Gin Rummy

One of the most important factors making someone a better player is realizing the part that mathematics plays in the game.  Over the course of your Gin career, you will play thousands upon thousands of hands and you will notice that the law of math will play a major role.  For example, if you are dealt a hand full of red cards or even cards, you can safely assume that your opponent has been dealt a hand that is full of black or odd cards.  Using that same logic, if you have a lot of cards of higher point value, you can assume that your opponent has a lot of cards that are lower of value.  You pretty much are using the laws of probability that are apparent in mathematics.  

A rule that many experts of Gin have established is called the Rule of Fourteen.  What this rule means is that they consider every card to have a face value, with Ace through 10 representing their particular number, Jack valued at 11, Queen is a 12, and the King is valued at 13.  The average of all the cards is a seven, so probability says that all things will average out.  For example, if you have two kings, then you will probably pick up two aces at some point, or if you have two nines you will pick up two fives at some point.  This can be used when scouting your opponent, so if you see you opponent throws an eight; you can be assured that he will also lay down a six at some point as well.  Also, if you notice that player is collecting a lot of Jacks, you can assume that they are also collecting threes.  The Rule of Fourteen is effective is figuring out which cards that you can feel comfortable discarding.

Another way that math plays a factor is when the cards are dealt out, you have 10 cards, which means there are 42 cards remaining, which includes the 10 cards that your opponent has.  So the odds of getting the card you are looking for is considered to be 41 to 1 and if your hand requires two cards, the odds are then cut in half.  If you hand can be finished with four different cards, then your odds would be 10 to one.  Your odds will change every time you pick up cards as you build your hand and more cards are discarded.