Gin rummy is a game that basically appeared around the beginning of the 1900s and most of the credit for inventing it has been given to Elwood Baker. He was a very well known bridge tutor. Although the game is now very popular, it only reached a lot of popularity starting from the 1930s because it was featured in a lot of movies under the simple name of GIN. The reason why this game was so much appreciated was the fact that it was fairly easy to learn well and was really fast. On the other hand, although the original game of gin rummy appeared around that time, its roots are much deeper than you might have known.
Gin rummy basically appeared from rummy, which is easily traceable to the popular Mexican game known as Conquian. It was basically a game that was always played for fixed stakes and was fairly simple. Elwood Baker basically refined a scoring system that was used around the time that conquian was popular and improved the money play aspect of this game.
Even before Elwood Baker started his work we know of the game known under the name of Gin Poker. A lot of people believe that this is actually where gin rummy was derived from, thus being the original game that started the phenomenon. Gin Poker was highly popular in saloons from all over the US. What is interesting is the fact that its rules are really similar to those that are visible in gin rummy although scoring is different.
In the original game of Gin Poker you are also going to use a regular deck of cards and the game is played with 2 players while ending when one of them will reach 100 points. Also, every single player will receive 10 cards when the game starts. The similarities between the two games are actually stunning with just some minor scoring rules actually being different. This is exactly why most specialists believe that gin rummy is actually gin poker but with some modifications.
Nowadays you will rarely find places where you can play the original game of gin poker. On the other hand, there are hundreds of places even online that allow you to play gin rummy. We are sure that you will enjoy this game as it is really entertaining and fast paced while requiring you to constantly get better.Do you wish to play and win? Read our gin rummy winning strategy to play and win!