Altinstar Okey 101 Rules

Okey is a popular Turkish game of the Rummy family. The game is played with a set of 106 tiles. The faces of the tiles are numbered from 1 to 13, with the numbers printed in 4 different colors. There are eight tiles of each number: two red, two yellow, two blue and two black (colors may vary according to the Okey set used). In addition there are two special tiles without numbers - these are known in this game as 'jokers'. There are numerous variants in the rules of Okey, the most popular being Düz and 101. Okey can be played with a different amount of players depending on the variant.

The following topics will be explained on this page:

• Official rules of Okey 101
• Starting the game
• The joker
• Sets and opening your hand
• Doubles
• Point scoring and end of the round
• Additional penalties
• Additional rules

Official rules of Okey 101

Okey 101 is played with 4 players over multiple rounds. The object of the game is to collect as little points as possible at the end of the game. The player who has the least amount of points after all of the rounds are completed is declared the winner. Points are determined according to the face value of the tile (e.g. a red 3 = 3 points & a black 11 = 11 points). A round is completed when there are no more tiles left to draw from the bank or when 1 of the players has completed his/her hand (tiles on the rack). A game is played over a predetermined amount of rounds (e.g. 3,5,7,9 or 11 rounds). All of the rounds must be completed before a winner is declared, not just a best of rounds.

Starting the game

After a random dealer is chosen, each player is given 21 tiles (your hand) and the dealer gets 22 tiles. The rest of the tiles go face down into the bank and 1 tile which indicates what the joker will be is turned face up. The game is played anticlockwise. The dealer starts the game by throwing away 1 of his tiles. The turn then goes to the player on his right.

A player starts their turn by either taking a tile from the bank or taking the tile thrown away by the previous player. The player then either 'opens' (puts his sets on the table) and/or adds to the sets already on the table. If the player can't open they finish the turn by throwing away 1 of the tiles from their hand. A player must always throw away a tile to finish the turn, even when finishing their entire hand.

The joker

The tile that indicates what the joker will be changes each individual round. The 2 joker tiles (also called 'false jokers') are the same value as this tile's value plus 1. These jokers look different from the standard tiles and vary in appearance according to the Okey set used.

The actual jokers (which can represent any tile in the game) are the actual tiles that get replaced by the false jokers. If for example the indicator tile is a blue 5, the actual jokers are the two blue 6 tiles and the joker tiles (or false jokers) have the value of the blue 6.

Sets and opening your hand

101 is the minimum amount of points required to open your hand. In order to open the player needs to create sets of either 3 or 4 identical numbered tiles of different colors (e.g. black 5, red 5 & blue 5) or running numbers of the same color (e.g. red 7, red 8 & red 9). A set must have a minimum of 3 tiles. Players are only allowed to add to existing sets on the table after they have opened with a minimum of 101 points already. Players are of course allowed to open and then add to other sets within the same turn.

If a player takes the discarded tile from the previous player they must always use that tile. If the player hasn't opened yet he/she must open with that tile included. It is not allowed to keep the tile in your hand. A player is allowed to take the discarded tile and then return it and still take from the bank without receiving a penalty.

Doubles

Another way to open your hand is with a minimum of 5 doubles. Doubles are 2 identical tiles. If you open with doubles you are not allowed to lay normal sets anymore. You are, however, allowed to add tiles to existing sets from other players on the table.

If all 4 players open with doubles within one round, that round gets canceled and replayed. No players receive any penalties.

Point scoring and end of the round

In order to complete a round, a player must play all the sets from their hand and finish with discarding a tile. The other players receive penalty points.

• When a player finishes their hand they receive 101 minus points. The other players receive penalty points according to the total value of all of the tiles left in their hand. If they have not opened yet they automatically receive 202 penalty points instead.
• If a player finishes their hand by discarding the joker all points get doubled instead. The player the finished receives 202 minus points and players that haven't opened receive 404 penalty points.
• If a player has opened with doubles instead of sets the points also get doubled at the end of the round. If he finishes his hand other players receive double penalty points. If another player finishes the round, the player that opened with doubles receive double the value of their remaining tiles in penalty points.
• If a player finishes their entire hand in one turn when none of the other players have opened yet all points get doubled as well. Points get doubled again if the player is also able to finish with a joker as well. In this case, the player that finished receives 404 minus points and all other players receive 808 penalty points.

When all of the rounds have finished, all penalty and minus points of all of the rounds are added together and the player with the least amount of points is the winner.

Additional penalties

Players receive an additional penalty of 101 for the following actions. These penalties are added to the total points for that round.

• If a player has a joker left in their hand when another player finishes the round or the round had ended they receive a 101 penalty. When they have not opened yet they receive the standard total penalty of 202.
• If a player discards the joker they receive a 101 penalty.
• If a player tries to open, but does not have the required 101 points and they have to take back their tiles, they receive a 101 penalty.
• If a player throws away a tile that can be added to a set that is already on the table they receive a 101 penalty. This happens even if the player hasn't opened yet. The player does not receive a penalty if it is the last tile they discard when finishing their hand.
• If a player adds multiple tiles on the table and takes them back they receive a 101 penalty. The player is only allowed to take back the last tile they put down without a penalty.

Additional rules

• If the indicator tile is a 13 the joker then becomes a 1.
• Sets of the same number are not allowed to have the same color in them (e.g. A blue 10, a red 10 & a blue 10 is not allowed).
• Running sets are not allowed to continue from 13 to the 1 (e.g. black 13, black 1 & black 2 is not allowed).