What does it mean to knock in gin rummy?

The knock is gin rummy's signature move, and the reason the game is so fast. You don't have to melt your whole hand - you just have to get low enough.

Quick answer: Knocking ends the hand. You may knock the moment your unmatched cards - your deadwood - total ten points or fewer. You lay down your melds and your deadwood, your opponent lays off what they can, and the player with the lower deadwood scores the difference. Knock too greedily and you risk being undercut.

How to knock

On your turn, after drawing, if your deadwood is ten points or fewer, you can knock instead of playing on. You discard as normal, then lay your hand out: your melds in front of you and your unmatched cards to the side. That ends the hand for both players.

What happens next

Your opponent reveals their hand and may lay off unmatched cards onto your melds to trim their deadwood. Then you compare totals: knock with 8 while they hold 15, and you score 7. But if they equal or beat your total, they've scored an undercut - the difference plus a 25 bonus goes to them.

Knock or go for gin?

You never have to knock at the first chance. Holding out for zero deadwood scores a gin bonus and blocks lay-offs, but it risks your opponent going out first. Many strong players take an early, safe knock to avoid the undercut. It's a judgment call - see can you knock with more than 10 deadwood for the hard limit.

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Related questions

What is deadwood in gin rummy?

Deadwood is the cards in your hand that aren't part of any meld. Each one carries a point value: face cards count 10, Aces count 1, and number cards count their face value. You add those up for your deadwood total - and you need it at ten or fewer to knock.

What is an undercut in gin rummy?

An undercut - also called an underknock - happens when the player who did not knock ends up with deadwood equal to or lower than the knocker's. Instead of the knocker scoring, the defender scores the difference plus a 25-point bonus. It's the penalty for knocking when your opponent was just as low.

What is going gin?

Going gin means arranging all ten of your cards into melds so you have zero deadwood. It's the best way to end a hand: you score a 25-point bonus plus your opponent's entire deadwood total, and because you have no unmatched cards, they can't lay off anything onto your melds.