Kalooki 51 Rules

The Deck

Kalooki 51 is played with two standard 52 card decks plus two Jokers, for a total of 106 cards.

The four suits

The cards and their values

1 point 2 points 3 points 4 points 5 points 6 point 7 points 8 points 9 points 10 points 10 point 10 points 10 points

One or more Jokers can be used in any set or run to substitute for any missing card or cards. When used in a meld to substitute for another card, the Joker assumes the points value of the card it represents. If a Joker remains in your hand at the end of a Kalooki 51 game it counts as 25 penalty points.

The Play

You, and all your opponents in the Kalooki game, are dealt 13 cards each.

The remaining cards are placed face down on the table, forming the stock pile (facedown) and one card is placed next to the stock to form the discard pile (face up).

Your turn consists of the following sequence:

1. You draw one card, either from the top of the stock pile or from the top of the discard pile.
2. If you pick up a card from the discard pile, you must first have laid down one or more melds with a total value of 51.
3. Discarding one card onto the discard pile.

Drawing at the beginning of your turn and discarding at the end are compulsory. Melding is optional, and cards that could have been melded can be kept in your hand for a future opportunity.

If the stock runs out, the discard pile is shuffled and placed face down to form a new stock. The card discarded by the player who drew the last card of the old stock is placed face up beside the new stock to start the new discard pile.

Building

After laying down your initial meld, you may add cards from your hand to any melds on the table to create a larger meld. This is called building. For example, in online Kalooki 51 you may add the fourth suited card to a three card set.

However, if the set contains a Joker, no repeated suits are allowed. You may also place additional consecutive cards to either end of a run to create a larger meld.

When building melds, as well as in laying down original melds, a Joker can be used as a substitute for any card.

In Kalooki 51, Aces are worth 11 points, and can only be used at the high end of a run, following a Queen and a King.

Re-using Jokers

If a set of three cards contains a Joker, the Joker can be released in exchange for equal ranking cards of both missing suits from your hand. For example, if has been melded, and you have a and a , you can add both of these cards to the set, taking the Joker in exchange and using it to form other melds.

If you were to build only one of these 10's onto the set, you will form a closed four-card set of 10-10-10-Joker, from which the Joker can never be released. You may add any two of the missing suits to a three-card set containing two Jokers, releasing one of the Jokers and forming a closed four-card set including the other Joker.

You can add any two of the missing suits to a three-card set with two Jokers, releasing one of the Jokers and forming a closed four-card set.

If a run contains a Joker, were you to hold the card that the Joker represents, you can use it to replace the Joker, and re-use it form further melds.

Apart from in the cases mentioned above where Jokers can be substituted and re-used, in online Kalooki 51 melds of sets and runs cannot be re-arranged, they can only be added to, or built on.

Going Out

You can win at online rummy by, in your turn, drawing cards from the stock or discard pile, melding all but one of your cards, and discarding your last card. This is known as "Going Out".

Going Kalooki

If you are able to lay down all your cards into melds at once, you win the game by "Going Kalooki". The remaining players at the table will each have an extra 25 penalty points added to their total card count.

Please note that even when going out you must end your turn with a discard – you are not allowed to draw, or meld all of your cards, without discarding.

Also, there is no "laying off", as in some other rummy games online. If you "Go Out" or "Go Kalooki", the play ends immediately and your opponents have no opportunity to dispose of any cards they are holding, even if they could have been melded or built onto other melds.

Scoring

Defeated (Penalty Points)
Going Out	Sum of the remaining card values in their hand (Ace = 11, Joker = 25)
Kalooki	Sum of the remaining card values in their hand + 25 Penalty Points. (Ace = 11, Joker = 25)

Payout table for ring (cash) games:

The winner always gets at least 75% of the prize pool. The other 25% will be distributed to the rest of the players, in proportion to the ratio of their points to the winner’s points, provided that they are less than 50 penalty points behind first place.