Partnership Gin
Partnership Gin Rummy is a version of Gin Rummy for four players. Two games of two-handed Gin Rummy are played simultaneously, and the partners combine their scores.
To decide who partners up, the four players draw cards, and the holders of the two highest cards are teamed against the holders of the low cards. The games may be played on two separate tables or on the same table, with partners typically arranged on opposite sides of the table. At the end of each game, players change opponents.
Gameplay
Each individual game is played with normal Gin Rummy rules. The major difference is in how the game is scored. A player may advise his partner if his own hand is complete but the other hand is still in play (provided that he hasn't seen the cards of his partner's opponent).
Scoring
Only one score is kept for each team, and that score is the combination of the score for each player on that team. A box bonus applies to the team score. Gin and undercut bonuses apply to each individual hand.
For example, if players A and C are partners against B and D, and A plays against B and wins the first hand by 16 points. In the C vs. D hand, C wins by 12 points. The totals score for team A/C is therefore 28 points for that hand.
In the next hand, A triumphs over B again, by 7 points, but D beats C by 13 points. This time, the B/D team wins the hand, and scores 6 points.
A game is played to 125 points. The game bonus is 100 points, and the shutout Blitz bonus is also 100 points.
Variations
- Alternating Partnership Gin: In this variation, the game is played as described above, except that all players are seated at the same (square) table, with partners opposite each other. For example, in the illustration below, player A plays his first hand against the player on his right, player D, and C plays against B. In the second hand, it's A vs. B and C vs. D. Thereafter, opponents alternate each hand. In this variation, there may be no communications between partners.
- Partnership Gin for More Than 4 Players: The technique in Partnership Gin can be applied to larger groups as well - 6, 8, etc. - and the play is largely the same, with the only differences being in how opponents are rotated, and in game score. Individual hand scoring is the same (a partnership's hand score is the sum total of each individual matchup), but the game score is 150 for 6 players, 175 for 8 players, and so on.