How do you deal Gin Rummy?

To deal Gin Rummy, shuffle a 52-card deck and deal ten cards one at a time to each of the two players, starting with the non-dealer. Turn the next card (the 21st) face up as the upcard, and place the rest face down as the stock.

Who is dealt to first in Gin Rummy?

The non-dealer is dealt to first. You alternate one card at a time, starting with your opponent, until each player holds a ten-card hand.

How many cards do you deal in Gin Rummy?

You deal ten cards to each player. The 21st card is turned face up as the upcard, and the remaining 31 cards form the face-down stock.

What is the upcard and the opening pass rule?

The upcard is the 21st card, turned face up to start the discard pile. The non-dealer may take it or pass; if they pass, the dealer may take it or pass; if both pass, the non-dealer draws from the stock.

Who deals first in Gin Rummy?

Each player draws a card, and the one with the lower card deals first. After that the deal alternates, and in many home games the loser of the previous hand deals the next.

How to Deal Gin Rummy (Setup and the First Turn)

Knowing how to deal Gin Rummy correctly is the difference between a smooth game and an argument two turns in. Gin Rummy is a two-player game played with a standard 52-card deck, and the deal sets up everything that follows: each player's ten-card hand, the face-up upcard, and the face-down stock. This guide walks through the setup one step at a time, then shows how the very first turn works before play settles into its normal rhythm. If you want the full ruleset afterwards, see the complete Gin Rummy rules.

What you need before you deal

You need exactly two players, one standard 52-card deck with the jokers removed, and something to keep score with. The card values matter later but are worth learning now: aces are low and worth 1 point, number cards are worth their face value, and the jacks, queens and kings are each worth 10 points. There are no wild cards in standard Gin Rummy. A full game is usually played to 100 points across several hands, so the deal you are about to learn will repeat many times in a single session.

Who deals first

To decide the first dealer, each player draws a card from the shuffled deck; the player with the lower card deals the opening hand. (Aces count low here too, so an ace is the lowest possible draw.) After the first hand, the deal alternates, and in many home games the loser of each hand deals the next one. The dealer shuffles thoroughly, and the non-dealer is given the chance to cut the deck before dealing begins.

How to deal 10 cards each

Here is the core of how to deal Gin Rummy, step by step:

Deal one card at a time, face down. Do not deal in blocks of several cards. Single-card dealing keeps the hands fair and unpredictable.
The non-dealer receives the first card. This is an easy detail to forget: the opponent, not the dealer, is dealt to first.
Alternate until each player has ten cards. You deal one to the non-dealer, one to yourself, and continue back and forth until both players hold a 10-card hand. That uses 20 cards in total.
Turn up the 21st card. The next card off the top of the deck is placed face up on the table to start the discard pile. This face-up card is called the upcard.
The rest becomes the stock. Set the remaining face-down cards beside the upcard. This pile is the stock, and players draw from it during the game.

At this point the table shows two ten-card hands, one face-up upcard, and a face-down stock of 31 cards. Both players sort their hands and look for sets (three or four cards of the same rank, such as three eights) and runs (three or more consecutive cards in one suit, such as the 4♥ 5♥ 6♥). Cards that do not fit into a meld are called deadwood, and reducing deadwood is the whole point of the game.

The opening pass or take rule

The first turn of a Gin Rummy hand is special, and it belongs to the non-dealer. Before anyone draws from the stock, the non-dealer looks at the upcard and makes a single decision:

Take the upcard, if it helps their hand, and then discard one unwanted card face up; or
Pass, declining the upcard.

If the non-dealer passes, the choice moves to the dealer, who may either take that same upcard (and then discard) or also pass. If both players pass on the upcard, the non-dealer then draws the top card from the stock to begin ordinary play, and the game proceeds from there. This opening ritual exists so that a genuinely useful upcard is not simply handed to whoever happens to move first without a choice.

How normal turns begin

Once the opening upcard has been resolved, every turn follows the same simple two-step pattern. On your turn you first draw one card — either the top card of the stock (face down, a gamble) or the top card of the discard pile (face up, known to your opponent). You then discard one card face up onto the discard pile, so you always return to holding exactly ten cards. Play alternates in this draw-then-discard rhythm until someone ends the hand.

A player ends the hand by knocking, which is allowed only when their deadwood totals 10 points or fewer. Reducing your deadwood to zero — every card in a meld — is called going gin, which earns a 25-point bonus. If the knocker's opponent has equal or less deadwood after laying off, the opponent scores an undercut bonus of 25 points instead. For the terminology used throughout scoring and play, keep the Gin Rummy glossary handy.

Why the deal is structured this way

Every part of the setup exists for a reason, and understanding why makes the rules easier to remember. Dealing one card at a time, rather than in blocks, prevents predictable clumps of cards and keeps the shuffle meaningful. Dealing to the non-dealer first is a small courtesy that offsets the dealer's positional advantage, and it pairs with the opening pass-or-take rule to give the non-dealer the first real decision of the hand. The single face-up upcard, rather than a fanned-out row of choices, means players share exactly one piece of open information at the start — the rest must be earned through play. And leaving 31 cards in the stock gives both players plenty of room to draw and develop their hands before the deck runs low.

It is also worth knowing what happens if the stock runs down. If only two cards remain in the stock and neither player has knocked or gone gin, the hand is a wash: it is a stalemate, no points are scored, and the same dealer redeals. This is uncommon in practice because most hands end in a knock well before the stock is exhausted, but it is the reason players start thinking about knocking rather than holding out for gin as the pile thins.

A quick recap of the sequence

If you remember nothing else, remember this order. Shuffle, and let the opponent cut. Deal ten cards one at a time, starting with the non-dealer. Turn up the 21st card as the upcard and set the rest aside as the stock. Offer the non-dealer the upcard; if they pass, offer it to the dealer; if both pass, the non-dealer draws from the stock. From then on, each turn is simply draw one, discard one, until a player knocks or goes gin. That single sequence, repeated hand after hand, carries a whole game to 100 points.

Common dealing mistakes to avoid

New dealers trip over the same few things. Dealing to yourself first instead of the non-dealer subtly changes the game and is technically incorrect. Dealing eleven cards, or forgetting to turn up the 21st card as the upcard, leaves the setup broken. And skipping the opening pass-or-take step — just letting the non-dealer draw from the stock immediately — removes a small but real strategic decision from the hand. Deal one card at a time, count to ten twice, turn the next card up, and you will have it right every time. Once the deal is second nature, you can stop thinking about mechanics and start thinking about the game itself.