Gin Rummy (and its variation Oklahoma Gin) is probably the most famous member of the family of rummy games. The history of the game dates back to the 19th century New-York, some claim that its name derives from its inventor’s favorite drink. Oklahoma Gin shares some basic characteristics with other rummy games, but also has unique rules that set it apart from other “building” card games.
| The cards and their values |
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1 point 2 points 3 points 4 points 5 points
6 points 7 points 8 points 9 points 10 points
10 points 10 points 10 points
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The Oklahoma Table
Oklahoma is designed for up to four players, where the main objective is to be the first to lay down valid melds with all the cards in his or her hand. Unlike Traditional online Rummy, Oklahoma also has a secondary objective, which is to try and lower the amount of deadwood to a minimum, to a point where the game’s result can be turned around in the end. “Deadwood” is a term used to indicate cards that can not be melded in to any set or run in hand or on the table, or simply put – cards that are left in the player’s hand at the end of the game.
The game is played with a full deck of cards without the jokers. A turn consists of two actions – drawing the top card from the deck or discard pile, and throwing a card with little use to the player. A card’s “value” is set according to a number of characteristics, including the card’s suitability to the runs and sets that the player wishes to create, or by the cards value in penalty points.
A valid meld has one of the two forms:
A Run – at least three consecutive cards from the same suit.
A Set – At least three cards with the same rank but different suits.
The result of a game of Oklahoma is always determined in the very last moment of the game, since only then can players see the total deadwood count of their opponenets. A game ends in one of three ways:
- Gin – one player creates valid melds from all the cards in his or her hand and throws the last card to the Knock area. In this case, the opponents’ deadwood count will determine the number of penalty points they receive.
- Knock – one player creates valid melds from the majority of the cards in his or her hand. The player can not have an overall deadwood count of over 10. The turn must end with throwing a card to the knock area
- Undercut – when a player “knocks”, his or her opponents get a chance to add cards to the “knocker’s” melds. Cards must be added directly to the “knocker’s” original melds. If an opponent manages to end the game with a lower deadwood count than the “knocker’s”, that opponent wins by “undercut”. Undercut turns the outcome of the game around, and the original “knocker” suffers a penalty of 25 points in addition to his or her deadwood count.
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How to play Oklahoma Gin
Oklahoma Gin is one of the most well-known and popular rummy games in the world. There are many similarities between Oklahoma Gin and Traditional Rummy, but nevertheless there are several differences that set the games apart. We have gathered together the basics of How to play Oklahoma Gin on this page. The terms used to describe each move are all used in the world of Rummy games.
The game is played by up to four players. Two players will start the game with ten cards and three to four players will start the game with seven cards each.
Like Traditional online Rummy, in Oklahoma the object of the game is to create melds (sets and runs) from the cards in your hand. The ultimate goal is to be the first to discard all of the cards in your hand in the form of runs and sets. In Oklahoma the total value of the cards remaining in your hand when the game ends is highly important as it determines the final place in the round.
Two actions are performed in every turn. The first is drawing a card from the pile or the discard pile, and the second is throwing an unnecessary card to the discard pile.
Oklahoma Gin game ends in one of the following three ways:
Gin – the winner creates valid melds from every card in hand, except for the last card which is thrown to the “knock” area.
Knock – one player creates valid melds from the majority of the cards in hand, where the total value of cards left in hand does not exceed 10.
Undercut – when a player “knocks”, his or her opponents can add cards to that player’s melds only if the cards are added directly to the cards laid down by the “knocker”. This is a chance for the opponents to reduce their deadwood count. Adding can lead to an undercut. Undercut is when a player lays down melds until he or she has a lower deadwood count than that of the “Knocker”. In this case, the player who managed to undercut will win the game, and the original Knocker will receive 25 penalty points in addition to his or her deadwood count.
Prize distribution – In Oklahoma the prize is distributed according to the difference between the winner’s points and the losers’ points, where the winner receives at least 75% of the pool prize.
These are the general principles of Oklahoma Gin. Our online website contains more detailed information on Oklahoma Gin rules and how to play the game, Strategic Tips and all the information needed by beginners.
You can find instructions for all of our games in the site and you can easily learn how to play using our tutorial and demos. If you’re interested in playing Oklahoma all you need to do is download our game software for free and join thousands of players from all over the world to exciting Oklahoma games!