The Rules of Turkish Rummy

The Objective: To be the first to eliminate all of the tiles in a hand. A game will end when one of the players successfully lays down all of their tiles into legal melds containing SETS, RUNS, or using 7 Pairs. They must ALSO have a single tile to place in the Discard Pile.

A set consists of 3 or more tiles of the same rank.
OR

 

A RUN contains three or more consecutive tiles in the same suit.
OR

7 Pairs: The player can win the round even if their hand has not been melded into Sets and Runs. This is done by having 7 identical pairs which a player can lay down and win the round. These pairs could be two red fours or two blue sevens, etc.

Number of Players: Turkish Rummy or Okey is played by two to four players. A tournament is composed of a number of tables each seating a legal number of players.

The Deck: The game requires 106 tiles that use two regular decks and two Jokers. Each deck of tiles contains four colors and thirteen tiles in each color.

To Deal: The round begins when each player takes a tile from the Stock Pile in the center of the table. The player with the highest tile is the one to play first, and the one with the second highest goes next, etc. The player with the highest tile will receive 15 tiles at the opening of the game, and all of the other players will receive 14. The first player also skips the draw requirement on their first turn as well. The remaining tiles are used to make the Stock Pile in the center of the table and a single tile is placed face up on the top of this pile to serve as the Upcard.

To Play

Understanding the Wild Cards: All of the tiles marked with the letter “J” in the bottom right-hand corner are considered Wild Cards. These can be used as legal substitutions for tiles of any rank or suit in order to complete a meld. The Wild Cards are determined at the beginning of the round and they are the next in rank after the Upcard. For instance, if the Upcard revealed after the tiles are dealt is a red four then the Wild Cards for that game will be the red fives.

Tiles with Stars: The tiles with stars will be used as a substitute for the Wild Cards’ original values to make melding and pairs possible. For example, using the Wild Card above, the tiles with stars would serve as red fives to make valid pairs or melds throughout the round. All of the tiles with stars have a number in their lower right-hand corner to indicate the exact tile they are replacing. This number will automatically appear and update at the moment the Upcard is revealed.

Example:

= Joker

[4] is now a wildcard:

The Joker is now [4]:

Taking a Turn

To Draw: Each player must start their turn by drawing from the Stock Pile or Picking Up from the Discard Pile. In Turkish Rummy, all players have their own Discard Pile, and when there are three to four players at the table, a player can use the Stock Pile or take from the Discard Pile of the player whose turn precedes theirs.

To Discard: Each player must also end their turn by selecting a tile to discard. This is placed at the top of their discard pile only.

Ending a Round:

The round will come to an end when a single player is able to lay down all of their tiles AND discard a single remaining tile, OR when the Stock Pile is out of tiles.

When Laying Down: To use the Laying Down method of closing the round, the player must lay down all of the tiles in their hand into legal melds or pairs. They must also have a final, 15th, tile that is placed into their discard pile as well; or

When a Stalemate Occurs: A round can end before players have the chance to lay down their melds if the Stock Pile runs out first.

How to Score:

A game of Turkish Rummy begins with all players at zero. The goal is to keep the score low, and this means that Penalty Points are used as a game continues. These Penalty Points are:

Rounds Ended by Laying Down: When a player is able to lay down their cards, all opponents receive 20 Penalty Points.

Wild Card Discard: Should the final discard of the winner also be a Wild Card, all of the opponents get an addition 40 Penalty Points.

Matching Tiles During Draw: If a player gets a matching tile to the final tile discarded by the winner during the opening draw, all of the opponents get 10 Penalty Points.

How to Payout Turkish Rummy Quick Games

When a game comes to an end the Prize Pool is divided between players by the number of penalty points. The Winner receives 75% of the pool, and the remaining 25% is divided evenly between the opponents as long as they have fewer than 40 Penalty Points (if it was a single round) or fewer than 80 Penalty points (if it was a 3 round game).