... otherwise
add hl, de
ld a, (hl) ; swap contents (HL) and (DE ... af, af'
ld a, (de)
ld (hl), a
ex af ...

... , $4000
step ld l, e ; de= i, hl= j, bc= k ...
ld h, d ; j ... ; k= j
dow1 ld (last), hl ; last= j
push de ...

... , $4000
step ld l, e ; de= i, hl= j, bc= k ...
ld h, d ; j ... /> ld c, l
ld b, h ; k= j
dow1 push hl ...

... otherwise
add hl, de
ld a, (hl) ; swap contents (HL) and (DE ... af, af'
ld a, (de)
ld (hl), a
ex af ...

... , $57ff
step ld l, e ; de= i, hl= j, bc= k ...
ld h, d ; j ... ; k= j
dow1 ld (skip-2),hl ; last= j
push ...

... , $57ff
step ld l, e ; de= i, hl= j, bc= k ...
ld h, d ; j ... ; k= j
dow1 ld (last+1), hl ; last= j
push ...

... otherwise
add hl, de
ld a, (hl) ; swap contents (HL) and (DE ... af, af'
ld a, (de)
ld (hl), a
ex af ...

... , $57ff
step ld l, e ; de= i, hl= j, bc= k ...
ld h, d ; j ... ; k= j
dow1 ld (last+1), hl ; last= j
push ...

... ld e, 1
call rbits
push hl
ld hl ... , $f871
add hl, de
ex de, hl
pop hl ... br /> ld a, (hl) ; ...

89 bytes (-1 byte):

C cruncher code:
[CODE]
#define MAX_OFFSET 2160 /* range 1..2160 */
...
void write_elias_gamma(int value) {
int bits= 0, rvalue= 0;
while ( value>1 )
++bits,