How to Play 101 Okey

What is 101 Okey?

101 Okey is a four-player tile game from Turkey. Each player arranges tiles on a rack and builds melds: runs (consecutive numbers of one colour) and sets (the same number in different colours). Once your melds add up to at least 101 you open your hand on the table, then try to get rid of your tiles and be the first to go out. Points are penalties: at the end of a hand you score what is left in your hand, and the lowest total wins.

This page explains 101 as played on Yudum; every rule below is applied by our game engine.

Tiles, indicator and okey

• There are 106 tiles: four colours (red, yellow, blue, black), two of each number from 1 to 13, and 2 false jokers (★).
• Everyone gets 21 tiles; the starting player gets 22 and discards on the first turn without drawing.
• An indicator tile is turned face up. The tile one higher in the same colour is the okey (the joker) for that hand; if the indicator is 13, the okey is 1.
• A false joker (★) stands in for the okey tile and carries its value.

Your turn: draw and discard

• Play goes counter-clockwise: the turn passes to the player on your right, and you may take the tile discarded by the player on your left.
• On your turn draw from the pile or take your left neighbour's last discard, then discard one tile.
• ⚠ If you take a discard, you must open this turn and use that tile in your opening; you cannot take it and throw it back.

Melds: runs, sets and pairs

• Run — at least 3 consecutive tiles of one colour: red 4-5-6. 12-13-1 is allowed and that 1 counts as 1 point. No other wrap-around (13-1-2 is not valid).
• Set — 3 or 4 tiles of the same number in different colours: red 9, yellow 9, black 9.
• Pair — two identical tiles: blue 11 + blue 11. The okey can complete a pair, but two okeys are not a pair.
• A meld is worth the sum of its numbers; the okey takes the value of the tile it replaces (the reading that helps the player counts).

Opening your hand

• With melds: the melds you lay down must total at least 101.
• With pairs: at least 5 pairs; points do not matter.
• You cannot open with pairs and runs/sets at the same time.
• At a raising table each opener must beat the previous opening by at least one (if someone opened 105 you need 106). Opening with pairs does not raise the bar.

Laying off

• After opening you may add fitting tiles to any meld on the table — yours or anyone else's.
• A player who opened with pairs may lay off at most 2 tiles per turn.
• You cannot lay off before opening.

Going out

With one tile left, discard it to go out — a final discard is required. How you go out multiplies penalties:

• An okey left in hand adds +101. A player who opened with pairs has their penalty doubled.
• The "−101" is not a negative score: it is removed from penalties already collected. A total never goes below 0; anything left over is lost.
• If the draw pile runs out, the hand ends with nobody going out: no reward, everyone scores their own penalty.

Playable-tile penalty

Discarding a tile that fits a meld on the table (the okey always counts) costs 101. The table creator chooses how it is caught:

• The opponent calls it — the next player presses ☝ Playable! before drawing. If the tile really fits, the discarder gets 101; if not, nobody is penalised. You cannot call it after drawing.
• Caught automatically — the penalty is written the moment the tile is discarded.

Partner play

• Partners sit opposite each other (1–3 and 2–4) and share a team total.
• If one partner goes out, the other partner's penalty is cleared — even if they never opened.
• Partners may talk and write in the table chat.

How does a match end?

• Penalty limit (501 · 1001 · 1501 · 2001): the match ends when a total (the team total in partner play) reaches the limit.
• Number of hands (5 · 7 · 9 · 11): the match ends after that many hands.

Either way, the lowest total wins.

Table options

• Variant: standard or raising · Play: solo or partners
• Match ends: penalty limit or number of hands
• Playable-tile penalty: opponent calls it or caught automatically
• May a pairs player take discards: no (draw pile only) or yes

Playing on screen

• Select tiles: click a tile on your rack; you can select several. Click again to deselect.
• Arrange: move the selected tile with ◀ ▶ or sort with Sort runs / Sort pairs. Your order is kept if you reload the page.
• Draw: 🂠 Draw or ⬅ Take discard.
• Open: select a meld's tiles → ➕ Make meld (repeat for each meld) → 🃏 Open my hand. Staged tiles appear faded; ↺ Clear staged undoes them.
• Lay off: select tiles, then click a meld on the table.
• Discard / go out: select one tile → ⬇ Discard; with one tile left, 🏁 Go out.
• Your left neighbour's discard sits at the bottom left, yours at the bottom right.

Time and disconnects

You have at most 60 seconds per move. If time runs out the system draws for you and discards your highest-value tile (never the okey). If you disconnect the table waits for you for a while; a player who misses many turns in a row drops out and the others keep playing.

General table rules (watching, reporting, rating): How to play here. Play now: 101 Okey tables.