The basic game strategy is to improve one's hand by forming melds and eliminating deadwood. The objective in gin rummy is to score points and reach an agreed number of points or more, usually 100, before the opponent does. The ranking from high to low is King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace (kings over aces). Gin is played with a standard 52-deck pack of cards. John Scarne's theory deriving Rummy from Poker through the medium of Whiskey Poker has not gained general acceptance. According to John Scarne, Gin evolved from 19th-century Whiskey Poker and was created with the intention of being faster than standard rummy but less spontaneous than knock rummy. Gin rummy, or simply gin, is a two-player card game created in 1909 by Elwood T.
