Online Kalooki 51 Strategy

We have compiled these guidelines to help you learn online Kalooki 51 strategy. You may wish to read these comments and use them to help you win at online rummy.

Drawing

Drawing the right cards when playing online Kalooki 51 is a major factor in determining the outcome of a game. When drawing a card at the beginning of a game, unless the card on the discard pile will complete a meld for you, you may wish to pick a card from the stock pile rather than the discard pile, so disguising the cards contained in your hand. Also, as the online Kalooki game progresses, since the cards on top of the discard pile are cards that your online rummy opponents don’t need, if you draw a card from the stock pile, you might be preventing them from forming melds of their own.

Discard

When throwing away a card your first priority is to dispose of cards that are of no use to you and, ideally, are of no use to your online opponents. To do so, simply note which cards your Kalooki 51 opponents have previously discarded.

Rummy Opponents

Pay attention to the cards that your online Kalooki 51 opponents pick up from the discard pile and which cards they discard. You may pick up clues as to which cards their hands consist of.

High & Low Draws

Online Kalooki 51 rules require the total count of your melds to be 51 before you can place them (“Go Down”) for the first time. Therefore, you might want to form melds of high-value cards so you can reach 51.

Building

You may wish to pick up cards from the discard pile that may potentially be added to the melds on the table (“Builders”). Discarding potential Builders will give your online Kalooki 51 opponents an advantage.

Melding

You should attempt to draw and discard cards in a way that will provide you with a lot of opportunities to complete pairs of cards into melds. For example:

The un-melded cards in your hand are Discarding the will leave you with more opportunities to meld the rest of your cards.

When melding a Joker, ideally you should try to use it in a run rather than a set, since it will be more difficult for your online opponents to substitute it with the relevant card.

Going Kalooki

Provided that you have gained enough information during the early rounds of play, you may wish to try to Go Kalooki. By "Going Kalooki" you may have achieved the element of surprise over your opponents and can win the rummy game in one move, penalizing your online opponents with an extra 25 points as you do so.

Going Down

If all players have already laid down melds, if you wait to try and Go Kalooki there will be the added risk that an opponent may Go Down before you get the chance. A better play may be to start "Going Down", placing your own melds also.