Oklahoma Gin Rummy
Oklahoma gin is a variant of gin rummy with one added peculiarity: the first card the dealer flips to the table face-up, after the deal, is the card that will not only start the discard pile, but its value will also set the number of points a player can knock with.
If the above mentioned card is a T,J,Q or K, the player will be able to knock with 10 points or fewer still in his hand. The smaller the card, the fewer points the player needs to work his hand down to in order to be able to knock. In Oklahoma Gin, the Ace always acts low, so make sure you shape your sets and runs accordingly.
In Oklahoma Gin, the dealer of the first round of play is chosen randomly. In subsequent rounds the dealer is always the winner of the last round.
Players are dealt 10 cards each, and a card is then put face up on the table. Players will get their turns to act in a clock-wise direction, and here's what they can do: first, they need to pick up a card then they must discard one. These two stages of action are compulsory. In between picking one card up and discarding one, players may optionally knock. Knocking means that the player in question has the ability to produce a set or a run, discard the compulsory card and then have fewer or the exact same number of points left in his hand as the face value of the first card that was flipped onto the table after the deal. Knocking is optional. You may continue playing on in an effort to improve, even after you have the ability to produce your sets and knock.
The player who knocks will then proceed to organize his sets and spread them on the table. The other player may then complete his opponent's sets by adding any number of cards to them.
If the knocker goes gin though (which happens when he has no unmatched cards) his opponent will not score a single point, even if he happens to have no unmatched cards either.
If the knocker goes gin, he'll score 25 (or 20) points, depending on where the game is played and the rule variations in use.
The scoring goes like this: if the knocker doesn't go gin, and his unmatched cards add up to a lower sum than that of his opponent, he scores the difference between the two sums. If the knocker's unmatched cards value is equal to or greater than that of his opponent, it is said that he has been undercut, and he scores 10 points plus the difference between the two sums.
Oklahoma gin matches may end up in a draw too. If there are but two cards remaining in the draw pile after a player completes his turn, and neither of them has knocked, the round ends in a draw. In this case, the dealer of the following round will be the player who dealt the beforehand one.
The score is kept through rounds until a player surpasses the 100 point mark. When he does, he is declared the winner.
Remember that most online rummy rooms offer this popular gin variant, and as such, finding online opponents won't prove to be a challenge either.
