Gin Rummy for Three Players - Rules
Gin Rummy is normally a game for two players, but there are several methods for adapting it for three-handed play:
Cutthroat Gin Rummy Rules
Cutthroat is a version of Gin Rummy designed for three players, but only two players are active at one time. This is also known as Round Robin Gin Rummy.
To determine the first two participants, all three players draw a card from the deck. The player drawing the lowest card sits out the first round. The holder of the second-lowest card becomes the dealer, and plays against the holder of the highest card. After the first hand, the loser of the hand sits out, and the idle player deals to the winner. The idle player may only observe, and not offer advice to either active player.
Each player plays for himself, with a running total score kept for each. The first player who reaches 100 points is the winner of the game. After game and box bonuses have been added (100 bonus points for the game, 25 points for each hand won), each player pays the difference in score to his opponents. If a player is shut out, he pays an additional 100 points to the winner of the game. The winner collects from two players; the second-place finisher collects from one player and pays to one player, and the overal loser ends up paying to the two other players.
Chouette Gin Rummy Rules
Chouette is a version of Gin Rummy designed for three or more players, but only two players are active at one time.
"Chouette" (pronounced "shoo-ETT") is a general term, often used in the game of Backgammon, to describe a method for more than two people playing a two-person game. This technique is also sometimes called "Captains".
To determine the first two players in a Chouette game, all participants draw a card from the deck. Holder of the highest card becomes the "man in the box", and the remainder of the players become a partnership, with the holder of the second-highest card becoming the "captain" of the partnership. The remaining players become next-in-line, according to the order of their drawn cards.
The man in the box plays solo against the captain, with the other remaining player(s) consulting with the captain to advise on play, though the captain makes the final decisions as to gameplay. When the captain wins a hand, he retains his position. When he loses a hand, the captain position is passed along to the next player in line. The man in the box plays the entire game, regardless of whether he wins or loses individual deals.
In scoring the game, one score is kept for the man in the box, and another for the partnership as a whole. If the man in the box wins the game, he collects in full from each player in the partnership. If the partnership wins, each partner collects in full from the man in the box.
Battle Royal Gin Rummy Rules
Battle Royal is a version of Gin Rummy designed for three simultaneously active players.
In Battle Royal, each player is dealt ten cards. Each player in turn, beginning with the player to the left of the dealer, has the option of taking the initial upcard. Thereafter, each player in turn may take either of his opponents discards, unless one has already been taken.
When a player knocks, the other players may lay off only on the knocker's original sets, and not on subsequent cards. For example, if the knocker's set was 4 5 6 of Spades, and the next player layed off a 7 of Spades, the other player may not add an 8 of Spades.
Individual scores are kept for each player. The winner of each hand scores the difference between his count and the sum of his opponents counts. There is no undercut bonus. If the knocker is undercut, 20 points are deducted from his score. The bonus for going gin is 40 points. A hand ends in a draw if no one has knocked and only three cards remain in the stock.
The game is played to 200 points, then bonus points are added as in two-handed Gin Rummy. Each player settles separately with the others, according to their scores.
