Gin Rummy–Rebooting a Classic

Back home, when I was much younger, classic Rummy was the game of choice. We played two variants, the 10-card and the 7-card variant. The 7-card variant was a much shorter game where you were dealt 7 cards and were expected to form 2 sets, one of 4 and one of 3. The 10-card version, which was the principal game played, players were dealt 10 cards and they were expected to form three sets, of 3, 3 and 4.

The play for these traditional versions was simple. You shuffled a standard deck of cards sans Jokers, dealt out the cards to each player face down. The remaining deck was then placed face-down on the table with the top-most card placed face up next to the stock pile in order to start the discard pile. This first face-up card was then offered to each player in turn starting from the dealer’s left. If no one wanted the card then the dealer began his play by taking a face-down card from the stock pile. A player’s turn always ended with a discard thrown on the discard pile. Winning was straight-forward, you just had to form your sets and go down with all your cards at once.

My mother was exceptionally good at this variation of Rummy, I remember that I would get increasingly frustrated when she would win several hands in a row when I would have never even savoured the possibility of winning at least one hand. She obviously knew something I did not know, but back then I never bothered to read into the game or try to understand where I was getting it all wrong.

Some years ago I came across Gin Rummy, with the knock variation. This variation, just in case you never played this game, allows you to go down even if  you have not melded all of your ten cards, so long as the sum of your un-melded cards does not exceed 10 points. Picture cards (King, Queen, Jack) are worth 10 points each and suited cards are worth their face value. Aces are always low.

Before venturing any further however, I would like to specify that Gin Rummy is a two-player game, and even though it can be played with more players, it still essentially works best as a two-player card game.

As with regular Rummy you can create sets of three identical cards (e.g. K-K-K) or sequences (e.g. 7-8-9 of hearts). However the fact that you can knock or go down with un-melded cards means that you have to adopt a different line of thought when playing Gin Rummy.

To begin with, you can for instance go down by tabling a sequence of 5 card say 4-5-6-7-8 of spades with  1-1-3-2-2 (for a total of 9-points) as deadwood. It’s legal and it could score you a lot of points especially if you manage to go down early in a hand. This happens because, as the winner, you become entitled to the total point score in un-melded cards still in the hand of your opponent at the end of the hand. there is however a downside to knocking with deadwood in hand, if your opponent ends up holding fewer deadwood points, then he gets to win 25 points and the difference between his and your deadwood, while you get nothing. Also, when one player goes down with deadwood, his opponent is also entitled to add any cards still in his hands to the tabled set or sets while also tabling any completed sets he might have put together right up to that point.

A match is normally played to 100 points. The player who reaches or exceeds this score first wins. Additionally then, besides the base score of points accrued over a number of hands, each player scores 25 points for each individual hand won, with the winner also scoring a 100 point bonus for winning. If a winning player then successfully wins a match without losing a single hand to his adversary, he will also score an additional 100 points called the shutout bonus.

That, roughly, settles matters regarding gameplay and scoring. Now a word or two regarding strategy. An average hand of Gin lasts somewhere between seven to eleven exchanges. A single exchange would be one full turn were both the dealer and non-dealer complete a turn of play. With this in mind, while it may be a good idea to hang on to you pair of kings, queens or jacks for the first few exchanges, the proposition should lose its allure by the fifth or sixth exchange. The deeper one gets into a hand the more dangerous it becomes to hold on to any picture card since if you do not successfully meld them, might potentially boost the score of your opponent.

When it comes to sets, three-of-a-kinds and sequences or runs are equally favoured when it comes to putting them together. This assuming you start off with two cards to a set, whether it be towards completing a three-of-a-kind or run. For instance, if I am holding on to a pair of Kings, there are two other kings in the deck that will allow me to complete that set. Likewise if I start off holding 5-6 of hearts, then there also are two cards that could complete that set, namely the 4 and 7 of hearts.

What really matters is keeping tabs on what cards were discarded up to a certain point in a hand, and also how much deadwood you still have in hand. Playing in a distracted manner could mean missing out on the fact that the only card you need to complete a crucial set was discarded previously. Alternatively if your opponent has not discarded too many picture cards, this could be an indication that he or she might be actually using them to form his sets.

Coordinated cards which combine 3-of-a-kind options with runs are also very good to have and you should hold on to cards that increase your possible outs to completing a hand. For instance if I am holding on to something like:-   

7d-8d-8h-6h-5h-3h-3s-X-X-X

Where X is part of completed set.

Note that in this instance we have many possible outs to form sets. a 9 or 6 of diamonds would give me a set, any remaining 8 would give me a set, the 7 or 4 of hearts would also give us a set, as would any 3. Such a hand stands a good chance of winning.

While the above situation was contrived to illustrate a point, it is always possible to work towards putting your self in a better position to win.

So far we have spoken about ways to increase your chances of winning, with a nod towards being careful not to get bogged down with high scoring un-melded cards late in a hand. Yet there is another aspect of Gin you need to seriously consider.

Imagine that you are dealt a hand that is totally uncoordinated, so terrible that winning just isn’t an option. Additionally let us assume that you have played through five or six exchanges and no favourable cards came your way. You need to start dumping your high scoring cards and quickly. Your logic in such situations should be to minimize the damage so-to-speak by reducing your deadwood score as much as possible, especially if you get a gut feeling that your opponent will be going down soon.

In summary, while playing Gin Rummy here are some pointers regarding what you ideally should be taking note of.

1. Keep track of the number of exchanges, the deeper you get into a hand the more becomes the urgency of reducing your deadwood score.
2. Keep track of what cards were discarded by your opponent, are they high cards, low cards, were you in anyway interested in grabbing any of them but let the opportunity pass by?
3. Do not claim discards unless you are doing so to complete a set.
4. Hold on to cards that increase your chances of forming more than one possible set.
5. Discard any un-melded high cards (picture cards and suited card from 8 upwards) if you can see no immediate way of melding them into sets.
6. Discard High cards such as Kings if you currently hold  K-?-J-10 with no opportunity forthcoming to form the Kings into a set. With J-10, a queen or 9 in the same suit will give you a set, but holding on to the King in this situation becomes risky the deeper you get into a hand.
7. If a hand enters the 6th or 7th exchange start to seriously look at your un-melded deadwood and discard any un-melded high cards.
8. If you find yourself in a position of holding 3 or less deadwood while standing a good chance of going down with a Gin (zero deadwood), take a risk it may pay off. Going Gin allows you to win a further 25 points and stops your opponent from offloading any his deadwood onto your tabled sets.

Basically I think that if a player were to take note of these suggestions, he will be in a position to play a much better game of Gin Rummy. Obviously the above list is by no means all comprehensive, I am sure there are points I might not have thought about. Yet when push comes to shove, there’s no real substitute to direct experience and actually playing the game.

One more thing, it pays to remember that while skill and experience will improve a Gin Rummy player, he is still playing a game that depends on the luck of the draw. Some hands or matches will not go your way, no matter how well you play. Still in the long term it will always pay to play conscientiously while following the suggestions I have listed above.

 

Technorati Tags: Gin Rummy,Knock,deadwood,strategy

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Giving out free information in Holdem

Technorati Tags: information leaks,tells,handling boredom,Texas Holdem,ABC poker

In poker there is no crime worse than giving free information regarding the strength of one’s hand to opponents at the table. I have fallen foul of this grievous contravention a number of times and in spite of my better judgement, I know I will fall foul yet again. The reason for it I think can be pinned out squarely on boredom or on being too tired to play, hence not playing my “A” game.

This leads me to another important concept when considering the problem of leaking information out to the table, the idea of focus. Poker is a highly skilled endeavour, true you can just throw your chips in and hope for the best, but doing so will ultimately lead to losses which are seldom recouped. If skill plays a part, I would like to think it plays a significant part of the game, it is vital to enter into a game feeling the best you possibly can.

It doesn’t help if you feel tired or are just dropping by a game because you have nothing better to do, if that is the attitude losses will pile. The truth is that most players today are very well-read when it comes to poker; no one approaches the table any longer without knowing the importance of position, pot odds and expected value. Sure some may give these factors greater or lesser importance depending on personal views, but no one gets to the final table of any tournament without having at least grasped these notions.

Yet as any true poker aficionado will tell you, poker is not only about playing the cards and the statistics, poker is about playing the players across the table. This is where poker tells come in and where substantial profit is reaped or concretised. A comprehensive poker education implies that you just have to go about learning what a player’s baseline behaviour is, what happens when he starts feeling uncomfortable or how he manages himself when he starts feeling comfortable. More importantly it becomes valuable to perceive transitions in the emotional states of your opponents the deeper one runs into a tournament.

As time lapses and players wade deeper through level after level of poker play, weariness always takes its toll. The deeper you go the more important mental stamina becomes. Consider that an average player at a full table has to contend with the behaviourisms and playing styles of eight distinct players. He needs to consider their individual play and how it is affected by position and their stack sizes. He needs to consider whether they have a history with any other player at the table since this will affect the way they play against specific players. He needs to understand their emotional states as discussed earlier, and he needs to come to terms with whatever compensatory behaviourism they exhibit in the process. Additionally a player needs to consider how others behave to his bets, whether a a specific bet will take down a pot or at least help him in winning a pot later. He must also concern himself about his personal table image, not how he wishes to present himself but rather how the table perceives him. With online games in particular, bet sizing becomes a vital tool. Varying bet sizes for instance could lead to an important information leak, especially pre-flop where no cards are yet face up.

A good friend of mine reminded me of one crucial lesson in this regards, keep your initial bet sizes constant regardless of your holding. If you decide to play, your initial bet should always be the same, or as a minimum played in the same fashion without emphasis. The more you mess around with either the size of this initial bet or how it is played the more information can potentially be leaked out to the table.

So betting consistently pre-flop can actually make your actions more undecipherable while keeping your opponents wondering what you might be holding on to. This is a vital concept and which could save you a lot of chips in the long term.

Yet there are other situations that could result in involuntary information leaks. For instance, just after winning a hand, you should refrain from any uncontrolled emotional outbursts; because you can still inadvertently give away information even after a hand is over. Just pick up your chips, stack them in the same way you always do and prepare yourself for the next hand. Refrain from discussing what you had or what you thought the others might have had. Any extra information might benefit others at the table who might not have even considered any of the possibilities you might wrongly choose to discuss.

Obviously there’s also the other side of the medal so to speak. You could decide to offer doctored information to the table in order to change a particular table image you might have. This is not far removed from the using of deviatory tactics to mislead opponents regarding your playing style or strength of hand. For instance if you have a solid table image, and players are putting you on strong hands refusing to offer you any action when you play, then it might be a good idea to show a suited connector now and again or maybe a marginal holding you do not normally play. However let me be clear, if you do not win a hand, show nothing. There’s no point in flashing cards if you cannot make a statement of sorts.

Back to information leaks, the greatest culprit can indeed be weariness or boredom. Poker is not for the faint of heart, it is not easy to fold hand after hand when the situation warrants it, and bluffing may not be an option. Coping with weariness can take many forms; some simply get coffee to the table which helps to some extent. Boredom however is harder to tackle but it should be!

When not in a hand, and there will be several hands you will not be playing in, you should try and focus on what the other players are doing and to focus your mental capacities on deciphering as much information as you can from the plays others make. Great players do this all of the time, it keeps them focused and it might also offer some information they might find helpful in the future hands. More importantly it also helps them stay focused on what really matters.

If you allow boredom to kick in, you will definitely stop enjoying the game and you will start seeing the game as a chore. When this happens, our minds tend to play tricks on us. Suddenly we tend to forget the basics, we forget not to play seven-deuce off-suit, we may even stop reading board texture or betting patterns. In short we turn ourselves into mindless automata whose stack will ultimately find itself heaped on another player’s pile. Boredom also has the unsavoury habit of distorting our perceptions of what other players may be doing. We tend to focus on the one hand the player to our left showed us, say a suited-connector, and not on the fact that he really has not been in that many hands after all. In other words boredom tries to convince us that any two card will do the trick.

It is true, on the other hand, that some players give the impression of being in way too many pots. Yet playing trash hands out of position is never a solid long term plan. Sure some hands may look attractive when you haven’t had a decent hand coming your way in a while, but better judgement should always prevail if you really intend to run deep into a tournament. There will be moments when semi-bluffs will win you big pots, but in the long run don’t expect to win consistently if you’re charging in with Q3 suited or J2 or K8. You might pair your big card but your kicker will more often than not come back to haunt you.

ABC poker dictates that you will play a narrow range of strong starting cards when you’re in early position. It also dictates that you will widen the range of starting hands as you progress from middle to late position. In late position then you will play the widest range of valid starting hands possible including suited connectors, (e.g. 7-8 suited or 6-7 suited or 9-T suited) Ax suited, Kx suited and small pairs from sevens to deuces. That is what works, what will earn you extra chips most of the time. Occasionally you may throw in a wild combination of starting hands, perhaps see the flop cheaply if that combo is played from the Big Blind…but don’t marry it. If the flop does not connect, scrap your trash hand and forget about it.

Many players and I fall in this category occasionally, also fall victim of what I call Bluff paranoia, which gets stronger the more bored they feel. Let me explain, you’re playing Holdem, a player to your immediate left calls your three big blinds pre-flop. The turn comes Kh9d4c, you hold pocket Aces. On such a raggedy board you bet three-fourths pot and get called yet again by the guy to your left who by the way is in the cut-off position. The Turn comes 7s, you opt to check, the guy to your left checks also, so no check raising here. The River card’s a Jc, you check again, the guy to your left drops a pot-sized bet. What do you do?

Here we have a somewhat tight player who from late position limped in suspiciously by calling a bet equal to three times the big blind. You know the guy likes to occasionally play somewhat erratically, throwing in some weak starting hands. Basically he likes to mix things up a little. On the Flop he was also willing to call your three-fourths bet but was slow to open any bets when you checked on the Turn. This guy clearly has something, he might have had pocket kings but being essentially a tight player he would have most likely played differently pre-flop, maybe re-raised. Post flop the behaviour suggests he connected somewhat significantly to the flop but still not enough for him to raise your bet. Remember you know this guy to be mostly tight with occasional loose plays. His final pot-sized opening bet on the river however should alert that something must be afoot. He now believes that whatever he holds has somehow passed a crucial test and can therefore win the pot.

In this instance the player to your left had K9 suited for two pair.

While it is never really good practice to muck pocket Aces, still many will fall victim of falling in love with such a strong starting hand. This while also rationalising that the other player must always be bluffing. Often we try to justify our decision making by any means available to us, even by attributing non-existent bluffing manoeuvres when there would be none.

Judgement in these situations would be heavily impaired if we were to add weariness to the equation. It is proven fact that most people will show a gradual deterioration in decision-making the more fatigued they get, poker players are no exception to the rule. Marathon tournaments will inexorably wear out even the most resilient brain. Players need to understand that you need to work your way up the stamina ladder, in order to ensure that all decisions are taken lucidly, and in full control of one’s mental faculties.

What this tells us is that a good tournament poker player has to learn to sustain the level of focus and attention to detail that is required in order to prevail. Through focus and improved stamina he can then hope to curb the information leak he might be unwittingly offering to his adversaries. The method one uses then depends squarely on the individual’s character as well as his unique brain chemistry. Some people just cannot perform under stress, others cannot perform if they happen to be too tired. Unless they find a sure way of addressing these factors they cannot hope to play optimally most of the time.

The process of learning how to handle weariness and boredom, also makes you aware of what information you might be leaking as a consequence. Observation is often the best exploratory tool because we might spot our own defects in others and in so doing learn ways to counter them.

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Happy New Year

So here we are at the beginning of yet another year. Many take this annual happening as an opportunity to plan the year ahead, I'm not talking about resolutions, those have a tendency to day by the wayside as the year progresses.

Cardoholics Anonymous will hail the new year with more articles related to some of the more popular trick-taking games but there will also be ample focus on Rummy-type games in particular Gin Rummy, Kalooki and Canasta. Poker will also feature as we will go into some depth into strategies aimed at improving game-play and increasing one's chances of coming up on top.

We will also go over some strategy associated with another of my favourite rummy-type games, the tile-based Mahjongg. While I have in the past reviewed this game as well as offered options to facilitate game-play I don't believe I have afford enough space to tips on how best to play this extraordinary game.

Yet more importantly the site will from time to time showcase decks of cards from my ever growing collection as well as card-based games I may acquire during the course of the year. As has been my habit, I will also from time to time go over specific topics that relate to card games but which apply across the board rather than to specific games.

 While looking forward to getting in touch with all of you in 2013, may I once again wish you all a prosperous New Year, may your plans come to fruition and may the outcomes to your endeavours never fall short of your expectations.

Until next time!

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