Kalooki
The game of Kalooki has three primary variations; British Kalooki, South African Kalooki, and Jamaican Kalooki. These three versions only faintly resemble one another, which means it’s nearly impossible for a single article to provide an informative summary on the rules of play for all three games. To this end we will restrict ourselves here to looking at the British game, which is the popular version of the game in North America and Europe and also the most frequently played version online.
Rules of Play
Kalooki is a rummy game, which means that anyone familiar with rummy should have little trouble making the transition to Kalooki. Before a Kalooki game starts, the players must first agree on four things:
The call up The amount of money to be paid to the first player who lays down all of his cards in melds (or spreads, as they are alternatively called).
Kalooki The amount of money to be paid to a player who melds all thirteen of his cards at the same time
The initial buy The amount of money a player must contribute to the prize pool at the beginning of the play.
The re-buy The amount of money a player must contribute to the prize pool in order to re-enter a game after his score exceeds the target score.
You can assign any monetary value you want to these four elements, although a typical Kalooki structure is 1,2,5,5, (one unit for the call up, two units for the Kalooki, and so on).
After the structure has been determined the play is ready to begin. The game is dealt from a pack of 106 cards, which contains two standard decks and two jokers. Each player is dealt 13 cards. The dealer places one card face up, and the player to his immediate left has the option of either picking up that card or taking a card from the face-down stock. After the player has drawn his card he must discard. From this point forward a player may only draw from the discard pile if they have already made their initial meld–otherwise they must draw from the stock. The game continues in this fashion until one player has melded his entire hand.
One thing to remember is that you can play off an opponent’s melds. Example: Say an opponent has melded the 6h 7h 8h, and you hold the 9h. When it comes your turn you may meld your 9h if you so choose, provided that you have met the conditions for the initial meld (which are discussed next).
The Meld
Melds come in two different forms: Sets, which are three or four cards of the same rank, or runs, which are three (or more) cards in sequence of the same suit. Aces only play high. Also, no set may contain two cards of the same suit (e.g., 8c 8c 8s is not a legitimate set). Jokers can be substituted for any card in the deck; i.e., they are ‘wild’. In most versions of the game you must meld at least 40 points worth of cards on your initial meld, although you can meld multiple sets or runs at one time (thus, you do not need to have a single meld worth 40 points–all that matters is that the sum of all of your initial melds meets or exceeds 40 points).
Card Values
Aces are worth 11 points, kings through tens are worth 10, and every other card is worth its face value. Jokers assume the value of the card they are replacing. After one player has melded his entire hand and discarded, the remaining players are assigned penalty points that correspond to the rank of the cards that they have left in their hand. Every card’s penalty value is identical to its meld value with the exception of the joker, which is ‘worth’ 15 penalty points.
Example: Say one of your opponents calls up, and you have the following cards left: As Ks 5c 5d 5h 2h Jkr. In this case you would receive 53 penalty points (11+10+5+5+5+2+15). Note that you can not ‘lay off’ in Kalooki; if you have meld in your hand when one of your opponents calls up you are forced to take the penalty points for those cards.
Reusing the Jokers
One of the more interesting rules of Kalooki has to do with the reuse of the jokers. If a player uses a joker in a meld an opposing player is allowed to replace the joker with the card that the joker represented in the meld.
If a joker is used in a three card set, then the joker can be reused provided that the player who is taking the joker can meld both of the cards of the missing suits. For example, say a player has melded the Ts Th Jkr. If a player holds both the Tc and the Td he can replace both of those cards for the joker, and then use the joker in a meld of his choosing. If, however, he only has the Tc, then melding the Tc means that the set is ‘closed’, and the joker must remain in that meld.
If a joker has been used in a run then the missing card can be replaced for the joker, which can then be used elsewhere.
Scoring
Once a player has exceeded 150 penalty points he is eliminated from the game. If he wants he can re-buy into the game, and he will start with the same number of penalty points as the player who currently has the most penalty points. So, if a players busts out and the next player closest to busting has 120 points, the player who was eliminated can re-buy and start the game with 120 points.
A player can re-buy into the game a maximum of twice. After that he is formally eliminated from contending for the prize pool. Also, a player may only re buy if there are two players remaining with penalty scores of 150 or less. If, for instance, every player but one is eliminated after the play of a given hand, the game ends and the player left is awarded the prize pool.
Although you can settle up after each deal, most Kalooki players find it easier to keep a running tally of wins and losses. Should you choose to use a running tally you will then need two different score pads; one for keeping track of penalty points, and the other for monies owed. It’s also usually easier for all players to settle up after each game, as opposed to settling up at the end of the night, since the bookkeeping can get complicated after four or five games.
Winning
Once all but one player has accumulated over 150 penalty points the game ends, and the player with less than 150 penalty points is declared the winner. He is then awarded all of the money in the prize pool, which will include the entire initial buy ins and all of the re buys. The payments for call ups and for Kalookis are not taken from the prize pool–they are awarded ‘on the side’. Thus, if you are lucky enough to ‘go Kalooki’ your opponents must each pay you two units (one for the call up, and one for the Kalooki) from monies not originating from the prize pool.
Other Rules
As with gin, a player must be able to discard when he calls up.
Once you are down to three of fewer cards, you must inform the rest of the players as to the total number of cards you have left. Failure to do so will prohibit you from calling up on the next round.
While Kalooki allows you to ‘build’ (i.e., to play cards on opponents’ melds), you must first meld 40 points from your own hand before you are allowed to build on an opponent’s meld.
If the stock runs out, then the discard pile is shuffled, turned face down and used as the stock for the rest of the hand.
If, in the course of a hand, two players go over the 150 point target in one deal, each player must in turn declare whether or not they intend to re-buy. The player who decides first is the player who is closest to the left of the player who just won the last hand.
Common Variations
One variation of Kalooki, called ‘Swedish Kalooki’, has a penalty point target of 100 points instead of 150. There are also some games which feature a penalty point target of 301 or 501 (if you play with a higher point target you might want to consider bumping the stakes).
Some games allow the ace to be used as a low card.
Some games double the penalty points when a player lays down a Kalooki.
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