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Kalooki Online Rummy

January 27, 2010

Friday Kalooki

Every Friday night is a “Friday Kalooki night” for me and my buddies.
At about 8 p.m. each Friday night we login to Rummyroyal.com for a game of Kalooki.
In case you’re wondering what kind of game a “Kalooki” is, let me tell you, it’s a card game that is the darling of us card lovers, is hugely popular in the US and from the number of people playing it online, I can say it is well accepted in the rest of the world. 
Until the recent past, we used to login and play online rummy but ever since I and my buddies were introduced to Kalooki during a local tournament, we’ve started playing Kalooki every Friday night.
So anytime you’re looking for something different from playing rummy online, try Kalooki.

Kalooki is a derivative of Rummy that requires an equal measure of skill and luck to beat your opponents. 
The game of Kalooki involves 2 decks of cards plus two Jokers totaling to 106 cards.
There can be 2 to 4 players.
The objective of Kalooki being to create runs from all of your cards before any of your opponents do.
This variation of rummy does not have the knocking or the Lay-off phase.
To win a Kalooki game, you have to run out of cards.

The Joker signifies 25 points. The Jack, Queen and King each are valued at 10 points and Ace is valued at 11 points.
All the other cards in the pack have values corresponding to their number.
The cards that are not dealt out are placed face down and form the stock pile.
All players can draw cards from the stock pile or the discarded pile.
You can use the card you’ve picked up to complete sets or runs.
You may also discard a card you do not need.

The main objective of the Kalooki variation of the rummy game is to run out of cards before the other players.
However, this way, you only win the hand.
The score for that hand is calculated and play of more hands continues.
The player having the maximum number of points will win the game at the end of the game session.
The game usually ends after a specific number of hands are played or a predetermined point value has been reached.

A number of terms are used to describe the various aspects of the game. 
You have to form sets and runs in the game; a set is a group of three or more cards of the same rank.
For example, a group of four Queens would form a set.
Runs are sets of cards that have a minimum of four consecutive numbers of the same suit.
For example, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Clubs would form a “Run”.
The Ace in Kalooki is a high value card, so you can have Jack, Queen, King and an Ace forming the run, but you cannot have Ace, 2, 3 and 4 as a run.
The sets and runs placed on the table are known as melds.

I bet you’ll find this next part very different (and pretty interesting) from your usual game of playing rummy online.
The two Jokers in Kalooki game are designated as wild cards so they can therefore take the place of another card in a run or a set.
For instance, a set of 5-5-Joker would require another 5 to take the place of the Joker.
The player can choose to pick up a Joker from the meld for his own hand, but he must replace it with the right card. Similarly, a run of 4 of Hearts-5 of Hearts- Joker- 7 of Hearts will need a 6 of Hearts to be replaced.
You are allowed to build on an existing meld as long as it is your turn and you have the necessary cards to continue the set or run.
However, you can only build on an existing meld if you have previously created a meld and placed it on the table.

The score is calculated when a player ‘goes out’.
Now, what’s ‘going out’ you’d ask.
Well, a player is said to have ‘Gone Out’ when he runs out of all cards either by melding, building on other melds and discarding the final card in the pile.
There can be an instance when the player ‘Goes Kalooki’.
In this case, a player holding all the cards at the beginning of play, melds these cards, builds and drops the last card in the pile, all within the same play, is said to have ‘gone Kalooki’.
In other words, he has met all the requirements in a single hand of play.
When a player goes Kalooki, his competitors have to pay a penalty of 25 points which are deducted from their score.

To begin playing the game, each player will draw one card; the player getting the highest value card is the dealer.
Next, the cards are shuffled, cut and dealt to the players, 13 cards to each.
After dealing to all players, the last card is placed face up to initiate the Open/ Discard Pile.
The balance un-dealt cards are placed face down, forming the Stock Pile.
The player on the left of the dealer will start play and the game progresses clockwise.
First, he will draw a card.
He forms the melds if he chooses and discards one card into the Discard Pile.
The game is carried on in this fashion until one player gets rid of all his cards. 
A new hand begins after one of them runs out of cards and the score is taken.
This continues till a winner emerges in the game.

When you play online rummy, that is Kalooki Rummy, a few things must be kept in mind.
If only 2 cards remain in the draw pile, the hand ends immediately, with no winner emerging.
A new hand will be dealt. Secondly, you are not allowed to draw a card from the discard pile at the beginning of your play and then discard it during the same turn.
It can be discarded at your next turn of play.

Like I said earlier, Kalooki is a game of skill; it provokes your thought processes and rouses your competitive spirit.
It is an entertaining game and easy to learn as well.
If you decide to play online rummy, take my advice and try out Kalooki.
I’m sure you’ll be hooked to the game just like me.
As to the question of which site is the best to play rummy, I’d recommend rummyroyal.com.
Here you can play basic online rummy and most of its variations either for free or for money and have a thrilling time, just by sitting in front of your computer at home!

Click Here to Play Online Rummy