deadwood minus defender's, plus 10
Gin: knocker has no deadwood	Knocker	20 plus the defender's deadwood
Stock down to two cards, no knock	Nobody	0

The defender always counts after laying off: adding cards to the knocker's sets and runs. After gin, nothing can be laid off.

Worked examples

A knock, with layoffs

You knock with 2♠ 3♠ 4♠, K♥ K♦ K♠, 9♥ 9♦ 9♣ and the 2♣ left over: 2 deadwood. The defender holds 5♠ 6♠ 7♥ 8♥ J♦ 3♦ 3♥ A♣ 10♣ 10♥, with no melds. They lay the 5♠ on your spade run, then the 6♠ after it. What's left adds to 7 + 8 + 10 + 3 + 3 + 1 + 10 + 10 = 52. You score 52 − 2 = 50.

An undercut, and a tie

You knock with 2♠ 3♠ 4♠, K♥ K♦ K♠, 10♣ J♣ Q♣ and a 9♥ left over: 9 deadwood. The defender has 5♥ 6♥ 7♥, 8♣ 8♠ 8♥, 2♦ 3♦ 4♦ and the A♣: just 1. Nothing to lay off, and 1 is lower than 9, so they score 9 − 1 + 10 = 18. If their last card had been the 9♠ instead, both counts would be 9. A tie still goes to the defender: 0 + 10 = 10.

Gin

You go gin with A♠ 2♠ 3♠ 4♠, 9♥ 9♦ 9♣ and K♥ K♦ K♠. The defender holds 5♠ 6♠ 7♥ 8♥ J♦ 3♦ 3♥ A♣ 10♣ 10♥. The 5♠ would fit on your spade run, but there are no layoffs after gin, so all 63 points count. You score 20 + 63 = 83.

The defender's choice

The knocker has 8♥ 9♥ 10♥, three 2s, three kings and an ace (1 deadwood). The defender holds 7♥ 7♠ 7♣ 6♥ 5♥ Q♠ Q♦ 4♣ 3♦ J♥. The J♥ goes on the heart run either way. Then the 7♥ could start a chain (7♥, 6♥, 5♥ all onto the run), or stay in the set of sevens. The set is better: it leaves 6♥ 5♥ Q♠ Q♦ 4♣ 3♦ = 38 instead of 41. The knocker scores 38 − 1 = 37. Our game and calculator always make the best choice for the defender.

Oklahoma gin

With a spade upcard, the whole score for the hand doubles, bonuses included. With a spade upcard of 2 or higher, the first example above would be worth 100 instead of 50, and a gin worth 83 would be 166.

Step 3: the end of the game

The game ends when someone's running total reaches 100 (150 in Oklahoma gin). Then:

The winner adds a game bonus of 100, or 200 if the loser never scored (a shutout).
Both players add a box bonus of 20 for every hand they won.

Example: you finish on 104 points after winning 5 hands; the other player has 63 points from 3 hands. You get 104 + 100 + 5 × 20 = 304. They get 63 + 3 × 20 = 123. You win by 181. Our game shows this table on the last screen, and keeps a score sheet as you play.

How hands end in practice

We played 1,000 games between two copies of our strong computer player (10,107 hands). Here's how those hands ended:

Ending	Share of hands	Average points
Knock, knocker wins	81.3%	15.0
Gin	7.1%	38.6
Undercut	11.5%	14.1
Cancelled (stock ran down)	0.1%	0

A game took 10.1 hands on average. These are computer players, so treat the numbers as one benchmark rather than a rule. More on what they mean for your play is on the gin rummy strategy page.

Sources

John McLeod, "Gin Rummy", pagat.com: scoring, the undercut and gin bonuses, the 100-point game bonus, the shutout, box bonuses and Oklahoma gin.
Bicycle Playing Cards, "Gin Rummy", bicyclecards.com: card values, the tie going to the defender, and the end-of-game bonuses.
Hand endings: our own simulation, October 2026, using the code in our game.