What is going gin?

Going gin is the game's namesake move and its biggest single-hand payoff. Zero deadwood, full bonus, no lay-offs allowed against you.

Quick answer: 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.

What gin looks like

Your ten cards split perfectly into melds - for example two runs and a set - leaving no unmatched card at all. Your deadwood is zero. Instead of knocking, you declare gin, laying your whole hand down complete.

Why it pays so well

Going gin earns a 25-point bonus on top of your opponent's full deadwood count, and crucially it blocks lay-offs: they can't shave their total by adding cards to your melds, the way they could against a normal knock. That makes gin both higher-scoring and safer than a plain knock.

Gin versus a safe knock

The catch is time. Holding out for gin means more turns, and more chances for your opponent to go out first or undercut you. If you draw an eleventh card that completes everything, that's Big Gin - an even larger bonus. Weighing gin against an early knock is the core tension of the game.

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Related questions

What is Big Gin?

Big Gin happens when the card you draw completes your hand so that all eleven cards - your ten plus the one you just drew - form melds with zero deadwood, and you don't discard. It's rarer than ordinary gin and pays a bigger bonus, typically 31 points (some rules use 25), plus your opponent's deadwood.

What does it mean to knock in gin rummy?

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 is gin rummy scored?

When a hand ends, the knocker scores the difference between the two players' deadwood totals. Going gin adds a 25-point bonus (and the opponent can't lay off). If the defender ties or beats the knocker, that's an undercut, worth the difference plus a 25-point bonus. Match bonuses reward winning the game and each hand.