How to Play Oklahoma Gin

• This variation is played with 1 deck and can accommodate up to 4 players. When only 2 players are involved, they each receive 10 cards. Otherwise, the players are dealt 7 cards.
• The remainder of the deck is placed facing down. The stock’s top card is overturned and forms the discard pile.
• This first card is important because it indicates the number of deadwood cards a player can possess when knocking.
• When a player has formed melds that allow him to end a hand, he can choose to knock as long as his unmelded cards don’t total more than the first card of the discard pile. If he knocks with unmelded cards, his opponents can lay off their melds and build upon the knocker’s melds.

Scoring

• A knocker who goes gin ends the round with no unmelded cards. For doing so, he earns a bonus of 20 points. Face cards are counted as 10 points, Aces are 1 point each, and numbered cards are scored according to their respective face values.
• If he knocks with unmelded cards, his opponents can lay off their melds and build upon the knocker’s melds.
• If the knocker’s deadwood is less than his opponents’, he earns the difference. If the knocker’s deadwood exceeds that of other players, he is undercut and his opponent earns a 10-point bonus.