Gin Rummy Tournaments

The prize money is very attractive (and becoming more so all the time, I might add) but there are other benefits for a player entering a gin tournament. For one thing, you are going to spend several days in a posh hotel with people you know you are going to find interesting: other gin players. And you are going to be playing gin players from all over the country and from around the world. In fact the chances are you’re going to draw and play at least one of the better players in the world. Whether you end up in the money or not, you are going to learn and you will improve your game.

There is always a strong camaraderie among gin players. Many observers, being players already finished with their own games, will join the galleries and will sit together for hours, reminiscing about a good hand, bad hand, good play or a bad play. Good, bad or indifferent, one can always expect advice from another gin player, and since most consid- er themselves the best, they are always eager to lend a helping hand. Most players come to tournaments to renew old friendships and are chomping at the bit for the competition. If you’re a real gin buff and looking for some extra excitement, come to a gin tournament. I assure you, you won’t be able to wait for the next one. Another advantage of trying your hand at a gin tournament is the opportunity of greatly improving your Gin Rummy game. If you’re like most of us you play the same people regularly; friends or other club members if you belong to a club. You know the style of the people you play with most of the time.

Now if you go to a four day tournament, you will play sixteen different people (at least) and they all have a different way of playing, some of which may be similar and others which will vary a great deal. If you learn to play all these people with their different ways of playing, when you go back home or back to the club or whatever, you’re going to have a helluva edge in knowledge because you’ve learned from the players—the very best players around—at the tournament. When you make a play the player you’re playing with will be anticipating one thing and all of a sudden you’re doing something else, something he’s never seen before you’ve become a more knowledgeable gin rummy player! One final note before closing our chapter on tournaments: The numbers of games to play, the number that go into the finals or semi-finals is based on the time element and the number of people in tournament play. Gin rummy tournaments can be held almost anyplace, at any time and with any number of people. There are afternoon tournaments, there are evening tournaments, one day tournaments (like on a Sunday, perhaps) or even a weekend tournament where, say the players might play Saturday night and again on Sunday—a two-day tournament in reality. It all depends, basically, on your numbers.

If you’ve got thirty or forty people you’d probably play four games to qualify. When we have a hundred and fifty or two hundred people we use sixteen games to qualify. The reason for this is, the more games, the better chance of the skill coming to the top. If an Elks Club or a Country Club or anybody wants to write to me for help in setting up a tournament I’d be glad to help in any way I can without charge. For help in setting up a tournament or if you have any questions about gin rummy that you would like for me to answer, please write. I also appear as a guest speaker and, of course, conduct gin rummy tournaments.