Copyright: Gin Rummy ® 1995, 1996 MeggieSoft Games


 Contents

Welcome to Gin Rummy.  Help is organized in the following sections.  Click on the one you require.  Alternatively, click on the search, index, or glossary button above to look for information on a specific subject.

Overview

Getting Started

The Layout

Using The Mouse

Arranging Your Cards

Playing The Game

About The Opponent

Scoring

Menus

Shortcuts

Strategies

How To ...

For The Technically Curious

Glossary

Index

Troubleshooting

Rummy 500

Pinochle


Overview

Gin Rummy, or just "Gin", is a member of the "Rummy" family of card games.  Gin Rummy adheres to the documented rules of Hoyle's Rules Of Games, but provides rule variations should you be familiar with other methods of playing.  In particular, both the Oklahoma Gin game and the Hollywood scoring method are fully supported.

Ten cards are dealt to you and ten to your opponent.  The remaining cards form the stock and are placed face down by the table.  The top card is turned face up on the table.  This card forms the beginning of  the discard pile.

The game progresses with the player or the opponent starting their turn.  If this is a new game, the loser of the previous game starts.  If this is a new round of an unfinished game, then the loser of the previous round starts.   The player who is starting has the option of taking the card from the discard pile.  If this option is declined, the other player can elect to take it instead.  If this offer is also declined, the first player takes a new card from the stock.

Whether you started your turn by taking a new card from the stock or by taking the card from the discard pile, you continue your turn by determining whether you can, and wish to, "knock", which will signal the end of the current round.  In order to knock, you must be able to meld cards from your hand to the table such that you will have ten or less points in your hand after discarding.  If you meld all ten cards, you have scored "Gin".

You conclude your turn by discarding a card from  your hand.

A round ends when a player has knocked.  The other player may then lay down whatever melds they can, and add to the knocking player's melds.  They do not take a card (from the stock or discard pile) before this action, nor do they discard after.

Successive rounds are dealt and played until one of the players achieves the goal of 100 points to win the game.


Getting Started

When learning a new game, many people prefer to watch others play a few hands before diving in for themselves.  Gin Rummy caters to such wishes by means of its "AutoPlayer" mode.  Click the second line below for instructions on how to start the AutoPlayer.

Getting Started Instructions

"I'd Rather Watch First"


Getting Started Instructions

When you first start Gin Rummy, you will see a "Press To Start..." button in the middle of the table.  If you wish to make any menu option changes, now is a good time to do this.  Then click on the start button.  Unless you have chosen the "cut for deal" option, you will then be informed that you lead the first round of the first game..  Click on the OK button to proceed.

The first round of the first game starts with your turn, which you make by either taking a new card from the stock, or by taking the card from the discard pile.  For each successive round, the lead is assigned to the loser of the previous round.  The initial lead  for each new game goes to the loser of the previous game, unless the "New Game Deal Cut" option has been selected from the "Configuration" menu.

Under the rules of Gin Rummy, the person who has the lead must offer the discard to the other player if they don't want to take it.  If the other player declines, then the first player takes a card from the stock.

If you elect to take a new card from the stock, you click on the top of the stock.  If the opponent decided it wanted the discard, you will be advised of this, and the discard will be taken be the opponent, who thus starts the round.  Similarly, in subsequent rounds, when it is the opponent's turn to lead, it will offer you the discard if it doesn't wish to take it.

If you clicked down on the stock and the opponent did not want the discard,  the top card will then be turned face up for you to see, and, when you release the mouse button, will be automatically added to your hand.  If the AutoMouse option is enabled, the mouse pointer will also move to your hand and indicate which card was newly taken.

If you want to take the card from the discard pile, click on it and it will move to your hand.  If AutoMouse is enabled, the mouse pointer will move with the card.

If you are able to, and wish to, you may "knock" at this time by melding your cards.  To do so, you must be left with ten or less points in your hand after discarding.  (The minimum points requirement may be less than ten if you have selected the "Oklahoma Gin" rules option.)

You end your turn by discarding a card from your hand by clicking on it with the RIGHT mouse button.  If you knocked, the opponent will lay off its cards and the round ends.  Otherwise, your opponent (the computer) will then play its turn, and so play continues until one of you knocks.

At any time you can get assistance on what to do next by clicking on the "Explain" option of the "Assistant" menu.  An information window will appear describing your options at that point of play.  You may move the information window by dragging its title bar.

When you are learning the game, you might set the opponent skill level to "Master" and discard each of your cards immediately after taking them.  In this way, you will see how the game is played by the opponent.  Subsequently, you might set the opponent skill to "Carefree" (in which case the opponent will never knock) to play out your hand completely.  You might also care to check the "Show Cards" option of the "Opponent" menu while you are learning the game.  Once you have experimented with these methods, you should be ready to play in earnest!


Watching A Game Being Played

If this is your first experience of Gin Rummy, you might prefer to watch a game being played before launching into reading the help information in detail.

Follow the following steps to set Gin Rummy into AutoPlayer mode.

1 	Select "AutoPlayer" from the "Assistant" menu

2 	Select a skill level for the player.  "Expert" would be a good choice.  Press "OK"

3 	Sit back and watch.

4 	Press the "Stop AutoPlay" buttonon the status bar when you have watched for long enough.


The Layout

The layout of the display is shown above.  You can click on any part of the graphic to learn about that item.  (To dismiss the resulting pop-up window, click anywhere.)  In particular, note the various shortcuts enabled from the status bar at the bottom of the picture.

Briefly:

The stock is shown face down to the left of the table, with the discard pile shown face up on the table, to the right of the stock.  The opponent's cards are displayed face down above the table, and the player's cards are displayed face up below the table.

The scoresheet is displayed to the right of the table and, if you have rule options selected from the "Rules" menu, these are shown to the left of the table, under the stock.

In the diagram, the opponent has knocked, and the opponent's melds are displayed on the table, below the discard pile.  By default, the knocker discards face down, but the discard is shown face up in the above diagram.


Using The Mouse

All mouse operations in Gin Rummy may be performed by single clicking.  Double-clicking, except when the "Double-Click Discard"  option of the "Player" menu is in effect, is not supported and the second click will normally be ignored.

Most of the help documentation refers to the single clicking mode of operation.  This mode operates by clicking on the card to be operated upon and then clicking where is is to be placed.

However,  Gin Rummy also supports "Drag and Drop" operations.  Click on the hyperlink at the bottom of this section for information regarding the "Drag and Drop" method of operation.

Operations take effect when the mouse button is released, and are ignored if the mouse button is released in a different area from where it was depressed and the "No Drop" cursor is showing.  The only exception is when taking a new card from the stock - in this case the card will move to the player's hand if the mouse button is released under the "No Drop" cursor.

If you have depressed a mouse button in an area of the screen and wish to abandon the action, move (drag) the mouse away from that area until the "No Drop" cursor is displayed, and release the button.

Remember that when you have depressed the mouse button on the stock you are committed to taking the card shown to you.

Either the left or right mouse button may be used for almost all operations except:

•	The left mouse button must be used to select (highlight) cards

•	The right mouse button must be used to discard from your hand.  However, you may use the "Alt" with the left button instead of the right button if you prefer.

The AutoMouse features may be enabled to move the mouse automatically between the stock and the player area and/or to and from the message and information windows.

See also:

Drag and Drop


Arranging Your Cards

By default, Gin Rummy automatically sorts and resorts the player's cards when dealt, and when new cards are added to it.  The default sortation is suit within rank.

When the "Sort By Suit" option is selected from the "Player" menu, the sortation is changed to be rank within suit.

Alternatively, you may chose to arrange the cards yourself by selecting the "No Sorting" option from the "Player" menu.  In this case, the hand is sorted randomly, and new cards are always added to the right of the hand.  You then have complete freedom to arrange the cards as you wish, as described below.  You can even arrange a "reserved" set of cards separately from your main hand.  This allows you to keep potentially meldable cards aside, for example.

You may also move cards at any time even if "No Sorting" is not selected.  However, in this case,  your main hand will always be resorted when the next card or cards are added to it.  The reserved set of cards, if it exists, is never resorted.

To move a card to the left, click down on it with the left mouse button, and keep the button depressed.  Then move the mouse to the left, whereupon the mouse-pointer will change to a double-headed arrow.  When the pointer is in the desired position for the card, release the mouse button.  The card will then move to its new position - which will be before the card upon which the mouse button was released.

To move a card to the right, perform the same process as above except move the mouse-pointer to the right with the mouse button depressed.  In this case the card will be moved to be be positioned after the card over which the button was released.

To establish a "reserved" set of cards, move a card off to the right of the hand.  The mouse pointer will change to a square within a box.  Release the mouse pointer at this point, and the card will form the first card of the reserve, which is displayed apart from the main hand.  You may add other cards to the reserve by dragging them from the main hand and dropping them on the reserve.  Similarly you may move cards from the reserve back to the main hand.  If all the player's cards are moved to the reserve, the reserve is canceled and all cards are treated as being the main hand.  Cards can be selected, melded, and discarded from the reserve just as they can from the main hand.

Remember that if you click on the left mouse button and release the button without moving the cursor, the card will be selected for melding.


Playing The Game

After the cards for a round have been dealt, the sequence of your turn (or your opponent's) is:

1 	Taking a card from the stock or  the discard pile

2 	"Knocking", by melding cards from your hand to the table, if and when possible

3 	Discarding one of the cards from those in your hand.

The round ends when one of the players has "knocked" and the other has laid off their meldable cards.

Dealing

Taking The Top Card Of The Stock

Taking From The Discard Pile

Knocking

Melding Cards To The Table

Discarding From Your Hand


Dealing

The first round is dealt automatically after you confirm that you will start the first round, or after the cut for deal (if this option is selected).

After the end of each round, Gin Rummy will shuffle and deal the cards for the next round.

Under the rules of Gin Rummy, the person whose turn it is to go first has the option of taking the discard.  If not taken, it is offered to the other player.  If they also decline, the first player takes a card from the stock.  Thus when it is your turn to start and you select the stock card instead of the discard, the opponent may elect to take the discard and start the round.  When this occurs, a message box will be displayed to advise you accordingly.  When it is the opponent's turn to start and the discard is not wanted, you will be offered it.  If you decline, the opponent will take the top card from the stock.  If you accept, the discard will be moved to your hand.

At the end of each game, you will be asked if you want to proceed with the next game.  If you select "Yes", Gin Rummy will shuffle and deal the cards.

At any time, you may select "Redeal Game" from the Game menu.  In this case, the current game is abandoned, and the cards are reshuffled and redealt.  Alternatively, you can select "Restart Round" in which case the cards are not shuffled and the current round is restarted.

If "AutoMouse Cards" is enabled, the mouse pointer will  be moved automatically to the deck after the cards have been dealt.


Taking The Top Card Of The Stock

Position the mouse pointer over the face down card on top of the stock. (In AutoMouse mode, the mouse will have been automatically positioned over the stock after you discarded the previous card.)

Click down with either the left or right mouse button on the card.

The card will then be displayed face up for you to see.  When you release the mouse button, it will be removed from the stock and added to your hand,  which will immediately be sorted.

If AutoMouse mode is operative, the mouse pointer will also move to your hand and point to the card taken.

See also:

Drag and Drop


Drag and Drop

"Drag and Drop" (which debuted in Version 4 of Gin Rummy) provides an alternative shortcut method of mouse operation.

The original method, which is still supported and to which most of this help documentation refers, requires you to click the mouse on the card upon which you wish the operation to apply, and then often click the mouse again on the area to which it is to be moved.   When an operation requires just a single click, the destination is predetermined (e.g., when taking cards from the stock or discard pile, the destination is always the player's hand).

"Drag and Drop" permits you to click down on the card to be operated upon, drag the mouse pointer to a valid destination and then release.  This provides many shortcuts.

For example, to take a card from the stock and immediately discard it, one can click down on the stock (the card face is shown immediately), drag the mouse over the discard pile and release the mouse button.  Under the "click" method, the same operation is achieved by clicking on the stock to take the card, and then right-clicking on the same card after it has been moved to your hand in order to discard it.

Select one of the following hyperlinks for details on each type of "Drag and Drop" operation.

Drag and Drop from the Stock

Drag and Drop from the Discard Pile

Drag and Drop from the Players Hand


Drag and Drop from the Stock

When it is your turn to take a card and the mouse is clicked down on the stock and released, the card is moved to the player's hand.  Note that the top card is displayed face up as soon as you click down on the stock.

Alternatively, you may "Drag and Drop" the card by clicking down on the stock and then moving the mouse pointer to the required destination before releasing the mouse button.

When the mouse pointer is over an invalid destination, the cursor will change to the "No Drop" symbol - a circle with a line across it.  If the mouse button is released under this cursor, the stock card will be moved to the player's hand.  (For other "Drag and Drop" operations the result would be no action, but once you have clicked down on the stock, you are committed to take the card.)

Valid "Drag and Drop" destinations from the stock are:

The Discard Pile

The card is added to the discard pile.  This ends your turn.

The Player's Hand

The card is added to the player's hand.  If the "No Sorting" option is in effect, the card will be inserted after the card upon which it is dropped.  The card may also be dropped directly onto the player's reserve group (if in effect).

See also:

Drag and Drop

Drag and Drop from the Discard Pile

Drag and Drop from the Player's Hand


Drag and Drop from the Discard Pile

When it is your turn to take a card and the mouse is clicked down on the discard pile and released, the card is moved to your hand together with any subsequent discards.

Alternatively, you may "Drag and Drop" the required discard by clicking down on it and then moving the mouse pointer to the required destination before releasing the mouse button.

When the mouse pointer is over an invalid destination, the cursor will change to the "No Drop" symbol - a circle with a line across it.  If the mouse button is released under this cursor,  no action will occur.

The only valid "Drag and Drop" destination from the discard pile is:

The Player's Hand

The card is added to the player's hand.  If the "No Sorting" option is in effect, the card will be inserted after the card upon which it is dropped.  The card may also be dropped directly onto the player's reserve group (if in effect).

See also:

Drag and Drop

Drag and Drop from the Player's Hand

Drag and Drop from the Stock


Drag and Drop from the Players Hand

When it is your turn to play a card you may left-click on a card to select it, or right-click to discard it

Alternatively, you may "Drag and Drop" a card by clicking down on it and then moving the mouse pointer to the required destination before releasing the mouse button.

When the mouse pointer is over an invalid destination, the cursor will change to the "No Drop" symbol - a circle with a line across it.  If the mouse button is released under this cursor,  no action will occur.

Valid "Drag and Drop" destinations from the player's hand are:

The Discard Pile

The card is added to the discard pile; this ends your turn.

A Meld

Note that a card does not have to be selected to drag and drop it on a meld.  If multiple cards are to be melded, those other than the dragged card must be selected first by clicking on them.  However, a selected (highlighted) card may also be dragged and dropped on a meld.

If no other card is selected and the card matches the meld, it will be added to the meld.

If other cards are selected, those and the dragged card will be added to the meld provided they match the other cards of the meld.

If the card(s) do not match the meld, an error message will displayed and no action will occur.  The dragged card will then be highlighted if it wasn't before.

The Table

Note that a card does not have to be selected to drag and drop it on the table. However, the other cards which form the meld must be selected first by clicking on them.

If the cards form a valid meld, they will be moved to the table.  Otherwise,an error message will displayed and no action will occur.  The dragged card will then be highlighted if it wasn't before.

See Also:

Drag and Drop

Drag and Drop from the Discard Pile

Drag and Drop from the Stock


Taking From The Discard Pile

If you wish to take the card from the discard pile, you do this instead of taking a new card from the stock.

To take the card from the discard pile, position the mouse pointer over the card and click the LEFT mouse button.  The card will then be added to your hand.

See also:

Drag and Drop


Knocking

When a player is able to meld, in one turn, enough cards to the table such that the point values of the remaining cards (after discarding) total ten points or less, they may elect to knock.  If they can lay down all ten cards, they have scored a "Gin".

When a player has knocked, the other may then lay down whatever melds they can make from their cards, and add cards to the knocker's melds (unless the opponent knocked with "Gin").

The round then ends.  If the knocker scores Gin, or has less "deadwood" points remaining their hand than the other player, then the knocker wins the round.  Otherwise, if the other player "undercuts" the knocker by having less deadwood points, then the other player wins the round.  The round is scored as the difference between the deadwood points, with bonus points being awarded for a Gin or an undercut.


Melding Cards To The Table

You will meld cards either when you have chosen to "knock", or when laying off your cards after the opponent has knocked.

You may either create a new meld of at least three cards, or you may add one or more cards to an existing meld displayed on the table.  You may add to any displayed meld, whether it originated from your hand or the opponent's.  Similarly, your opponent may add cards to melds you put down when you have knocked.

You then continue your turn until you discard (if you knocked) or have laid off all your possible cards (if the opponent knocked).

Further information:

Creating A New Meld

Adding To An Existing Meld

Drag and Drop


Creating A New Meld

First you must select which cards from your hand are to form the new meld.  You do this by identifying each of those that you wish to select.  You must select at least three cards.

To select a card:  Position the mouse pointer over the card and click the LEFT mouse button.  The card will now be highlighted.

To deselect a card: Repeat the action (i.e., position the mouse pointer over the highlighted card and click the LEFT mouse button).  The card is no longer highlighted.

When you have selected (i.e., highlighted)  three or more cards, you may meld them to the table. You do this by positioning the mouse pointer over any uncovered part of the table and clicking the LEFT mouse button.  (If the lower part of the table is filled with melds, click on the uncovered area to the right of the discard pile.)

If the meld is valid, the cards will then be moved from your hand to the table.

Alternatively, if the combination of highlighted cards does not represent a valid meld, you will receive an error message, and the cards will remain in place.

See Also:

Melding Cards To The Table

Adding To An Existing Meld

Drag and Drop


Adding To An Existing Meld

First you must identify the card, or cards, which are to be added to the meld.

To select a card:  Position the mouse pointer over the card and click the LEFT mouse button.  The card will now be highlighted.

To deselect a card: Repeat the action (i.e., position the mouse pointer over the highlighted card and click the LEFT mouse button).  The card is no longer highlighted.

To add the highlighted card(s) to a meld on the table, position the mouse pointer over any card in the existing meld and click the LEFT mouse button.

If the highlighted card(s) can be melded with those on the table, the card(s) will then be added to the meld on the table.

Alternatively, if the card(s) highlighted cannot be melded with those on the table, you will receive an error message, and the card(s) will remain in place.

See Also:

Melding Cards To The Table

Creating A New Meld

Drag and Drop


Discarding From Your Hand

You end your turn by discarding any one of the cards in your hand, unless the "11 Card Gins" rule is in effect and you have just knocked with 11 cards.

To discard a card from your hand, position the mouse pointer over the card and click the RIGHT mouse button.  Alternatively, you may click the LEFT mouse button with the ALT key depressed.

If you have selected the "Double-Click Discard" option from the "Player" menu, a single right-click will have no effect and you  will need to double-click on the right mouse button.  This option is a safety-check against unintentional discarding.

The card is then removed from your hand and added to the discard pile.

If the "AutoMouse Cards" option is in effect, the mouse pointer will move automatically to the stock.

Note that you cannot discard while cards are highlighted.  You must deselect any highlighted cards before discarding.

See also:

Drag and Drop


About The Opponent

The opponent plays automatically after you have discarded, or when it is the opponent's turn to start a round.

The opponent skill level may be set at any of six levels from the "Skill Level" option under the "Opponent" menu.

When the opponent takes the top card of the discard pile, it will briefly highlight it.  If desired, this feature can be turned off via the "No Discard Highlighting" option under the "Opponent" menu.

When the opponent takes a new card from the stock, it will briefly highlight the stock as confirmation.   If desired, this feature can be turned off via the "No Stock Highlighting" option under the "Opponent" menu.

The opponent also pauses briefly (about two fifths of a second) after taking a card, making a meld (knocking), and discarding,  so that the actions of its turn can be clearly viewed.  If desired this delay can be suppressed via the "Quick Display" option under the "Opponent" menu.


Scoring

Points are scored as the difference between the deadwood (i.e., not melded to the table) held by each player at the end of each round.   The points distribution is:

•	       1 Point : an ACE

•	Face Value : a TWO through NINE

•	   10 Points : a TEN, JACK, QUEEN or KING

At the end of a round, the differences between the deadwood values are scored to the winner of the round.  If a player knocks with a Gin (no deadwood remaining) they are the winner.  Otherwise, if the other player undercuts the knocker by having the same or less deadwood points, that player wins the round.  Otherwise, the player with the least deadwood is the winner.

25 bonus points are awarded to a player scoring a Gin.  25 bonus points are awarded to a person scoring an undercut.  These bonus values, and the game bonuses discussed below, may be customized via the "Points Values" option under the Rules menu.  Also available under the Rules menu is the option to allow "11 Card Gins" whereby the eleventh card may be melded instead of discarded.  In this case, the Gin bonus is doubled.

Successive rounds are played until one of the players wins the game with 100 points.  At the end of the game the points for each round (called box points) for each player are added together.  A 100 point game bonus is also awarded to the player with the higher total. If the losing player failed to win any rounds, a shutout bonus equal to the points total plus the game bonus is awarded to the winning player.  Box bonuses of 25 points per round won are also awarded to each player.

There is a variation to the scoring convention whereby the box bonuses are also included in the shutout bonus.  If you wish to score under this variation, it is selectable via the "Points Values" options.

The grand totals of points won and bonus points are recorded as the result of the game.

See also:

Scoresheet


Scoresheet

The information on the scoresheet to the right of the table is displayed as follows:

•	The scores for each completed round are added the scoresheet at the end of the round.

•	The running points totals for the current game are displayed in italics at the bottom of the scoresheet.

•	When a game is completed, the bonuses (game, box, and if applicable, shutout) will be displayed at the bottom of the scoresheet and the points totals updated to include the bonus points.

•	When Hollywood or Series scoring is in effect, the scoresheet will expand to score the three sub-games in separate columns.  The bonus total lines will appear when the first sub-game is completed.

•	If the scoresheet is about to become full, earlier round scores will be consolidated into a single line, displayed in bold font.

Because the scoresheet is facing the player, it is maintained from the player's perspective - hence the player is "Me" and the opponent is "You".

Note:

You may click on the scoresheet to see the full details (including date and skill level) of all rounds of the current game. Round scores are always shown individually in the full details, even if  some have been consolidated on the scoresheet to make more room (see above).


Menus

The following drop-down menus are available:

Game

Configuration

Player

Opponent

Assistant

Rules

Scoreboards

Help


Game Menu

The following selections are available under the Game Menu:

AutoResume

Restart Round

Redeal Game

Exit


AutoResume

The AutoResume feature controls how Gin Rummy starts up when there are multiple scoreboards defined.

If AutoResume is checked, Gin Rummy will remember which player was playing when it exits, and will automatically start up for that player when Gin Rummy is next run.

If AutoResume is not checked, Gin Rummy will not remember which player is playing and, if multiple players are defined, will present the "Select Player" window when Gin Rummy is next run.

If only one player is defined, typically "Default", AutoResume has no effect on how Gin Rummy starts up.  It will start up for that player.

If the remembered player's scoreboard file is deleted between sessions, thus effectively undefining the player, Gin Rummy will present the "Select Player" window when next started.

The AutoResume option status is not saved in the same way as other options.  Gin Rummy automatically starts up with AutoResume set as it was when the previous Gin Rummy session exited.


Restart Round

Click to restart the current round. Gin Rummy will abandon the current round and restart it from the beginning, without shuffling the cards..


Redeal Game

Click to start a new game. Gin Rummy will abandon the current game, reset all counters and scores, and shuffle the cards.

This action restarts only the current game.  Thus, if you are currently on game 3, the play will restart at round 1 of game 3.

If you are using Hollywood or Series scoring, the play will restart from the beginning of the set of sub-games.

If you want to start over from the beginning of game 1, select "Reset Scoreboard" from the "Scoreboards" menu.


Exit

Terminates the session and exits from Gin Rummy.

Before exiting, Gin Rummy asks if you want to save the updated scoreboard for the current player, if it has changed since it was last saved.

If you respond "Yes", Gin Rummy will save the scores of all previous games and the scores of the rounds of the current game (if not yet completed) for the current player.  When this player next plays Gin Rummy, this information will be restored automatically and play will proceed with the same game number and round number.

If you respond "No", the scoreboard information will not be updated and when the current player next plays Gin Rummy, the situation will be as it was previously.

If, when you next play Gin Rummy, you start part way through an unfinished game (e.g.,  round four) and you wish to restart from round one of the game, use the "Redeal Game" option.

Note that Gin Rummy only saves the scores of games and rounds completed.  It does not save the card distribution if you exit Gin Rummy partway through a round.


Configuration Menu

The configuration menu is comprised of selections that are mostly either checked or unchecked.  When the menu drops down, a checked item will have a check mark by it. To select an option, click on it so that the check mark is showing.  To deselect an option, click on it so that the check mark is not showing.

The following selections are available under the Configuration Menu:

AutoStart

AutoSave All Options

Card & Font Size

Window Size

Card Design

True Corners

Colors

Sound Effects

Speak-To-Me

Music

Display Error Box

No Bell

No 3D Effects

No Start Reminders

New Game Deal Cut

Quick Deal

Save Configuration


AutoStart

When selected, the "Press To Start..." button will not appear at the start of a player's session, that is when Gin Rummy starts, or after changing players.

When unselected, the "Press To Start..." button will be displayed at the start of a player's session.  This permits you to review information (such as help, or the scoreboards) and make option changes before Gin Rummy deals the first round of the session.


AutoSave All Options

When selected, all option settings under the "Configuration", "Player", "Opponent", and "Rules" menus will immediately be saved, and will subsequently be saved whenever they are changed   Also, the "Save ..." option in each of these menus will no longer appear.

When unselected, changes made to options are only saved when the "Save ..." option of the respective menu is selected.  This is the default.


Card and Font Size

Provided that the required image files exist in the same directory as Gin Rummy and your available video memory resources permit, you may select any of the four card display sizes described below.  Note that the font size displayed in Gin Rummy's main window, and the size of the status bar and speed buttons, are adjusted to correspond with the card sizes larger than the regular size.  This improves the clarity and ease of playing Gin Rummy at higher screen resolution settings.  Note also that if you have "Large Fonts" selected for your Windows display mode, then Gin Rummy will counteract that setting when larger fonts would upset the integrity of displays containing card images.

Note:
You may not be able to run Gin Rummy, or the cards may display as blank white rectangles, if you have selected a larger card size than can be accommodated within your currently available video memory resources.

Small

Card width is 58 pixels.  Available for all window sizes.

Regular

Card width is 72 pixels.  Not available with custom window sizes shallower than 460 pixels high .

Large

Card width is 90 pixels.  Not available with 600x480 window size or custom window sizes shallower than 580 pixels high .

Extra Large

Card width is 112 pixels.  Not available with 600x480 or 800x600 window size, or custom window sizes shallower than 748 pixels high.

Alternatively, you may select either of the following from this menu option:

AutoSize Low

Card size varies automatically with selected window size:  Small for 600x480; Regular for 800x600; Large for 1024x768; Extra Large for 1280x1024.  (Custom window sizes will select the nearest appropriate size).  Click again on the "AutoSize Low" option to turn autosizing off.

AutoSize High

Card size varies automatically with selected window size: Regular for 600x480; Large for 800x600; Extra Large for 1024x768 and 1280x1024.  (Custom window sizes will select the nearest appropriate size.)  Click again on the "AutoSize High" option to turn autosizing off.

See also:

Window Size


Window Size

At higher monitor resolutions, preset size options are available up to and including the current monitor resolution.  Select the window size equal to your current monitor resolution for full-screen display, or a smaller size setting for partial screen display.

The supported preset size options are: 600x480, 800x600, 1024x768, and 1280x1024.

Gin Rummy also supports custom (manual) resizing of the window for which you use the normal method of dragging an edge or a corner of the window frame - except when the AutoPlayer is running.  If you attempt to make the window too narrow or too shallow, Gin Rummy will shrink the window to the smallest permitted (590 x 400).   When the window has been resized in this manner, the "Custom Size" menu option will be checked.   If "AutoSave All Options" is selected, or when you "Save Configuration" with a custom window size in effect, the "Custom Size" menu entry will change to reflect the current window and card size.  This then remains a "Window Size" option for you to come back to (even between sessions) until the next time that the window is manually resized and saved.  Note that you cannot return to an unsaved custom size option.  Note also that maximizing the window is considered to be a temporary operation and the saved custom size is not changed.

If you change from a larger to a smaller window size, the card size may be automatically adjusted if the current card size is too large for the smaller window size, or if you have one of the AutoSize options selected under "Card & Font Size".

If you are using a "Large Fonts" resolution setting, Gin Rummy will automatically adjust its menu and window to accommodate the larger font size.

See also:

Card and Font Size


Card Design

There are six standard card back designs available.  To change to another design, select this menu option and click on the required card back from those displayed.

If you wish to, you can design your own card backs as alternatives to the standard cards.  In this case, the card design choice window will include a "Custom/Standard" button to switch between the six standard designs and up to six custom designs.

If you have previously saved your configuration with a custom card back which is no longer present on disk, Gin Rummy will default to the first of the standard designs.

See also:

Designing Custom Card Backs


Designing Custom Card Backs

Gin Rummy does not provide graphic design capabilities, so it is assumed that you are able to scan, copy, or design the image file(s) you require using other tools.

The size of the "regular" card image is 71 by 96 pixels.  If your design is larger, Gin Rummy will take the card back from the upper left part of your design.

You do not need to add the card frame (single pixel black line around the edge) or trim the corners. Gin Rummy will do this automatically when it loads the card back image file, which will override your efforts anyway.

Card back designs should be stored in Windows Meta File (WMF) format.  If a card back is saved in bitmap (BMP) format it will likely display blank at higher color resolutions and may cause system instability.  If you already have or develop your designs in bitmap format, convert them to WMF format using an image converter program (such as Image Convert from MTE industries, available as shareware) or a graphics program (such as Paint Shop Pro from JASC, Inc. - also available as shareware).

Card back designs must be stored in the same directory as Gin Rummy as file names rumback1.wmf to rumback6.wmf.  You don't need to have all six, Gin Rummy will retrieve as many as it finds when displaying choices in the Card Design selection window.

See Also:

Card Design


True Corners

When selected, Gin Rummy will display cards with rounded corners, removing the small gray corner flash.

When unselected, the default, Gin Rummy will display card images as rectangles which include the corner flash.  This method displays the cards much faster on slower systems.

While often not noticeable, the corner flash is more visible with dark custom card back designs and certain choices of background color.

Note:

When this option is selected, Gin Rummy uses more complex card display methods which will slow down the display of cards on slower systems, or those with slower graphics adaptors.

With faster systems and graphics adaptors, the difference in display speed is not noticeable and provides a much more realistic card image.


Colors

The colors option allows you to change the colors used by Gin Rummy as
follows.  Click on "Color Control" for instructions on using the color control window.

•	Main - The outer part of the display.  Default is blue-green.

•	Table - The center table area.  Default is ochre.

•	Scoresheet  - The text color (default is black) and background color (default is gray) of the scoresheet

•	Error Message Text - The text color (default is black) and background color (default is red) of error messages displayed in the status bar.

•	Double Flash - The background color of the knock level indicator when Oklahoma Gin rules are in effect and points will be doubled (default is blue).

•	Knock Flash - The background color of the deadwood counter (when displayed) if the player is able to knock (default is green).

•	Scoreboard Wins and Losses  - the scoreboard text color of games won (default is blue) and games lost (default is red).

•	Dialog Background - The background color of text displays in the status bar, dialog box messages, and information windows.  Default is light gray.

See also:

Color Control


Color Control

The color control window is used to provide on-screen adjustment of the colors displayed by Gin Rummy.

First, in the upper part of the window, select the target area for which you want to change the color.  The current color is displayed below the "Target" selection frame.  If the target allows you to change both the text and the background colors, select the one desired from the "Attribute" selection frame.

Second, click on the "New Color" button to select the color to which you require to change the target.  The standard Windows color selection window will be displayed.  You will return to the color control window after you have made your new selection.

If you wish to preview the effect of the change, click the "Preview" button.  The revised color scheme will be dynamically displayed "on-screen" in the main Gin Rummy window.  Note that the scoreboard win and loss colors are not shown on-screen.

The effect of the other buttons are:

•	Help - Shows this help section.

•	Cancel - Cancels all changes and terminates the color control window.

•	Done - Terminates the color control window having made and saved (if automatic configuration saving is enabled) all changes.

Additionally the "Reset" selection frame allows you to select the following:

•	Start Over - Resets all colors to how they were when you invoked the color control.

•	Factory  - Resets all colors to the Gin Rummy default values encoded into the program.

•	Local  - Resets all colors to the values saved for the "Default" player

Note:

If you define custom colors in the color selection window, these will be stored in the GINRUMMY.INI file so that you can use the same colors within Gin Rummy at any time in the future.


Sound Effects

Select this menu option to invoke the sound options window.

Gin Rummy permits the optional association of a wav file with each of the following six events:

•	Start Up

•	Shuffling

•	Placing a card or cards

•	Knocking

•	Winning a round

•	Losing a round

•	Winning a game

•	Losing a game

•	Exit

Gin Rummy does not check that you have a sound board or the speak.exe driver installed.  The speak.exe driver is a freely available Microsoft product which uses your PC speaker to play (low quality) sound.  If you do not have either of these sound capabilities installed, no error message will appear but any sounds you specify won't be heard.

Note that some systems are unable to play music and other sounds simultaneously.  In this case either do not enable the music feature, or do not enable sound-effects and Speak-To-Me features.

The sound options window is configured as follows::

Sound File Selection

Select one of the nine buttons corresponding to the events which can have a sound associated.  The name of the currently assigned file name will be displayed.  (If there is no associated sound file, [none] will be displayed.)  To test the sound, press "Test".  To break the association between the file and the event, press "Clear".

To assign a sound file, or a new sound file, with an event, press "Change..." and select the required sound file via the File Selector.


Speak To Me
Speak-To-Me

When enabled, Gin Rummy will speak to you.  The spoken phrases will include prompts, error messages, confirmations, and score summaries.  The facility will work with your PC's internal speaker (provided you have Microsoft's speak.exe driver installed), but the quality is better with a sound card.

MeggieSoft Games has licensed the WinSpeech technology from PC Wholeware for use with Gin Rummy.

Define

The WinSpeech technology uses a phonetic dictionary file and a voice font file.

The dictionary file contains pronunciation rules for non-standard words.  The default dictionary file is distributed with Gin Rummy.  If you wish to edit it you will need to use PC WholeWare's dictionary editor (see notes, below).

The voice font file defines the voice to be used.  The default (WinSpeech 3.0) voice font is distributed with Gin Rummy.  At the time of writing this help file, an alternative voice file (from WinSpeech 2.0) was available for download at PC WholeWare's web site (see notes, below, for access information).  If you have more than one font file, you may select between them.

Via the define window, you may set the pitch, tempo, and volume of the voice to your liking.  Note that the "Test" Button is only operative when the Speak-ToMe feature is enabled.

Enable

When checked, the opponent and assistant will speak to you using synthesized speech.

Notes:

If you wish to change the pronunciation of a word (for example, if Gin Rummy does not pronounce your name correctly), you may do this via the dictionary editor distributed with the registered diskette version of Gin Rummy.  If you are evaluating Gin Rummy as shareware, or if you registered for the registration code only, and you want the dictionary editor, you may obtain it as part of the freeware version of the WinSpeech program available from PC Wholeware.  There is a link to the PC WholeWare web site from the MeggieSoft Games web site at http://members.aol.com/meggiesoft.

Some systems are unable to play music and other sounds simultaneously.  In this case either do not enable the music feature, or do not enable sound-effects and Speak-To-Me features.


Music

Select this menu option to enable/disable the playing of MIDI music files and to invoke the music selection window.

Gin Rummy does not check that you have a sound card installed.   If you do not have MIDI sound capabilities installed, no error message will appear but any music you specify won't be heard.

Note that some systems are unable to play music and other sounds simultaneously.  In this case either do not enable the music feature, or do not enable sound-effects and Speak-To-Me features.

When music is playing, you may also select the "Now Playing" option to display the name of the file being played and (if more than one MIDI file exists in the selection directory) to skip to another piece.  The next piece is selected on the basis of the "Cycle" or"Random" play method setting described below.  If the "Single" or "Repeat" play setting is in effect, the cycle method will be used for skipping

When the music option is enabled (and saved), music will start playing whenever you start Gin Rummy for the currently selected player, or when you switch players to the current player.  Note that each player's selection is saved separately.  Thus each of  two or more players may have their own preferred selection.

The music selection window is configured as follows:

Select Different File

Press "Change..."  to change your music selection.  Use the File Selector to select the required filename.  Then, if you wish, press the "Test" button to play the music file selected.  The button label will then change to "Stop"; press it again to stop playing the selection.

Play Method

Select one of the following:

•	Single - the selected music file will be played once.

•	Repeat - the selected music file will be played repeatedly

•	Cycle - the selected music file will be played first.  When it finishes the next file in the directory will be played, and so on.   At the end of the list, the selection will move to the first.

•	Random - the music files of the current selection's directory will be played in random order, irrespective of which file is selected as the current selection.  However, one of the files from the required directory must be selected.  Note that "random" is precisely that -- the only guarantee is that the same selection will not be played twice in succession.


Display Error Box

When selected, error messages displayed by Gin Rummy will be shown as dialog boxes (with an "OK" button) instead of in the status bar.  This facilitates reading on monitors where the status bar error message might be hard to read.

When unselected, the default, all error messages displayed by Gin Rummy appear in the status bar.


No Bell

When selected, the bell/beep sound associated with errors and spurious mouse clicks is suppressed.  It is recommended that the "Display Error Box" option be selected in this situation so that error messages don't go unnoticed.

When unselected, the default, the bell will sound when an error is displayed, or when a spurious mouse click is detected.


No 3D Effects

When unchecked, the 3-Dimensional look to the user interface is disabled.

When unchecked, 3D effects are enabled.  In this state all menus, pop-up windows and forms, dialog messages, etc., are displayed using gray backgrounds and three-dimensional highlighting.  This is the default.


No Start Reminders

When selected, the reminders of who starts next (player or opponent) are suppressed.

When unselected, the default, a reminder of who starts next is displayed at the start of each round.


New Game Deal Cut

When selected, the players will cut for deal at the start of each new game, and non-dealer will lead the first round.

When unselected, the default, the cards are cut only at the start of the first game.  For subsequent games the deal and lead are determined by the winner of the previous game.

The deal cut window permits you to cut any card between the first and fifty-first in the deck.  Move the scroll bar to select the cut.  The opponent will cut the remaining cards in half.


Quick Deal

When checked, Gin Rummy will deal cards such that  the player's and opponent's complete hands are not displayed until they have been completely dealt.

When not checked, the default, cards will be dealt singly with a 100 millisecond pause between cards.  This is cosmetically more realistic, but may be frustrating on slower systems.


Save Configuration

Note: This option is not displayed if "AutoSave All Options" under the "Configuration" menu is selected.

This action copies a permanent record of the current settings under the Configuration menu to the computer's hard disk.

Each time that Gin Rummy is started, or players are changed, the configuration settings for the incoming player are restored automatically.  If the player has not previously saved their personal configuration, the default configuration will be used.

To change the default configuration, establish yourself as the player named "Default", make the required changes, and "Save Configuration".

See Also:

Save Opponent Options

Save Player Options

Save Rules

AutoSave All Options


Save Opponent Options

Note: This option is not displayed if "AutoSave All Options" under the "Configuration" menu is selected.

This action copies a permanent record of the current settings under the Opponent menu to the computer's hard disk.

Each time that Gin Rummy is started, or players are changed, the opponent settings for the incoming player are restored automatically.  If the player has not previously saved their personal options, the default options will be used.

To change the default opponent settings, establish yourself as the player named "Default", make the required changes, and "Save Opponent".

See Also:

Save Configuration

Save Player Options

Save Rules

AutoSave All Options


Save Player Options

Note: This option is not displayed if "AutoSave All Options" under the "Configuration" menu is selected.

This action copies a permanent record of the current settings under the Player menu to the computer's hard disk.

Each time that Gin Rummy is started, or players are changed, the player settings for the incoming player are restored automatically.  If the player has not previously saved their personal options, the default options will be used.

To change the default player settings, establish yourself as the player named "Default", make the required changes, and "Save Player".

See Also:

Save Configuration

Save Opponent Options

Save Rules

AutoSave All Options


Save Rules

Note: This option is not displayed if "AutoSave All Options" under the "Configuration" menu is selected.

This action copies a permanent record of the current settings under the Rules menu to the computer's hard disk.

Each time that Gin Rummy is started, or players are changed, the rules settings for the incoming player are restored automatically.  If the player has not previously saved their personal options, the default options will be used.

The exception to this is that if the player previously saved an unfinished scoresheet under Hollywood or Series Scoring rules and the rules settings for that player do not specify Hollywood or Series Scoring, then Gin Rummy will ask if you wish to continue the game under Hollywood or Series Scoring.

To change the default rules, establish yourself as the player named "Default", make the required changes, and "Save Rules".

See Also:

Save Configuration

Save Opponent Options

Save Player Options

AutoSave All Options


Player Menu

The following selections are available under the Player Menu:

Change Players

AutoMouse - Cards

AutoMouse - Dialogs

Undo

Double-Click Discard

Check Meldable Discard

Check Missed Layoff

Display Deadwood

No Sorting

Sort By Suit

Stagger Hand

Save Player Options


Change Players

Select this menu option to switch to another player, to add a new player, or to remove a player.

Switch

Select the incoming player name, and press the "Switch" button.  You may select any named player except yourself (the current player).

When switching players, you will first be asked if the scoreboard for the outgoing player is to be saved, if it has changed since it was last saved.   Then the incoming player's saved options and scoreboard status will be restored.  If the incoming player does not have personal options saved, the stored defaults will be used.

Remove

Select the player name to be removed, and press the "Remove" button.  You may select any named player except yourself (the current player).    You will be asked to confirm that the player is to be removed, after which the scoreboard file and the saved options for the player will be permanently deleted from your system.

Note that if you remove the player named "Default", only the scoreboard is removed.  This is because the corresponding saved options are used as the defaults for players who do not have personal options saved.

Add

When you first use Gin Rummy, the only player is "Default".  Use the "Add" button to add more players.

When you select the "Add" button, a sub-window will appear, into which you will enter the name for the new player.  Press "OK" to create a scoreboard for the new player.  You may have up to 12 named players at any time

Enter players' names as 1-8 letters and numbers.  Spaces, punctuation marks, and special characters are not permitted.  Valid examples are: Jane, Charles, Dave2.  Irrespective of how you specify upper and lower case, Gin Rummy will always display the player names in lower case with the first letter capitalized.

Note:

You can also invoke the "Change Players" window by clicking on the current player name on the left scoremast.


AutoMouse Cards
AutoMouse - Cards

When checked, the mouse pointer automatically moves: (i) to your hand when you take a new card from the stock or you take the last card from the discard pile, and (ii) back to the stock when you discard.  It also moves to the stock after each new deal.

This facility reduces mouse movement and potential carpal tunnel strain for avid players of Gin Rummy.


AutoMouse Dialogs
AutoMouse - Dialogs

When checked, the mouse pointer automatically moves to any message or information windows which are displayed and, if "AutoMouse - Cards" is also selected, back to the player's hand or the stock (depending where it was previously) after the window is dismissed.

This facility is intended to be used as an addition to "Automouse - Cards" to further reduce mouse movement and potential carpal tunnel strain for avid players of Gin Rummy.

Note:

Some mouse drivers and add-in utilities also perform this function on some user's systems, which is why this is a separately selectable option within Gin Rummy.


Undo

Select this option to undo your current turn and start it again.

This option is only enabled during your turn.   You cannot undo the opponent's turn, nor your previous turns.  You cannot return a seen card to the stock.  Once you have discarded, you cannot turn back.  Thus, the undo feature only permits what a reasonable human opponent would permit.

If you started your turn by taking a new card from the stock, that card will not be returned to the stock (because you have already seen it).  In this case, undo is only available if you are knocking and wish to undo the melds you have played to the table. You will restart your turn from immediately after you took the card.

If you started your turn by taking from the discard pile, that card, or those cards, will be returned to the discard pile and you will restart your turn by taking a new card from the stock, or selecting from the discard pile.

If you have highlighted cards in your hand, the undo option will deselect them - even if there is nothing else to undo.

A shortcut alternative to selecting this option is to click on the Undo symbol in the status bar.


Double Click Discard
Double-Click Discard

When selected, the discard action requires a double-click on the right mouse button rather than a single click.

This option acts as a safety device against unintentional discarding.  When selected, a single click (of the right mouse button) has no effect, and two subsequent single clicks will display a reminder that a double-click is required.

When this option is not selected, discarding is achieved by a single click on the right mouse button.  This is the default.


Check Meldable Discard

When this option is selected, the player's discarding actions will be monitored and confirmation will be requested if the player is about to discard a card which could be melded - either with an existing meld, or with other cards in the player's hand.

When this option is not selected, discarding is final.

This option provides the equivalent of an "Are you really sure you want to do that?" comment which might be made by a human opponent during an informal game.


Check Missed Layoff

When this option is selected, the player's lay down and layoff actions will be monitored after the opponent has knocked.  Confirmation will be requested if the player is about to end the round while holding a card which could be melded - either with an existing meld, or with other cards in the player's hand - or if a better combination could be laid down.

When this option is not selected, clicking on the table to end the round is final.


Display Deadwood

When selected, displays a count of the current deadwood points value in the player's hand - net of the highest possible discard, if appropriate.  The counter is displayed in the status bar.

When the player's current deadwood point count is less than or equal to the level required to knock, a colored background flash highlights the deadwood counter.

When unselected, the display is not shown.  This is the default.


No Sorting

When selected, the player's hand is not automatically sorted as cards are added to it.  This permits the player to manage all arrangement of the cards in hand to their own preference.

When unselected, the default, the sortation of the player's cards is automatically maintained in the desired order (sorted by rank by default, by suit if selected under the "Player" menu)
.
A shortcut to this option is to click with the right mouse button on the "Sort Order" speed button in the status bar.  When this shortcut method is used, the change is not saved when "AutoSave All Options" is in effect.

See Also:

Arranging your Cards


Sort By Suit

When checked, the sort criterion is set such that cards will be sorted by rank within suit.  For example, all hearts will be grouped together.

When unchecked, cards are sorted by suit within rank.  For example, all kings are grouped together.

All sorting is performed in the order: Clubs, Diamonds, Spades, Hearts.  This improves differentiation of the suits by color.

A shortcut to this action is to click the sort symbol (suits or numbers) in the status bar.  When this shortcut method is used, the change is not saved when "AutoSave All Options" is in effect.


Stagger Hand

When selected, the cards in the player's hand will be displayed such that the suits are vertically offset from each other.  This makes it easier for some players to scan their hand for runs of cards in the same suit.

When unselected, the player's cards are displayed in alignment.

A shortcut to this action is to click on the alignment symbol in the status bar.  When this shortcut method is used, the change is not saved when "AutoSave All Options" is in effect.

Note that display update operations (such as highlighting and removing cards) for a staggered hand may be noticeably slower than for the aligned method on some systems.


Opponent Menu

The following selections are available under the Opponent Menu:

Show Cards

Show Final Discard

Skill Level

No Discard Highlighting

No Stock Highlighting

Quick Display

Save Opponent Options


Show Cards

When checked, shows the opponent's cards face up.  This facility was required when Gin Rummy was being developed and tested.  It remains part of the finished application so that you can determine for yourself whether there is any truth in the assertion that most people will occasionally cheat when nobody is watching them.

If you just want to see the final opponent discard at the end of each round, use the "Show Final Discard" option.


Show Final Discard

When checked, the card discarded by the opponent when knocking will be turned face up.

When not checked, the card discarded by the opponent when knocking will be turned face down.  This is the default.


Skill Level

The following skill levels are available, in ascending order of difficulty:

Carefree

Novice

Standard

Expert

Champion

Master

Note that there is a large degree of chance in Gin Rummy based upon what cards are dealt to each player.  Therefore you will frequently win rounds (and often games) against a more skilled opponent.  The real challenge is to win the majority of game over an extended series.  Tens of thousands of games have been played between the various skill levels to assure ascending degrees of difficulty.

Scoreboard Records

When rounds and games are recorded on the scoreboard, the skill level of the opponent is also saved.  If the opponent skill level is changed during a round or game, then the skill level recorded is the highest that was used during the round or game.  The skill level is noted when the player makes the first discard of a round, irrespective of who started the round, and is updated (if necessary) when subsequent discards are made.  Therefore, be sure to change the desired skill level for a game before your first discard.

Relative Performances

The average scores from a number of 100 game test series for each combination of skill levels are shown below.  These results should be taken as an approximate guide only.

•	Standard vs. Novice:    68 - 32   (Standard scored 67% more points)

•	Expert vs. Standard:     60 - 40   (Expert scored 33% more points)

•	Champion vs. Expert:   58 - 42   (Champion scored 14% more points)

•	Master vs. Champion: 55 - 45   (Master scored 18% more points)

Carefree never wins because it never melds.  It is therefore not included in the above.


Carefree Skill Level

The opponent always picks up a new card from the stock, and immediately discards at random.  The opponent never knocks, and never wins a game.  This setting is useful when you are learning the game and wish to play out your own hand completely.


Novice Skill Level

The opponent will sometimes consider whether to pick up the last discard, but will usually take a new card from the stock.  The opponent will knock when it is able, and discards based on an analysis of the most recent three cards of the discard pile.


Standard Skill Level

The opponent will consider whether to take the last discard or take a new card from the stock.

The opponent will play melds, and discards intelligently based on an analysis of the cards in hand and the most recent 6 cards discarded, or the most recent 40% of the discard pile, whichever is higher.


Expert Skill Level

The opponent plays similarly to the "Standard" opponent, except that the last 65% of the cards in the discard pile (or 9 cards, if higher) will be considered in the discard decision.

When in "Expert" mode, the opponent will make two passes of its meld analysis of its cards - the first considering runs before same-kind melds, and the second vice-versa, to determine the better potential.

The "Expert" mode also performs a more rigorous analysis of what is the best card to discard.


Champion Skill Level

Champion mode is an extension to Expert mode, and includes features which are intended to make the opponent just a little more clever.

The last 85% of the cards in the discard pile (or 12 cards, if higher) will be considered in the discard decision.  Champion modealso makes a more intensive analysis of what to discard, and will hold off from knocking if it calculates that the odds are in its favor for a gin or undercut..

Also, the opponent will start to unload paired, but yet unmeldable, high cards from its hand as a round progresses.

Note: You might find Champion mode easier to beat than Expert mode, depending upon your particular style of play.


Master Skill Level

Master skill level is the hardest to win against.  It is similar to the Champion skill level, but with enhanced discard selection and knock holdback algorithms.

All cards in the discard pile are considered, together with an estimate of what cards the other player is most likely have in their hand later in a round.

Note: You might find Master mode easier to beat than Champion mode, depending upon your particular style of play.


No Discard Highlighting

When checked, suppresses the highlighting of a card taken from the discard pile during the opponent's turn.

When unchecked, the opponent will highlight the card on the discard pile when it elects to take it instead of a new card from the stock.  This is the default


No Stock Highlighting

When checked, suppresses the highlighting of the stock when the opponent takes a new card at the start of its turn.

When unchecked, the opponent will highlight the stock when it takes a new card.


Quick Display

When checked, Gin Rummy does not pause when the opponent is playing.

When not checked, the default, there will be a 400 millisecond pause after the opponent has taken a card or has melded cards to the table.  This is to allow you to more clearly see the opponent's actions, particularly on faster processors.


Assistant Menu

The following selections are available under the Assistant Menu:

AutoPlayer

Explain

Suggest

Recall

Show Distribution

Swap Cards


AutoPlayer

The AutoPlayer is a capability used during the development and enhancement of the Gin Rummy skill levels.  AutoPlayer puts Gin Rummy into a fully automatic mode whereby both the opponent's and the player's hands are played alternately by the computer.

AutoPlayer has now been included as an option into Gin Rummy because it is a valuable learning facility for new users who wish to watch the game being played before playing it themselves.

When the AutoPlayer option is selected, you may be asked if the updated scoreboard for the current player is to be saved.  Respond "yes" if you wish to recover to the current state after AutoPlayer has finished, otherwise recovery will be to the point that the scoreboard for the current player was last saved.

You will be asked to define which of the six skill levels is to be used by the player.  You may cancel at this point by pressing "Cancel".  Note that the opponent will play at the skill level in operation when AutoPlayer is selected.  Therefore you should change this before selecting AutoPlayer if and as necessary.

Once the player skill level has been selected and you have selected "OK", just sit back and enjoy the view.  When you have seen enough, press the "Stop AutoPlay" button in the middle of the status bar.

When it is stopped, AutoPlayer will permit you to display the game scoreboard for the AutoPlay session, if at least one game was completed.

After the AutoPlayer is dismissed, Gin Rummy returns to the previous player's game.


Explain

When this menu entry is selected, the "Assist!" window will appear.

The Assist! window is context sensitive and will describe your alternatives at the current state of play.

You may move the Assist! window by dragging its title bar.

You may click on the Assist! icon in the statrus bar as a shortcut to displaying the Assist! window.


Suggest

When this menu entry is selected, Gin Rummy will examine your hand and display a reasonable series of actions for you to take.  (Gin Rummy does not compromise its integrity by taking advantage of this knowledge when determining subsequent turns for the opponent.)

When it is your turn to take a card, the display will start with a suggestion as to whether you should take a card from the stock or from the discard pile.

If you can knock, instructions to this effect will be displayed.

Finally, if there would be a card or cards remaining in your hand, the display will suggest which card to discard.

You may select the "Do It" button when the suggestion box is displayed, and Gin Rummy will play the suggestion(s) for you.  If you select "Do It" and the first suggestion is to take a new card from the stock, then another suggestion box will after the new has been added to your hand (in case the addition of this previously unknown card has created knocking opportunities).

Gin Rummy employs the same logic for providing the suggestion as it does for playing the opponent's hand.  The skill level employed is approximately equivalent "Expert".

A shortcut to this action is to click on the Light Bulb symbol in the status bar.


Recall

The Recall facility is a powerful aid to those who cannot remember which cards have been seen during play.  It is not intended to be used frequently as an alternative to concentration, but may help you develop improved powers of recall.

When this menu entry is selected, you will be asked if you wish to recall "Seen", "Unseen", or "Both".

"Seen" cards are listed in two parts: those in your hand that the opponent has seen you take from the discard pile, and those that you have seen the opponent take.

"Unseen" cards are all those cards which are: not in your hand, not in the discard pile, not melded (if the opponent has knocked), and not among those of the oppnent's cards that you have seen.  They are therefore the content of the stock and the unseen portion of the opponent's hand - but who knows which is where?


Show Distribution

Select this option to see a map of all the cards and their current locations (discard pile, melded, seen taken to opponent hand, etc.)  The display does not identify the location of cards that the player has not seen which are in the stock or in the opponent's hand.


Swap Cards

Select this option if you wish to swap cards with the Opponent.  Gin Rummy will then swap the cards currently in the player's hand with those in the opponent's hand.

The purpose of the option is as a learning tool.  It is not intended to be used to distort your true scoring ability relative to your peers, as might be reported by the League Table and the Hall Of Fame.


Rules Menu

The default rules of Gin are those documented for the standard game in "Hoyle's Rules Of Games", and elsewhere.  Commonly documented variations to these rules, as listed below, may be selected as you wish.

No Start Choice

11 Card Gins

Layoff On Gin

Ellwood Gin

Oklahoma Gin

Must Gin

Hollywood Scoring

Series Scoring

Run Melds Only

Rank Melds Only

Ace Can Meld High

Points Values

Save Rules


No Start Choice

When selected, the offer of the top discard is not made when starting a round.  That is, the player starting the round has free choice of taking the discard or taking a new card from the stock.

When not selected, each round starts with the other player being offered the discard, and the first turn, if the starting player decides not to take it for themself.  If the other player declines the offer, the starting player then starts by taking a new card from the stock.  This is the default.


11 Card Gins

When selected either player may lay down eleven cards for a Gin and score double the normal Gin bonus.  In this case there is no discard.

When not selected only ten cards may be played as a Gin, and the remaining card must be discarded.  This is the default.


Layoff On Gin

When selected, a player may add cards to the Knocker's melds when laying off deadwood to a gin.

When unselected, the default, a player may not add cards to the Knocker's melds in order to reduce their deadwood.   The only cards that may be laid off are those that form melds within themselves.


Ellwood Gin

Although this scoring variation is not documented in any of the recognized sources, it has been reported that several people in Western Pennsylvania (particularly in Ellwood City) play "70 Gin".  We have chosen to name this variation "Ellwood Gin" in tribute to the source.

When this option is selected, a gin which is comprised completely of cards from one suit scores 70 points.  This is scored as an additional "Single Suit" bonus equal to the difference between the regular gin bonus (default 25) and 70 points.  Thus the default for the additional "Single Suit" bonus is 45 points.  If you adjust the Gin Bonus under the "Points Values" menu option, the "Single Suit" bonus will automatically compensate to make a total of 70 points when such a gin is scored.

When this option is unselected, the normal gin bonus applies irrespective of whether the gin is comprised of cards of a single suit.


Oklahoma Gin

When selected, the rules of Oklahoma Gin apply.  When not selected, the default rules apply.  This option is automatically deselected when the "Must Gin" rule option is selected.

Oklahoma Gin is a common variation of Gin Rummy, the differences from the default game being that the minimum points required to knock are defined by the card dealt to the discard pile at the beginning of the round.  Therefore if, say, the first discard is the Five of Diamonds, then no more than five points may remain in your hand as deadwood in order for you to successfully knock.  By normal convention, if an Ace is the card dealt to the discard pile, then a Gin is required (rather than a minimum of one deadwood point).

Additionally, if the first card dealt to the discard pile is a Spade, then the points won at the end of the round will be doubled.

Two variations to the rules of Oklahoma Gin are selectable from the "Points Values" menu option:

•	The minimum knock requirement for an Ace is one point, instead of a Gin.

•	There is no points doubling for a Spade.

See also:

Must Gin


Must Gin

When selected, the knock level is always zero.  In other words one must have a gin hand (no deadwood) in order to knock.  If active, the "Oklahoma Gin" option is automatically deselected when this option is selected, and vice versa.

When unselected, the knock level is ten points or less (the default), unless the "Oklahoma Gin" option is selected.

See also:

Oklahoma Gin


Hollywood Scoring

When selected, Hollywood Gin scoring is enabled, the fact is noted in the rules display under the stock, and the scoresheet is widened to accomodate three scoring columns

When unselected, the default, normal scoring is enabled.

Under Hollywood scoring, three games (or sub-games) are played simultaneously and three corresponding columns of scores are maintained .  The first score for a player in sub-game 1 is entered in the first column, their second score is entered in columns one and two, and their third and subsequent scores in the first sub-game are recorded in all three columns.

When the first sub-game ends (when one of the players has reached 100 points), its column is tallied and play continues in the second sub-game.

During the second sub-game, each player's scores will  be recorded in both the second and third columns.  However, if a player didn't score anything in column one, their first score in column two is not repeated in column three.

At the end of the series of three sub-games, the columns for each player are totaled and the player with the higher total scores the difference in totals as the score for that game.

If you start Gin Rummy and it finds that your current scoreboard was previously saved partway through a Hollywood scoring game, but your rule option setting is not set for Hollywood Scoring, Gin Rummy will ask if you want to override the rule option setting and continue the saved game.

You can switch between Hollywood scoring and Series scoring at will.  However, you cannot deselect Hollywood scoring (to return to normal scoring) if the scores exceed the limit of a standard game.


Series Scoring

When selected, Series scoring is enabled, the fact is noted in the rules display under the stock, and the scoresheet is widened to accomodate three scoring columns

When unselected, the default, normal scoring is enabled.

This option is provided for players who find that single games are too short, or too subject to chance, and prefer to play and record the result of a series of games as a single game.  It is similar to Hollywood scoring, except that the sub-games are completely separate.

Under series scoring, a series of three games (or sub-games) are played and three corresponding columns of scores are maintained .

When the first sub-game ends (when one of the players has reached 100 points), its column is tallied and play continues in the second sub-game.

At the end of the series of three sub-games, the columns for each player are totaled and each player scores their three-game total as the score for that game.

If you start Gin Rummy and it finds that your current scoreboard was previously saved partway through a series scoring game, but your rule option setting is not set for Series Scoring, Gin Rummy will ask if you want to override the rule option setting and continue the saved game.

You can switch between Series scoring and Hollywood scoring at will.  However, you cannot deselect Series scoring (to return to normal scoring) if the scores exceed the limit of a standard game.


Run Melds Only

When selected, the only melds that may be laid down by each player are runs, i.e., consecutive cards of the same suit.

When not selected, all melds may be laid down (unless the "Rank Melds Only" is selected).

Selecting this option automatically deselects the "Rank Melds Only" option, if currently selected.


Rank Melds Only

When selected, the only melds that may be laid down by each player are those of the same rank, e.g., three kings.

When not selected, all melds may be laid down (unless the "Run Melds Only" is selected).

Selecting this option automatically deselects the "Run Melds Only" option, if currently selected.


Ace Can Meld High

When selected, an ace can be melded either as part of a Queen-King-Ace run or as part of an Ace-Two-Three run.

When unselected, the default, an ace can only be melded as part of an Ace-Two-Three run.


Points Values

When this menu option is selected, a window is displayed which shows the points value required to complete a game and the bonus values of the various scoring methods.  Each of these may be changed to create your own custom scoring method.

From this window, you can also customize Oklahoma Gin in two ways.  First, by defining whether an Ace as the first discard is to be interpreted as meaning that a Gin is required to knock, or whether a maximum of one point of deadwood is required to knock.  Second by defining whether a spade as the first discard is to double the round's points.

The window also allows you to define whether the box bonuses for a game are to be included in calculating the shutout bonus for a player who won every round of a game.

The "Reset" button will reset all values to their default values.  These values comply with the most commonly documented scoring method.

If you have made changes, but wish to abandon them, press the "Cancel" button.  Otherwise, press "OK" to continue playing with the changes you have made.  Note that you must use the "Save Rules" option under the "Rules" menu to record your changes so that they will be effective for your future sessions of Gin Rummy.

The "Points Values" menu option is enabled only during the first round of a game.  It is disabled once the recording of scores for a game has started.

See also:

Scoring


Scoreboards Menu

The following selections are available under the Scoreboard Menu:

This Game

Game History

League Table

Hall Of Fame

Reset Scoreboard

Save Scoreboard


This Game

Displays the winner, and the scores of the player and the opponent, for each of the previous rounds of the current game.

The display includes the date and opponent skill level for each round.  If the player's scoreboard was started with an earlier version of Gin Rummy which did not record dates and skill levels, the scoreboard will be automatically converted to the new format.  For these records, the opponent will be displayed as "Unknown" and the date will be displayed as "1/1/94".

The text colors (blue for wins, red for losses) may be changed via the Configuration menu.

If Hollywood or Series scoring is in effect, the display shows all round scores for the current game, in the order played, irrespective the columns in which they appear on the scoresheet.

See also:

Skill Level


Game History

Displays the winner, and the scores of the player and the opponent, for all previous games played by the currently active player.

If Hollywood Scoring or Series Scoring is in effect, the three sub-games are not recorded in the game history - but when completed the result of the series is scored as a single game.  (Consult the Hollywood or Series Scoresheet to see the results of previous sub-games of the current series.)

The display includes the date and opponent skill level for each game.  If the player's scoreboard was started with an earlier version of Gin Rummy which did not record dates and skill levels, the scoreboard will be automatically converted to the new format.  For these records, the opponent will be displayed as "Unknown" and the date will be displayed as "1/1/94".

A selection pad permits the display of the game history against the opponent at a particular skill level.  Another selection pad permits the display of the game history for Hollywood, Series, or Standard score games only.

The text colors (blue for wins, red for losses) may be changed via the Configuration menu.

See also:

Skill Level


League Table

Displays the following information for all players for whom a saved scoreboard file exists: Games Won, Games Lost, Points For, Points Against, Average (points for divided by games played)


Hall Of Fame

From examination of all saved scoreboards, displays statistics such as highest and lowest scores for and against, narrowest and widest winning margins, etc.


Reset Scoreboard

Select this option to reset your game scoreboard to zero.  The game counter will return to game number 1.

If you are partway through a game, the scores of the previous rounds of the game are not cleared.  Thus you can make the current game the first of your new scoreboard.

The previously saved copy of your scoreboard is not erased by this action.  You must use the "Save Scoreboard" option to replace the previous scoreboard with the new one.

If you clear the scoreboard and decide you would have preferred not to have done so, exit Gin Rummy (or change players) and respond "No" when asked if the updated scoreboard is to be saved.


Save Scoreboard

Select this option to perform an immediate save of the current scoreboard status (games and rounds) for the current player.

This option is useful if you are enjoying an extended session of Gin Rummy and don't want to wait until you exit Gin Rummy, or change players, before your updated scoreboard status is safely saved to disk.


Help Menu

Using This Menu

Displays this help window.

Main Contents

Displays the main Gin Rummy help window.

Screen Layout

Explains the screen layout of Gin Rummy.

Index

Displays the index to Gin Rummy help.

Glossary

Displays the glossary of Gin Rummy terms.

Search...

Displays the topic search window.

Order Form

Displays a form for you to enter your name and address and print the order form to register Gin Rummy

Enter Registration

Permits you to enter or re-enter your registration number.

While Gin Rummy is unregistered, the five-second shareware notice will appear before each game.  Registering Gin Rummy both makes your copy legal and removes this notice.

Should the Gin Rummy options data on your hard disk ever become corrupted or is missing, Gin Rummy will return to the unregistered status.  In this case, you will need to re-enter your registration details.

About

Displays information about the version number and author, and the registration confirmation.

Note:

Like many other Windows programs, Gin Rummy supports the "F1" function key to provide context sensitive help.  You may press "F1" at any time to get help about the specific facility you are using.  For example, pressing "F1" when in the sound options window will display the help information for setting the sound options.


Shortcuts

You may click on the following parts of the status bar in order to achieve the associated actions.  You may also click on either of the scoremasts (where the Logo is displayed before one of the players wins the first game) to invoke the "Game History" scoreboard.

Status Message

Click on the status message to display the "Assist!" window with more detail about the current alternatives.

Error Message

Click on an error message to clear it and see the underlying status message.

Light Bulb

Click on the light bulb to get a hint.  (Equivalent to "Suggest" under the "Assistant" menu, except that the change is not automatically recorded when "AutoSave All Options" is in effect.)

Undo

Click on the undo symbol to undo your current turn and start over.  Note that you cannot undo taking a new card from the stock.  (Equivalent to "Undo" under the "Player" menu.)

Card Alignment

Click on the card alignment symbol to switch between normal and staggered display of the player's hand.  (Equivalent to the "Stagger Player Hand" option under the "Configuration" menu, except that the change is not automatically recorded when "AutoSave All Options" is in effect.)

Card Sort Order

Left-click on the sort order symbol to switch between rank sortation and suit sortation of the cards in the player's and opponent's hands.  (Equivalent to the "Sort By Suit" option under the "Player" menu, except that the change is not automatically recorded when "AutoSave All Options" is in effect.)

Right-click on the sort symbol to inhibit automatic sorting of the player's cards.  The
symbol will then be dimmed with an "X" over it.  Right-click again to re-enable automatic sorting.   These actions are equivalent to using the "No Sorting" option under the "Player" menu, except that the change is not automatically recorded when "AutoSave All Options" is in effect.

Note that when "No Sorting" is enabled, the ability to switch between rank and suit
sortation is disabled.

Player Name

Click on the player name to invoke the "Change Player" selection window.

Opponent Skill Level

Click on the skill level to invoke the "Opponent Skill" selection window.


Strategies

Taking A Card

As a general rule you should consider taking the card from the discard pile only if it completes a run or a set with two other cards in your hand, or if it would reduce your deadwood points so that you can knock.  Otherwise, except in rare circumstances, it is better to take a fresh card from the stock.

Discarding

Discard the card which is least useful to your hand and to the opponent.  While you can't guarantee what cards are useful to your opponent, tracking what they have previously discarded will give you an indication.

For example, if you have the Nine, Ten and  Jack of Hearts and the opponent has previously discarded a king, there is a likelihood that the King of Hearts has no value to the opponent.  If two kings have previously been discarded, then the King of Hearts would have no value to the opponent and would be a completely safe discard.

As a round progresses, consider discarding your higher points in order to reduce your deadwood liability should the opponent knock first.  At the beginning of a round, you might consider retaining the higher points in the hope that the opponent will start to discard their higher points first.

Knocking

In general, knock as soon as you can.  If you wait, there is an increased probability that the opponent might knock first, or undercut your knock, or be able to lay off more cards at the end of the round.

However, if it is early in the round, and you believe that you are close to a Gin and the opponent isn't, then you might consider waiting.


How To ...

How to change the default settings

1 	If you are not playing as "Player: Default", change to player "Default"

2 	Make the setting changes you require to the menu choices

3 	Select "AutoSave All Options" from the "Configuration" menu.  This will save all option settings under the Configuration, Player, Opponent, and Rules menus.

4 	Unless you wish it to be the default option, deselect "AutoSave All Options" from the "Configuration" menu and then select "Save Configuration".

NOTE: The default settings are used when a player does not have options settings saved under their own player name - for example when a new player is added - or when colors are reset to the local default settings.  Default option settings are not used if a player has their own personal options saved.

How to save personal color and sound choices

All options changed via the "Configuration" menu are saved by the "Save Configuration" option.  Even though the color and sound settings are altered via their own setting forms, they are saved, and only saved, when "Save Configuration" is selected.  However, if "AutoSave All Options" is selected under the "Configuration" menu, the changes to choices are always saved as they are changed.

How to recover a reset scoreboard

Scoreboards are only permanently saved when you select "Save Scoreboard", or when you  respond "Yes" when exiting Gin Rummy or changing players.  If you have reset your scoreboard and would have preferred no to have done so, just exit Gin Rummy and respond "No" to the prompt "Save updated scoreboard...?"  When you restart Gin Rummy your previous scoreboard will be active.

How to speed up the display

The Rummy 500 and Gin Rummy user interface was originally developed for use on Intel 386-based systems.  Considerable effort went into making the display of cards as fast as  possible.  By factory default, Gin Rummy is set to use the configuration settings for these slower systems.

However, more modern systems are much faster and generally include graphics accelerators.  Therefore Rummy 500 and Gin Rummy include some advanced options that are only acceptable to many people when used on a faster system.  If you find Gin Rummy slow to display, check that the "Trim Corners" option is not selected, and don't use the "Stagger Player Hand" option more than you need to.  Both of these features are much more intensive of graphics processing.

Also, consider selecting the "Quick Display" option under the "Opponent" menu if the opponent is too slow for your liking.  This will remove the 0.4 second delay between the opponent's actions.  However, you might then find it too fast!


Technical
For The Technically Curious

Technical Construction

Third Party Components

Windows 95 Considerations

Saved Information


Technical Construction

Gin Rummy is programmed in Microsoft Visual Basic, Version 3.

Gin Rummy works from a bitmap of all the card images and makes extensive use of the Windows API Bitblt function.  Because of this, Gin Rummy is fast, but consumes approximately 2 Megabytes of RAM and 18% of the GDI resource stack.

Alternative methods of managing the user interface proved to be more processor intensive and less conducive to fluid play.  The trade-off was made for performance at the cost of resource consumption.

Gin Rummy was developed and tested on a  Pentium 60 system with 8MB of RAM.  It uses many of the GUI routines developed for Rummy 500, which was originally developed on a 20MHz 386SX system with 5MB of RAM.  Performance and fluidity of play was very satisfactory on this configuration.


Third Party Components

Although Gin Rummy does not use a dll for card drawing (for performance reasons), Stephen Murphy's excellent freeware "qcard.dll" was used to create the bitmaps which Gin Rummy uses.  The card back designs included in qcard.dll were created by Daniel Di Bacco.  Acknowledgments are extended to each of them.

3-D effects are provided using "VBCtl3D" by Bernd Beekes and Jeff Simms.  This utility was selected for Gin Rummy as it provides an extremely full set of 3-D capabilities to Visual Basic programs.

The Gin Rummy help file was created using Firas Bushnaq's powerful "Visual Help".

VBCtl3D and Visual Help are shareware products licensed by the author.

The "Speak-To-Me" feature uses PC WholeWare's WinSpeech technology, which has been licensed by MeggieSoft Games for use with Gin Rummy.


Windows 95 Considerations

Gin Rummy is designed to run under Windows 95 and  Windows 3.1 (including Windows for Workgroups 3.11).

Beginning with version 4.0, the program has been updated to be "Windows 95 Friendly".  This means that the 3-D effects have been upgraded to look good with both Windows 95 and Windows 3.1.

While some speed improvement may be realized from a 32-bit version, most of Gin Rummy's work would not be significantly impacted.  Therefore, in the interests of minimizing our overheads and maintaining a low price for registration, we will continue to maintain a single 16-bit version of the program for the present time.


Saved Information

Information is saved between Gin Rummy sessions as follows:

Registration

If you are a registered user, your name and encoded registration are stored in the [Gin Rummy] section of GINRUMMY.INI (in your windows directory).

AutoResume

When AutoResume is active, the name of the last player is maintained in the [Gin Rummy] section of GINRUMMY.INI.  The status of AutoResume is not saved independently. On start up, AutoResume is deemed to be enabled or disabled depending upon whether the name of the last player was saved.  Thus AutoResume always recovers the state that it was when the previous session exited.

Custom Colors

When custom colors are defined in the color selection window, they are stored in the [Gin Rummy] section of GINRUMMY.INI.

Player Options

The options for each player are saved in a section of GINRUMMY.INI identified as pertaining to the player.  For example, Jane's options will be saved in the section of GINRUMMY.INI named "[Jane]".  If a player has not saved personal options, the defaults stored in GINRUMMY.INI under "[Default]" are used.

Note that there are three groups of options: Configuration, Opponent, and Rules.  These are saved separately by the "Save..." option of the respective menus.

Player Scoreboards

Each player's scoreboard is saved in the Gin Rummy directory as xxxxxx.grs, where xxxxxx is the player's name.  Gin Rummy considers a player to be currently defined by whether a scoreboard file exists for the player, irrespective of whether options are saved for that player in GINRUMMY.INI.  An empty scoreboard file is created for a player when their name is added via the "Add Player" menu option.

If you wish to erase disastrous games from the scoreboard, you may edit your grs file with any text editor, such as Notepad.  Each line of the grs file represents the scores for one game (stored in the order played) until a line that contains "-1, -1,..." or "-2, -2,...".  The rest of the file contains the scores for each round of the currently stored game (if any) and the status of a partially completed Hollywood or Series scoreboard (if in effect).

It is strongly recommended that your do not edit the round scores or Hollywood scores of the grs file.  It is safer to specify "Redeal Game" (under the "Game" menu) when you next play Gin Rummy.

If you wish to erase all games from your scoreboard, use the "Reset Scoreboard" option of the "Scoreboards" menu.  Remember to save the new scoreboard, either immediately or when prompted at the end of your session, unless you want the previous scoreboard to prevail.


Glossary

#

3-dimensional

A

author

AutoMouse

D

deadwood

defaults

discard pile

discarded

discarding

E

error message

G

game

Gin Rummy

H

hand

highlighted

Hollywood

K

knock

knocking

L

lay-off

laying-off

M

meld

meldable

melded

melding

menu option

O

Oklahoma

opponent

options

P

player

R

round

S

scoreboard

Series

shutout

skill level

status bar

stock

T

table

turn

W

wav file


Index

#

11 Card Gins

A

About The Opponent

Ace Can Meld High

Adding To An Existing Meld

Arranging Your Cards

Assistant Menu

AssistIcon

AutoMouse Cards

AutoMouse Dialogs

AutoPlayer

AutoResume

AutoSave All Options

AutoStart

C

Card and Font Size

Card Design

CardSortOrder

CardStagger

Carefree Skill Level

Champion Skill Level

Change Players

Check Meldable Discard

Check Missed Layoff

Color Control

Colors

Configuration Menu

Contents

Context Sensitive Help (F1)

Creating A New Meld

D

Deadwood Counter

Dealing

Default Colors

Designing Custom Card Backs

Discarding From Your Hand

DiscardPile

Display Deadwood

Display Error Box

Double Click Discard

Drag and Drop from the Discard Pile

Drag and Drop from the Players Hand

Drag and Drop from the Stock

Drag and Drop

E

Ellwood Gin

Error Messages

Exit

Expert Skill Level

Explain

F

F1 Function Key (Help)

G

Game History

Game Menu

GameBonuses

GameCounter

GamePointsTotals

Getting Started Instructions

Getting Started

Glossary

H

Hall Of Fame

Help Menu

Hollywood Scoring

How To ...

I

Index

K

KnockDisplay

Knocking

L

Layoff On Gin

Layout

League Table

LightBulb

M

Master Skill Level

Melding Cards To The Table

Melding

Melds

MenuBar

Menus

Mouse

Music

Must Gin

N

New Game Deal Cut

No 3D Effects

No Bell

No Discard Highlighting

No Sorting

No Start Choice

No Start Reminders

No Stock Highlighting

Novice Skill Level

O

Oklahoma Gin

Opponent Menu

Opponent

OpponentArea

OpponentGames

Overview

P

Pinochle

Player Menu

PlayerArea

PlayerGames

PlayerReserve

Playing The Game

Points Values

PointsInHandCounter

PriorRoundScores

Q

Quick Deal

Quick Display

R

Rank Melds Only

Recall

Redeal Game

Reset Scoreboard

Restart Round

RoundCounter

Rules Menu

RulesDisplay

Rummy 500

Run Melds Only

RunningGameTotal

S

Save Configuration

Save Opponent Options

Save Player Options

Save Rules

Save Scoreboard

Saved Information

Scoreboards Menu

Scoresheet

Scoring

Series Scoring

SeriesScoring

Shortcuts

Show Cards

Show Distribution

Show Final Discard

Skill Level

Sort By Suit

Sound Effects

Speak To Me

Stagger Hand

Standard Skill Level

Status Bar (Shortcuts)

StatusDisplay

Stock

StockCounter

Strategies

Suggest

Swap Cards

T

Table

Taking From The Discard Pile

Taking The Top Card Of The Stock

Technical Construction

Technical

The Layout

TheScoresheet

Third Party Components

This Game

Troubleshooting

True Corners

TurnCounter

U

Undo

UndoIcon

Using The Mouse

V

VBCtl3D

W

Watching A Game Being Played

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Windows 95 Considerations


Troubleshooting

Most problems encountered are a result of one of the following:

•	VBCTL3D.VBX version conflict.  Ensure that the version provided is in your windows/system directory and check that this is the only version of VBCTL3D.VBX on your system.

•	Graphics driver conflict, usually manifested by the display of blank white cards.  Check that you have the latest drivers from your graphics card manufacturer.  Otherwise configure your system to use a graphics setting with fewer colors (256 or 16).

•	Corrupt scoreboard file.  Under the "Player" menu, remove the player for whom the problem occurs and re-add.  Alternatively, exit Gin Rummy  and delete the corresponding xxxxxx.grs file from the directory where Gin Rummy resides and then re-add the player in Gin Rummy.

If all else fails, delete the directory where Gin Rummy resides, remove all copies of VBCTL3D.VBX from your system, delete GINRUMMY.INI from your windows directory, and reinstall.


Rummy 500

Rummy 500 was first released by MeggieSoft Games in 1994, and is the stablemate to Gin Rummy and Pinochle.

From the early days of the Rummy family, the derivatives developed along two distinct paths.  One path, which includes Gin Rummy and its variations, emphasizes "going out".  The other path, of which Five Hundred Rum (or Rummy 500) is a well-known example, emphasizes melding.

Therefore, whereas Gin Rummy is oriented towards who knocks first and who has the lesser amount of deadwood, Rummy 500 is oriented towards building the highest possible score from creating melds.

A round of Rummy 500 starts with each player being dealt thirteen cards.  As the round progresses, each player picks up and discards similarly to Gin Rummy, with the following differences:

•	Any number of cards from the discard pile may be taken, provided the earliest discarded of them is melded immediately.  The remainder are added to the player's hand.

•	Players may lay down melds, or add to each other's melds, at any time that it is their turn.  Melding scores points and reduces the liability of points in a player's hand, but gives the opponent a greater chance of scoring points from melding some of their cards.

•	A round ends when one of the players has melded or discarded their last card, or when the stock is exhausted.  There is no lay-off of deadwood; what the other player holds when the round ends counts against them.

•	The first player to score 500 points wins the game.

Rummy 500 uses the same basic Graphical User Interface (GUI) as MeggieSoft Games' Gin Rummy and Pinochle.  Thus the display and the use of the mouse is similar in all three games.


Pinochle

Pinochle was first released by MeggieSoft Games in July 1996, and is a stablemate to Rummy 500 and Gin Rummy.

Pinochle combines elements of the Rummy and Whist families of games.  Each round is comprised of two phases.  During the first phase, players accumulate points from melding sets of cards in their hands.  During the second phase points are earned by taking tricks.

A round of Pinochle starts with each player being dealt twelve cards.

As the first phase of a round progresses, each player picks up and plays cards (similar to discarding in Gin Rummy or Rummy 500), with the following differences:

•	The round starts with each player playing on of the twelve cards in their hand

•	The cards are played as tricks.  The higher card of each trick wins the trick.  There is no requirement to follow suit in the first phase.  Players may lay down a meld only after winning a trick.

•	Melded cards remain part of the player's hand, and may be further melded (subject to certain restrictions) or played just as other cards in the players hand.

•	After each trick (and meld if there is one), each player takes a card from the stock.  The next trick is then played.

•	When the stock is depleted, the round moves into the second phase.

During the second phase, the remaining cards are played out as tricks with requirements to follow suit and trump when possible.

Pinochle uses the same basic Graphical User Interface (GUI) as MeggieSoft Games' Rummy 500 and Gin Rummy.  Thus the display and the use of the mouse is similar in all three games.


AssistIcon
The Assist Icon

Click on this symbol to get assistance regarding what to do next.  This is a shortcut to the "Explain" action under the "Assistant" menu.


Card Sort Order

Click on this symbol as a shortcut to changing the "Sort By Suit" option under the "Configuration Menu".   When the cards are sorted by rank, the symbol represents the four suits.  When the cards are sorted by suit, the symbol shows numbers (representing rank order).


Card Stagger

Click on this symbol as a shortcut to changing the "Stagger Hand" option under the "Player" menu.   When the player's hand is normally aligned, the symbol is a staggered hand, and vice versa.


Deadwood Counter

This optional display indicates the number of deadwood points in your hand.  The display is highlighted (default of green) when the deadwood total is sufficiently low that you are able to knock.


DiscardPile
The Discard Pile

This is where each of the Player and Opponent discard a card at the end of their respective turn.


Game Bonuses

The bonuses earned by each player for a completed game or sub-game column.
GB indicates the Game Bonus for winning the game.  BB indicates the Box Bonuses for winning rounds.  SB (when applicable) indicates the Shutout Bonus for winning the game with no score having been made by the other player.


GameCounter
The Game Counter

The top of the scoresheet shows the current game number and, for Hollywood and Series scoring, the current column (sub-game) number..


GamePointsTotals
The Game Points Totals

The total points including bonuses of each player for the completed game or sub-game column.


Knock Display

The Knock display indicates the maximum number of points of deadwood you may have in order to knock.  It is highlighted (default of blue) when points for the current round will be doubled under Oklahoma Gin rules.


LightBulb
The Light Bulb

Click on the Light Bulb (indicating an idea) as a shortcut to the "Suggest" option of the "Assistant" menu in order to receive a hint.


Melds

Melded cards which have been played to the table by either player.


MenuBar
The Menu Bar

Click on one of the menu items on the left to see what choices you have.


OpponentArea
The Opponent's Hand

The cards currently in the Opponent's hand.


OpponentGames
Opponent Games Total

This counter shows the skill level of the opponent and the total of completed games won by the opponent.

You may click on the opponent's skill level as a shortcut to the "Skill Level" option under the "Opponent" menu.  You may click on the game count as a shortcut to the "Game History" option under the "Scoreboards" menu.


PlayerArea
The Player's Hand

The cards currently in the Player's hand.


PlayerGames
Player Games Total

This counter shows the name of the player and the total of completed games won by the player.

You may click on the player's name as a shortcut to the "Change Players" action under the "Player" menu.  You may click on the game count as a shortcut to the "Game History" option under the "Scoreboards" menu.


PlayerReserve
The Player's Reserve

These cards are part of the player's hand, but have been dragged to the right of the hand to form the "reserve" which will be maintained separately from the main hand.  See "Arranging Your Cards" for details on how to do this.


PointsInHandCounter
The Points-In-Hand Counter

This counter displays the total points value of the cards in the Player's hand.


Prior Round Scores

These counters show the player and opponent point totals from the prior rounds of the current game.


RoundCounter
The Round Counter

This counter indicates the number of the current round within the current game.


Rules Display

The rules display is shown when rule variations are in effect, as selected via the "Rules" menu.


Running Game Total

When italicized these counters show the running sub-totals for the rounds completed of the current game.

When a game or column is completed, they will be displayed in normal font showing the final points totals for the game or column.


SeriesScoring
Series/Hollywood Scoring

This display indicates that Series or Hollywood scoring is in effect.  You may click on this as a shortcut to displaying the Series or Hollywood Scoresheet.


StatusDisplay
The Status Display

This area shows the current state of play, prompting the Player what to do next.  Error messages are also displayed here.  Error messages will disappear as soon as play continues, or if you click on the message.


Stock
The Stock

The group of undealt cards, and the counter of how many remain.


StockCounter
The Stock Counter

This counter shows the number of cards remaining in the stock.


Table
The Table

The area where melds are played and cards are discarded.


The Scoresheet

The scoresheet shows scoring information for the current game.  Click on any part of it in the layout diagram for specific detail.  Note that a narrow scoresheet is used for normal scoring, a wider one for Hollywood and Series scoring.

When playing Gin Rummy, you may click anywhere on the scoresheet as a shortcut to the "This Game" option under the "Scoreboards" menu.


TurnCounter
The Turn Counter

This counter indicates the number of the current turn within the current round.


UndoIcon
Undo

Click on this symbol to undo your turn.  This is a shortcut to the "Undo" action under the "Player" menu.


3-dimensional

A particular style of visual user interface which displays sunken and raised effects using shades of gray, black, and white to provide shadows.


author

Gin Rummy © 1995  MeggieSoft Games


AutoMouse

The capabilities whereby the mouse pointer automatically moves between the deck and the player's hand as cards are taken and discarded and/or to and from messages and information windows.


deadwood

The unmeldable cards left in your hand after laying-off.  The points value of these cards will be included in the points tally - usually against you.


defaults

The saved option settings for a player named "Default".  These are used if a player does not have their own saved default options.  If the "Default" settings are not found on disk, Gin Rummy's factory defaults will be used.  The default settings may be changed by changing the current player to "Default", setting the options, and saving them.


discard pile

The cards which the player and opponent have discarded from their respective hands.


discarded

Having moved a card from one's hand to the discard pile.


discarding

The act of moving a card from the player's hand on to the discard pile.  This concludes the player's turn.


error message

Error messages are displayed, with red highlighting, in the status bar.  An error message will disappear as soon as you play on, or if you click on it.


game

A series of rounds which is concluded when either the player or the opponent has scored more than the required number of points to complete a game. (100 points is the default for Gin Rummy.)


Gin Rummy

The world's first comprehensive shareware game of Gin Rummy for Microsoft Windows.


hand

The cards displayed above the top of the table (the opponent's hand) and below the bottom of the table (the player's hand).


highlighted

A card displayed in reverse-color (black as white, etc.) in order to signify that it has been selected in preparation for melding.


Hollywood

A method of scoring whereby three games (or sub-games) are scored in parallel.  The result of the series is recorded by Gin Rummy as one game.


knock

To lay down one's cards, thus signaling the end of the round.  The other player may then lay-off their meldable cards before points are tallied.


knocking

The action of laying down one's cards, thus signaling the end of the round.  The other player may then lay-off their meldable cards before points are tallied.


lay-off

To play meldable cards from your hand after the other player has knocked, in order to reduce the deadwood.


laying-off

Playing meldable cards from your hand after the other player has knocked, in order to reduce the deadwood.


meld

A set of matching cards played to the table.  A meld can be either a run of cards of the same suit, or three or four cards of the same rank (or value).  For example, the 8-9-10 of Hearts would a valid meld, as would three Jacks.


meldable

A set of cards in a player's hand which can be melded.


melded

Played to the table as part of an existing or new meld of three or more cards (either a run or of the same value).


melding

The act of moving cards from your hand to the table in order to form a meld.  A meld is a run of cards of the same suit or three or four cards of the same rank (or value).


menu option

One of the entries in one of the drop down menus.  Click on a menu entry to select it.


Oklahoma

A variation of Gin Rummy whereby the minimum points required to knock is determined by the value of the card dealt to the discard pile.


opponent

The opponent is the computer.


options

The custom selections which can be made by a player and stored as their personal defaults.


player

A person who has been defined by name to play against the opponent.  Only one player can participate at a time.  Each player's personal options and scoreboards are stored independently from each other.    (Depending on the context the term "player" may also include the opponent.)


round

A series of turns (alternating between player and opponent) which is concluded when either the player or the opponent has knocked and the other played has laid-off their meldable cards


scoreboard

The record of a particular player's scores and the opponent's scores for games and rounds completed to date.


Series

A method of scoring whereby three games (or sub-games) are scored as a series, which is recorded by Gin Rummy as one game.


shutout

The situation when one player fails to score any points in a game.  Also known as skunk, schneider, or whitewash


skill level

"Carefree", "Novice", "Standard", "Expert", "Champion", "Master"


status bar

The area along the bottom of the Gin Rummy window where status messages, error messages, and the current player name and opponent skill level are displayed.


stock

The undealt cards from which the player and the opponent take a new card to start their turn.


table

The area in the center of the display where the discard pile and melds are shown.


turn

The player's or opponent's turn is started by taking a card and concluded by discarding, knocking, or laying-off


wav file

A file of a particular format defined for storing sounds.  Gin Rummy can play sound files which are stored in wav file format.