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How To Play Kalooki
Kalooki is similar to Rummy but with a few small differences. Learn how to play Kalooki here! Also check out Kalooki 51 rules and Kalooki 40 rules.
How To Play Kalooki
Kalooki is played in several countries including South Africa, Israel, the U.S, and throughout Europe. It’s typically played by 2 to 4 people and uses 2 decks, including the Jokers. Each player is dealt 13 cards which they keep to form melds or discard. The players take turns by drawing a card, melding, laying off, and discarding. Only drawing and discarding are mandatory during each turn.
Objective Of The Game
The goal of the game is to eliminate other players by making them collect penalty points (as opposed to winners reaching a target score). This happens when a player goes out by using all of their cards to form melds. Other players receive penalty points based upon the cards held in their hands. Once a player has amassed 150 penalty points, they are eliminated from the game.
Melding, Jokers, And Scoring
Melds can be formed in 1 of 2 ways. First, players can collect groups of same-ranked cards, such as 3-3-3 or K-K-K. Alternatively, players can build sequences of successive cards in the same suit, such as 4-5-6 of clubs or 9-10-J of diamonds. These melds can be played on each player’s respective turn, though doing so is not required. In addition, players can build upon melds that have already been played. For example, they can lay off a 7 of hearts to build upon another player’s 8-9-10 of hearts meld.
Jokers are used in Kalooki as wild cards and can represent any other card for a meld. For example, a Joker can be used to form a group such as 8-Joker-8, or a set such as 4-5-Joker. If a player acquires a card for which a Joker has been used, they can replace the Joker to use it elsewhere. However, if the Joker has been used in a group (i.e. 8-Joker-8) all 4 suits in the group must be represented before the Joker can be replaced.
The cards are scored based upon where the game is played. That is, they’re scored differently in the U.S. than they are in Europe. In the U.S., Aces represent 15 points (11 in Europe) while Jokers are scored as 25 points (15 in Europe). Face cards are 10 points while all others are tallied according to face value (for example, 3’s are 3 points).
The rules of the game are simple, but studying how to play Kalooki to win involves taking a strategic approach.
Rummy Royal hosts Kalooki games online.
To learn how to play more Rummy games, check out the following pages:
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