How to play Kalooki

Just in case you've stumbled across this site and are confused by what I'm saying(!) I thought it might be useful to include some of the basics here.

NB If you want an easy-going introduction to the game, I recommend Kalooki Players.

Or check out my interactive tutorials for 'normal' Kalooki 51 and Kalooki 40.

Kalooki basics

Kalooki is a fast, exciting card game played by 2 to 4 players. A variation of Gin Rummy, it's very popular in the UK.

The game is played with 2 decks of playing cards, plus 2 jokers - 106 cards in total. Each player is dealt 13 of these cards and take it in turns to get rid of them. The winner is the first one to do so.

To get rid of cards, players have to form 'melds', which are simply groups of cards. There are two types of melds, Sets and Runs. A Set is a group of 3 or 4 cards of the same rank and a Run is 3 or more consecutive cards of the same suit.

In the centre of the table are two piles: the stock pile (face down) and the discard pile (face up).

The turn

Players take it in turn to do the following:

1. Draw a card from the top of either pile.
2. Lay down a new Meld and / or add to melds already on the table (optional)
3. Discard a card on to the top of the discard pile.

Steps 1 and 3 are compulsory. Step 2 is optional (unless you're playing Kalooki 40 and you took a card from the top of this discard pile in which case you must lay down a meld)

Winning

The game ends when one player melds all but one of their cards and discards the last one. That player is said to have 'gone out' and they win the game. All other players are given penalty points depending on the cards left in their hand (Face value, but Ace counts 11 and Jokers 25!) If a player lays down all their cards at once, they 'go Kalooki' - losing players get an extra 25 points penalty!

How to meld

Your first meld must total 51 or more (40 or more if you're playing Kalooki 40). Cards have a value equal to their face value, except picture cards (J,Q,K) which equal 10, and Aces, which equal 10 in Kalooki 51 and 11 in Kalooki 40.

Jokers take the value of the card they replace (see below) so they're very useful to have, but don't forget that if you have one in your hand at the end, it's worth 25 penalty points!

Once you've put down your 1st meld, you can build on to existing melds (whoever laid them) - you could add consecutive cards to the start or end of a run or put down the fourth card of a set.

Jokers can be used in any set or run in the place of a missing card.

If you have the missing card in a run that the Joker represents, you can meld the card in its place and reuse the Joker somewhere else.

If a Joker is used in a three card set, you can only replace it if you have both missing cards from the set.

An easy introduction to online Kalooki

If you want to play Kalooki online against players from all over the world, I highly recommend Rummy Royal.

To help ease you in to the waters, Rummy Royal will give you a welcome bonus up to $200.

And remember - Kalooki is a designated 'skill game' so it's completely legal, even in the USA!