The rules of Kalooki 40, a variant of rummy card game, are not as hard as you might have thought. The game is played with 2 decks and 2 jokers. That is a total of 106 cards and from these, each player gets 13 cards. You can have up to 4 players in a game. The deal goes around and once everyone has the required number of cards, the rest are placed in the center of the game table as the stockpile. Then the dealer places one card face up to begin the discard pile. The first player to the left of the dealer begins the game by pulling a card from the stockpile or retrieving the discard card. Once he has finished the play, a card from his hand must be thrown into the discard pile.
Like all rummy games, each card has a point value. In Kalooki 40, the rules state that the jokers are valued at 25 and the Aces are 11 points the royalty cards are worth the standard 10 points and the remaining cards are counted as they are numbered.
In Kalooki 40 the rules also state that you cannot meld for the first time with a set or run that is less than 40. Also, you have to do this without using a card from the discard pile. Melding out this way is called “going Kalooki”. Now a lot of people only look at the positive side of using the jokers to replace other cards in their melds but if you do not win the game those are pretty big penalty points. When a player melds out, other players can add some of their cards to the winners meld to see if they can get lower points but if “Kalooki” is called, you are stuck with what you have in your hand.
How To Play
- 2-4 players can play this game.
- It is played with two complete decks of cards & 2 jokers.
- Each player gets 13 cards.
- The objective is to be the first one to shed all your cards.
- The first meld needs to be 40 points or higher.
- The gameplay consists of melds in the form of sets and runs.
- A set is three or more cards of the same rank.
- A run is the same suit in sequence, 3 cards or more.
- A run could go all the way to 13 while a set can have up to 4 cards.
- Each player must draw to begin and discard to end play.
- You can draw from the stockpile or the discard pile but when drawing from the discard pile you can only use the last card played.
- On a turn, the player gets not only to meld but also add to existing melds.
- A joker’s hand value is only as much as the card it replaces.
- A joker’s penalty value is always 25 per joker.
- All points for the cards that are in non-winners hand are tabulated and used to determine the rank of the player. The person with the most points is always in the last place.
- If the winner “goes Kalooki”, an additional 15 points is added to everyone’s penalty.
- You can Kalooki even if you add melds but not if you pick up from the discard pile.
- Prizes are awarded by place and the winner gets 75% of the pot.
This is only to give you a general idea of how to play the game and the rules for more fun with kalooki 40 rummy check out the tips and strategies.
