Although there is a lot of strategy you can employ against the defensive and offensive player, there is rarely any strategy against the player who has a style that is strictly middle of the road. This is often known as the expert player, and to play an expert player, you need to be an expert player.

As said before, after mastering the fundamentals of the game gin rummy, the good player begins to follow a pattern and develop a style of play. He can take two different directions; the offensive play or the defensive play. The player who goes to either extremes will become a poor player over time, especially if playing the same people. They will eventually catch on to his style of play and will use the strategy of offensive or defensive play to play against him.

However, the player who can find not only a happy medium, but who can adjust his style of play to the various circumstances in which he finds himself, will become the expert. These circumstances include:

• That...

Just as there is strategy when playing against an offensive player, there is also specific strategy that you can employ when you are playing against a defensive player.

Against a defensive style player, unless it is very early in the hand, you should not knock. Instead you should play for gin. When you do not knock a hand, your opponent is unable to lay off cards and the major purpose of a defensive player is to hold the cards he knows he will be able to lay off. The holding of these cards seriously hampers the offensive construction of your opponent’s hand. Frequently you will find that you have thrown him off balance to the extent that he now starts releasing these lay-off cards immediately. When this occurs, you should start knocking against him and you will have your opponent in a total state of confusion.

Another method that is good against a defensive player is the frequent picking of stiffs or speculative cards. This will force him to destroy the offensive...

One of the greatest mistakes most good players make is to adopt a set style and continue to play in that pattern, regardless of the opponent’s manner of playing. This is definitely the wrong way to play. You should try to catch on to your opponent’s style as quickly as possible and adjust your game accordingly. In fact, the fundamental principle in playing against any player who has a particular pattern of play is to throw him off balance and force him to deviate his play. In order to accomplish this, you will have to look at the game you are playing as an overall crusade and any conflict battles are often lost for the purpose of winning the entire game.

If you are to be involved in a gin session you should start with the assumption that you will probably play 10 complete games which may consist of 100 hands. You can well afford to devote 5 or 6 of these individual hands or even one complete game in experimenting with game strategy. If you play your first several hands...

Take a look at this sample hand of gin rummy solitaire. It will give you a better idea of how you can play gin by yourself in order to perfect your defensive skills.

Deal yourself the following 11 cards: K♠, J♠, J♦, 9♥, 9♣, 5♠, 4♠, A♣, A♦, A♠, and A♥
Opponent’s Hand: 6♥, 5♥, 4♥, 3♥, 10♠, 9♠, 8♠, 7♠, 6♠, 10♦

The first thing you should look for are the cards in your hand that could gin your opponent. You are holding two of those cards – the 5♠, and the J♠. Keep in mind that once you hold five of your opponent’s needed cards you have lost the game. Therefore your major concern should be to develop melds around those two cards. The 5♠ can be used either with three 5’s, or the 3♠, and 4♠, while the J♠ can be used with either the K♠, or the Q♠, or three Jacks. The preference is with Jacks since they can develop to a four-card meld whereas the K♠, Q♠, and the J♠ never can since the 10♠, is...

Since the fact has been established that no one can win gin consistently by playing predominately defensive at all times. Granted, there are times when a player can develop a winning hand while playing a hand to the wall, but these opportunities are rare and are usually managed by only the most skillful of players. However, there are occasions in every gin rummy game where proper defensive play is necessary and of major importance. A sound knowledge of how to play defensively is as important as the need to determine when to play defensive.

The best instruction in proper defensive play can be obtained by playing the game called Gin Solitaire. Essentially is it like playing the game of gin by yourself and learning the best way to play defensively when you are not involved in a real game.

Here is an example of how to play gin solitaire:

Lay out a hand such as the following - 6♥, 5♥, 4♥, 3♥, 10♠, 9♠, 8♠, 7♠, 6♠, 10♦

Consider this to...

The risk in defensive play of playing to the wall is the extraordinary high point count that you will be carrying, should you lose the hand. In fact, when attempting to take a hand to the wall, your point count will usually be three to four times the amount that it would be normally, since the odds represented by this potential are three or four to one. Therefore, it would only make sense for you to play this hand to the wall if the odds favoring your completing a wall hand are greater than four to one.

In order to determine the odds for or against your being able to complete a wall hand you can look at this example. You have reached the point where there are only 10 cards left in the unused portion of the deck. From the play of the hand and the discards already made, you believe that your opponent is holding a combination consisting of J♣, J♠, and the Q♠, plus seven-melded cards. Your defending hand consists of the 10♠, K♠, J♦, and the J♥. In this case, you...

One of the most important areas of defensive play is playing a hand to the wall or for a tie. There are three most important occasions when this procedure should be followed:

1. When the actual game or schneid is in jeopardy. For instance, if the score of the game is such that you have no safe count to get under
2. In a partnership game, after your partner has won, if you know there is not realistic chance of you also winning the hand
3. In a partnership game, when your partner has won a count that is impossible for you to get under or protect

The major factor in playing a hand to the wall is an accurate memory. Most decisions are made either in the middle or late stages of the play of a hand, and it is essential to discard from your hand nothing but 100% dead cards. In order to full determine what cards can in no way be used by your opponent in his hand, you must have memorized every card that has been discard up until this point.

When playing...

Making the right defensive decision in a game of gin rummy comes down to the basics of knowing how to do so. There are certainly right and wrong decisions to be make, and to become an expert player at this game, you need to learn when and how to do this.

An example of a wise defensive play is to utilize the full offensive value of lay-offs against an opponent. When playing against a player who is primarily a knocker or who is forced by a score situation to knock his hand quickly, you need to keep in mind that the lay-ff cards are of no value in your hand until such time when your opponent knocks. There are also occasions when an opponent who is doubtful or hesitant in knocking can be forced to knock by your discarding a fourth card from one of your runs. This action on your part gives the impression that you are in trouble with your hand. You are then in a position to underknock him by retaining the lay-offs you have in your hand.

Another important consideration...

By now you should know that the odds in gin rummy usually favor the offensive player. As it is with almost all games, the person who plays with the prime purpose of not losing is definitely at a disadvantage compared to the person who plays primarily win. The same can be said with gin rummy. The extreme defensive player who plays with the one thought of never throwing a card to his opponent that they can use gives no consideration to his offensive values will lose in the long run. The same can be said about the offensive player who thinks only of winning his hand as fast as possible. Thus, making the proper decision at the right time is the true key to being an expert player.

It is relatively simple to judge whether or not you play your game in an offensive or defensive manner in general. If you often lose hands by big scores and for that reason lose too many games, then you are not paying enough thought to the defensive play. If you lose a number of hands by small scores...

Under most circumstances, when you have at least one more way of ginning than your opponent, the hand should be played to its utmost offensively. However, if your opponent has one more option to gin than you do, the hand should be played to make the most of its defensive characteristics. There are times in the play of a hand when decisions must be made as to whether or not it is to your advantage to give up a certain number of gin opportunities in order to retain a card for defensive purposes or whether you should throw all caution to the wind and play a hand for its maximum offensive potential.

For example you are holding this hand: 5♠, 6♠, 7♠, 8♠, Q♦, J♦, 10♦, 10♣, 10♥, Q♥

At this moment in play the only thing you know for sure about your opponent’s hand is that he holds three Kings. You do not know whether he has nine melded or not, but low cards have been suspiciously missing from play. Picking from the deck you pick the K♠. It may make...