Every player over a certain period of time develops his or her own style of play when playing Gin Rummy. The question then becomes is if that style of play is considered to be average or expert play. To be a skillful player you must be able to read your opponent’s style, and you must be able to change up your style of play so that it is never read. That is what will make you an expert player. There are three major elements of Gin Rummy that you need to master to be known as a skillful or expert player. They include:
• Mathematics – Gin doesn’t require you to be an expert in math, just in the understanding of the odds, whether in your favor or against you. You must understand the law of probabilities as well as the value of scoring, and a thorough understanding of scoring and counts.
• Memory – It is extremely important in this game that you realize the importance of a well-trained memory. If you simply don’t have the memory, or the skill to be able to learn how to memorize the cards that have already been played, then you should never consider playing for money, since it is one of the most valuable assets of this game.
• Strategy – Just like in chess, a skillful gin rummy play includes a great deal of strategy. It is necessary to be able to make the utmost of the cards that are dealt to you in developing your hand, as well as making your opponent help you to develop your hand. At the same time you should be causing him to disrupt the development of his hand. If you don’t have a strategy you will most certainly continue to lose games.
A good gin player is a player that has mastered all the abilities required to properly play out each and every hand. Essentially they will play the game like a computer, taking advantages of all the mathematical odds and probabilities in his favor. An expert player will do the same, but will add the element of strategy, which calls for the occasional variation in play in order to confuse the opponent and take advantage of the resulting confusion.
It is most important that you are able to change your style and methods from hand to hand so that you can interfere with your opponent’s ability to properly anticipate your next play. At the same time, it is important to properly read and determine your opponent’s style so that you can anticipate and prepare your play accordingly.
Moving up to expert play takes time and practice but it also takes knowledge of the game. You just can’t be prepared to play competitively if you do not know the intricate nature of the game. That means knowing when you are not yet experienced enough to play for money. This is the most common mistake as people jump into the game too quickly and eventually will continue to lose until they take the time to get to know the actual game of gin rummy.