We all know the online poker community is attracts millions of players every year, but the popularity of Gin Rummy has launched skyward since the introduction of several online Rummy sites, including the Internet's first and only multi-player Gin Rummy site, Rummy Royal.

Players can log onto Rummy Royal and play against their friends and family or with players from all over the world, with up to 4 players per match. Make the game even more interesting by putting up stakes on the outcome.

Rummy Royal is not the only online Gin Rummy site - there are a few others - but it certainly receives the highest traffic rate. Currently, other online Gin Rummy sites offer a lower variety of games and allow only two players to compete against one another. The game variety at Rummy Royal includes Gin Rummy, the most popular Rummy variant, Oklahoma Gin, Kalooki (or Kaluki) and Traditional Rummy. And of course, as mentioned above, up to 4 players can play in a single hand.

According to a survey of a leading playing card manufacturer, Gin Rummy is actually the third most popular card game in the entire world, with 27 million players. Invented in the United States in the early 1900's, Gin Rummy was an off and on fad until gaining widespread fame with the introduction of "The Gin Game", a Pulitzer Prize winning play written by D.L. Cockburn and directed by Mike Nichols. The play originally starred the beloved acting couple, Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn.

One aspect of Gin Rummy that has made its popularity soar to phenomenal heights in the online gaming world is it's legality as a skill game in the United States. Poker and common casino games are considered games of chance by US law, where Gin Rummy is defined as a game of skill, making it legal to play for cash stakes. US players can participate in Gin Rummy online for real money without the worry of possible authoritative penalties.

It should be interesting to see just how far online Gin Rummy climbs the virtual ladder of success in the online gambling community.


- 2008-01-02