Rummy and its close cousin, gin rummy, are two of the most popular card games for the whole family to enjoy – though there are ways to play for cash too. It’s so popular that it even has a board game variant called Rummikub, which is more or less the same game but played with tiles sporting large colorful numbers (1 to 13 in 4 different colors) rather than with traditional playing cards. 

Rummy’s popularity is hardly a surprise as it is easy to play, fun and requires nothing more than a deck of cards or a box of Rummikub. 

Gin rummy is about as popular as rummy and if you can play one, you won’t have any issues playing the other, but what exactly is the difference between them?

To get a better understanding of the specific differences between the two games, see the table below that lays it all out according to six separate categories. The short answer, though, is that while both gin rummy and rummy require the creation of sets (eg. 4 sixes) and sequences (eg. 1, 2, 3, 4 of the same suit) to win, the way they are played is quite different. There are big differences in the way they are scored but the most fundamental difference is that rummy involves playing each set as you make them, whereas in gin rummy, you hold onto your sets until the end, whereupon you call “gin” if you’ve got no deadwood cards (cards that aren’t part of the sets and sequences) left in your hand or “knock” when your deadwood cards total 10 or less.