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A Brief History Of Gin Rummy
The card game gin rummy was first played the early 1900s. It may have been named by Elwood Baker, who played at the Knickerbocker Whist Club located in New York City. Baker was also known as a tutor for the game Bridge, but most of his fame came posthumously, after he was mysteriously murdered. Speculations include suspicions that an angry card player killed him, but we may never know.
It wasn’t until the 1930s that gin rummy really surfaced as a popular game in American culture. Stars of Hollywood and Broadway played the game and it appeared in many movies, which got it the attention of the general public.
The game is probably popular mostly because of two reasons; for one thing it is extremely easy to master and secondly, its fast pace can give players an adrenaline rush. Before it was even known as gin rummy, it could probably be dated back to Conquian, which was a common Mexican game in the mid 19th century. Conquian, however, was a win-or-lost game played at a fixed stake, which made it slightly simpler. When Elwood Baker came along, he made gin rummy more interesting by having people play the game for money. He also refined the method of scoring in the game.
Another early form of gin rummy erupted around the turn of the century, in 1899, and that game was gin poker. It is now respected as the father of gin rummy in its modern form. Gin poker was popular in bars, gambling joints and salons in the United States, which is where many card games were born or recognized.

The following is an excerpt from Scarne’s Card Games Encyclopedia. Although Elwood Baker rewrote these for his own gin rummy game, it is clear that the guidelines are very similar, and Baker must have used these as inspiration or a starting point for the gin rummy game.
Gin Poker Rules (reprinted from 1899 club rules):
"A standard pack of 52 cards is used. The game is for 2 players. Game is 100 points. Each player is dealt 10 cards, one to each alternatively. the twenty-first card is turned face up.Each player can pick off the top card of the discard pile or take the card of the top of the stock, then discard a card.

The object of the game is to get sequences of three or more in a suit, or three or four of a kind. As soon as deadwood (unmatched cards) total ten or less, the player can call for a showdown, and has to announce the amount of his deadwood and show his hand, laying the combination aside. If an opponent has less deadwood than the caller 9the present game's knocker), he and not the caller gets paid. Not only that, he gets a 10 point penalty from the caller."
Today, gin rummy is not only still played in bars and casinos, but it’s also gathered quite a following online. GameColony.com launched its multiplayer gin rummy game on September 1, 2000.