How to Play Knock Rummy

Objective

Arrange your hand into sets (three or four cards of the same rank) and runs (three or more cards in sequence in one suit). Cards that fit no set or run are deadwood, and they count against you. When someone knocks, every hand is laid down and the lowest deadwood count wins.

How it differs from Rummy and Gin Rummy: nobody melds during play, and nobody lays off cards on anyone else’s sets. Unlike Gin, there is no minimum count to knock. You can knock on any turn, which makes Knock Rummy a game of timing and nerve.

Setup

Deal one card at a time: 10 cards each for two players, 7 each for three or four, and 6 each for five. Put the rest face down as the stock and turn the top card face up to start the discard pile.

With two players, the winner of each hand deals the next. With more, the deal passes to the left.

How to play

On your turn, take the top card of the stock or the top card of the discard pile, then discard one card face up. Nothing is laid on the table during play. You build your sets and runs in your hand.

After you draw and before you discard, you may knock. Rap the table, then discard as usual. Lay out your hand with your sets and runs apart from your deadwood, and announce your count. Every other player then does the same. No one may add cards to the knocker’s sets or runs.

If every card in your hand is matched, you can go rummy: lay down your whole hand and end the hand at once, with or without a discard. That earns a bonus.

If the stock runs out before anyone knocks, the next player may take the top discard, or turn the discard pile over (without shuffling) to form a new stock and draw from it.

1. 1Draw from the stock or take the top discard
2. 2Arrange sets and runs in your hand
3. 3Knock if your count is low enough to win
4. 4Discard one card
5. 5Lay down, count deadwood and settle up

Scoring

Each player counts the unmatched cards in their hand. The player with the lowest count wins the hand and collects the difference between their count and each other player’s count.

Going rummy earns a bonus of 25 points from each player on top of the difference. If another player ties the knocker for the lowest count, that player wins instead. If the knocker does not have the lowest count, the knocker pays the winner a 10-point penalty on top of the difference. Keep a running score on paper and play to an agreed total, or settle each hand in chips.

Variations

Gin Rummy is the two-player cousin with a knocking limit: you may knock only with 10 points or less of deadwood, and your opponent may lay off cards on your melds.

Tunk is a fast relative with small hands, where players can lay melds on the table during play.

Knock limit: some tables borrow from Gin and allow a knock only at a set count, such as 10 or less. It slows the game down and rewards patience.

High aces: some groups let an ace sit above the king in a run. Agree on it before you deal.

Tips from the table

Knock early when the table is slow. If you are down to a handful of points after three or four turns, the other players are probably holding more.

Watch the discard pile. What other players take tells you which sets and runs they are building, and what is safe to throw.

Shed high deadwood first. A king that fits nothing costs 10 points; a stray two costs only 2.

Count carefully before you knock. The 10-point penalty adds up fast, and a tie goes to the other player.

Frequently asked