During the course of a game in partnership play, the vast majority of disputes are caused by a player’s request for a count from a losing opponent and the opponent’s refusal to give it while the player’s partner or partners are still playing their hands. This can lead to high tension and a very strained game if partners in the game to not adhere to the rule of asking for a count.

The rule is very specific in that no player holding 11 cards in his hand is entitled to a count from his partner’s opponent. He cannot get the count until he has made his discard. In the case of a six-handed game, when one player has knocked or announced gin and one of his two partners is holding 11 cards, neither partner is entitled to a count until both hands are holding no more than 10 cards.

In the event that the opponent of a player who knocks or gins gives his count without displaying his hand and a partner of the player who knocked or ginned makes a play against the given count,...

The importance of waiting for a count during the course of a game, especially during important hands, is worth more than having additional picks in a game. In fact, a player who is not advising his partner to wait for the count, or a partner playing on at random without stopping and waiting for his partner’s count, is giving up on one of the biggest advantages that is afforded to him in partnership play.

Even in a winning situation it is just as important to wait for the count instead of just waiting for one in a losing situation. The losing count of a partner, added to the previous score of the opponent’s is the sole factor in determining the safe count for the player still playing his hand.

For example, if you are playing a four-handed game, your opponent’s have started play with a total score of 200 points. Your partner was knocked against and loses 20 points, which is doubled for 40. This now gives your opponents a grand total of 240 points in this game....

Along the same lines of “hold your play”, the phrase “wait for the count” is equally as important. In partnership games where only the combined scores are the effective scores, obviously we are concerned only with the net result of the team play. When in the normal rate of play one of the two partners knocks or gins his hand, his partner is entitled to the result of his partner’s actions before making his next play. The partner who resolves his hand with an action such as gin or a knock must turn to his partner and say “wait for the count.”

It is extremely important to wait for the count after it is being said. For example, suppose that each partner in a four-handed game picks from the deck at the same time. One picks gin, while his teammate picks his third meld. The partner who picks his third meld might ordinarily decide to knock at this point. However, now that he is aware that his partner has picked gin he may decide, based on the score, to also play for...

Now that we know when and why you should call “hold your play” to your partner or opponent, we should look at the importance of this play.

Suppose you are in a four-handed game, play has progressed to about halfway through the deck, and the payer on the right side of the table has gotten his hand down to a knock condition. For this example, the knock card is the 10♦. He is undecided at this point as to whether to knock or not. He glances at his partner’s hand and sees that his partner has six-melded cards and four pictures, including two Queens, which total 40 points. Since, at this point in the hand and because of the score of the game, this is a rather large count to carry, he does not know whether to knock and win a few points or to keep playing for gin with the possibility of protecting against a large loss on the part of his partner. While thinking about what action to take, he does not advise the other side to hold their play and his partner’s opponent discards...

One of the basic principles of partnership play is that the play of the partners is more or less simultaneous. This simply means that the team that has lost the previous hand, who is now dealing, should deal their hands simultaneously, not one before the other. Once the deal has been made and before the first play, it is generally accepted that the partners on both sides will glance at each other’s hand s to quickly determine whether or not either one of them has a winning hand. From this point on they enjoy the right to look at each other’s hand with every card.

Sometimes this is done automatically, but at other times it is done deliberately for specific purposes. Since in partnership play you are actually playing and scoring as a team, you are as concerned about the results that can originate from your partner’s hand as well as from your own. Most often, the play of your hand is to some extent guided by the development of your partner’s hand. Of course, this...

In partnership play, there is an additional factor involving the third or last game in a set, known as the throw-in count. If a team has, through one or two of its players, scored a sufficient number of points to put them out in the last game to a degree where the last remaining player on that team can no longer lose sufficient points for the game to remaining in play, that is a throw-in.

For example, in a four-handed game the score of the first winning partner plus the score on the score card has brought their game total to 370 points and the hand is being played at double value. If the remaining partner holds 10 points or less, he cannot lose enough points to keep that game in play, so therefore, the game is automatically ended at that point. Since he can no longer lose the game, he cannot play for additional score or boxes. However, he is not required to play for a throw-in. He has the privilege of staying over the count if he so chooses, but this privilege is exercised...

If there is anything that is extremely imperative in the game of gin rummy, it is to realize the value of bonus boxes, which can often exceed the point value of a score. This is especially true in partnership play with its roodles. A roodle is when all partner’s win in one hand of the game.

For instance, the roodles of a six-handed game, with an average of 75% of the hands being played for double, are very valuable and must be protected or broken up as the occasion demands. That is, when all three players have won their hands in a double value game, the roodles alone are six boxes. With each box valued at 25 points, this is a bonus of 150 points for the team. Should two of the partners gin their hands and the third wins on a knock, the winning team will score 14 extra boxes. Together with the boxes that will be counted for the actual score, plus the score itself, which for example in this hand would be 140 points, the actual score won is 515 points. That is 375 points...

There is yet another safe count that you must give important consideration to when it comes to partnership play, and that is the game winning safe count.

For example, playing in a four handed game where the game score is 300, you started out with a game score of 280 in the first column. Your partner wins 26 and gin which is 51 points double, or 102, so now you have a score of 382 in the first column. You know that, should your opponent gin you, he will immediately get credit for a 50 point bonus. This would reduce your score to 332. Your score would be further reduced by the number of points you have in your hand doubled. If you have 16 points in your hand, you will lose 32 more points over the gin bonus. This would bring your total score now down to 300 and the game is automatically over. Of course, if you lose any less than 16 points you would end up with even more than 300 and again the game would be over. However, if you had 17 points or more in your hand when your...

In partnership play, the major requirement to play an expert game of partner’s gin rummy is to protect your partner’s winning score, if possible, even at the cost of your own hand.

For example, if your partner has just won eight and gin and you know that your opponent is holding nine melded cards and you believe that he needs the 10♠ to gin his hand, you might have a decision to make if the worse case scenario happens. You are holding nine melded cards and the 4♦. Going to the deck you pick up the 10♠. What should you do? You don’t think for yourself in this case, you think for your partner and the total score of the game. You simply throw him the 10♠. It might sound crazy as you know he will gin his hand but by letting him gin his hand you have protected your partner’s gin by losing only four points. There, your team will get on score with four points and the boxes that go with it. In effect, it is equivalent to your actually winning the hand.

If...

The most important decision you will be faced with in the play of your hand is at the time that your partner’s hand is resolved. If your partner has won his hand, your first consideration is to put your hand into a condition in which you cannot lose more than your partner has won. Only after this is done should you turn your attention to winning your own hand. If, on the other hand, your partner has lost his hand, your first consideration should be winning back more than your partner has lost, rather than simply winning the game. The exception to this is when you are in danger of losing a game. Then your first consideration should be to get under the count.

You should also remember that, in partnership play, the score reflects not only the points your partner has won, but also the additional boxes or bonuses which you will receive on your score as against what will go to your opponent if you fail to protect his count. For example, in a four-handed game your partner ginned...

Captain play is a term used to describe a gin rummy game whenever there are an odd number of players such as three, five, or seven. When there are three players, the game is played in the same manner as a singles contest. It is started by having each of the three payers cut the deck. The highest card is the captain. That means the he plays against the other two. The second highest player starts to play against the captain and continues playing for his side until such time as he loses his hand. His partner plays the following hand and continues playing hands until he loses a hand. This alternating procedure is continued until the game is over.

The scoring is the same as in individual play except that the captain is actually playing for double the amount. He pays each of his two opponents as individuals and collects from them the same way. As long as more than one game is being played, the usual procedure is that the man cutting the second highest card is the next captain,...