The game of Turkish Rummy
Turkish Rummy (Okey) Rules
Objective: To be the first to dispose of the tiles in your hand. The game ends when one of the players lays down all tiles in melds of set/ runs/ 7 pairs, with the exception of the last tile which is thrown to the discard pile.
| A set consists of 3 or more tiles of the same rank |
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OR
| A run consists of 3 or more consecutive tiles of the same suit |
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OR
7 pairs – Players can win the round even if they don’t have a hand that is all melded into sets and runs. A special way to win a round is having 7 identical pairs (two [4]s, two [7]s, two [12]s, and so forth), in which case the player can lay down their tiles to win the round.
Number of participants: Two to four players make up a Turkish Rummy table, and larger scale tournaments are comprised of a certain number of Turkish Rummy (Okey) tables.
About the decks: The game is played with 106 tiles: 2 regular decks and 2 jokers (represented as starred tiles in the software). The decks contain 4 standard colors of 13 tiles each.
The Deal
A round starts with each player drawing a tile from the stockpile in order to determine the round’s order of play.
The player who drew the highest tile will play first, followed by the player with the second highest tile and so on.
In Turkish Rummy players are dealt 14 tiles in the beginning of the turn. The player to play first is dealt 15 tiles instead of 14, and skips his first draw phase. The remaining tiles form the stockpile. The top tile of the stockpile (called the “upcard”) is placed face up and cannot be picked up during the entire game. The “upcard” sole purpose is to determine the wildcards of the round, as we will explain in detail below.
Game play
- Wildcards: Marked with the letter “J” at the bottom right corner. Wildcard tiles may be used in melds as substitutes for tiles of all suits and ranks (Just like Jokers in the games Kalooki and Rummy 500). The wildcards are determined at the beginning of each round, and they are the consecutive in rank to the upcard. For example, in a round where the upcard is [3], the wildcards will be [4] (see image below).
- Starred Tiles: Starred tiles will be used in the game to replace the wildcard’s original value when making melds and pairs. Therefore, the starred tiles from the previous example will be used as [4] in melds and pairs. Starred tiles feature a number at the bottom right corner indicating the tile they are replacing (see image below). The number on the starred tiles will change every round according to the round’s upcard.
Turn:
- Draw – At the beginning of each turn, the player chooses either to draw from the stockpile (tiles facing down) or pick up a tile from the discard pile (tiles facing up). Please note that in Turkish Rummy each player has their own discard pile. In 3-4 player games, one can either draw from the stockpile or from the discard pile of the player who precedes them.
- Discard – At the end of each turn, the player chooses a tile from their hand and discards it. The discarded tile will replace the topmost tile of their discard pile.
Round end:
A round ends when one player lays down all of their tiles and discards their last one onto their discard pile, or when the stockpile runs out.
- Laying Down – The winning player lays down all the tiles in their hand in melds/ pairs of any type (as seen above). The 15th and last tile must be discarded to the discard pile in order to complete the turn. Unlike other rummy variants, “laying down” is only possible when the player is able to lay down all his tiles at once.
- Stalemate – The game may end before any player has had a chance to lay down their tiles. This happens when the stockpile runs out, please review the relevant score for this specific case.
Score
In Turkish Rummy, players start the game with 0 points and accumulate penalty points as the game progresses, according to the table below:
Victory Scenarios, Stalemate and Upcard Bonus
Penalty Points
Laying Down When a round ends by one of the players laying down their cards, their opponents will all receive 20 penalty points. Stalemate All players receive 10 penalty points. 7 Pairs All opponents receive 40 penalty points.
Laying Down with Wildcard Discard
If the last tile thrown by a winning player is a wildcard, all opponents receive 40 penalty points.
Upcard Bonus
If one of the players has the exact tile in their hand during the draw, their opponents will all receive additional 10 penalty points at the end of that round regardless of who wins.
Scoring in Turkish Rummy quick games:
At the end of the game the pool prize is divided between the players according to their penalty points. The winning player receives at least 75% of the prize. The remaining 25% are divided between the remaining players, as long as they have less than 40 penalty points (1 round quick game) or 80 points (3 rounds quick game).
