Okey 101 - Complete Guide

Materials: 106 tiles (two sets of 1-13 in four colors) and two "False Jokers" (often marked with a smiley face).

Dealing: Each player receives 21 tiles. The starting player receives 22 tiles. The remaining tiles form the draw pile (bank).

The Indicator: One tile is drawn from the pile and placed face-up. This tile is the indicator.

The Joker: The joker for this round is the tile with the same color and one number higher than the indicator.

Example: If the indicator is a Blue 10, the two Blue 11s are the joker tiles.

Special case 13: If the indicator is a 13 (e.g., Red 13), the 1 of the same color (Red 1) becomes the joker.

False Jokers: The two "smiley" tiles always take the value of the real joker (in the example above, the value of a Blue 11).

The game proceeds counter-clockwise (to the right). A turn always consists of "draw/take" and "discard".

First Turn: The player with 22 tiles starts. They do not draw a tile, but directly discard one tile they don't need.

Regular Turn: The next player's turn. They have two options:

A) Draw from pile: Draw a face-down tile from the center pile.

B) Take from predecessor: Take the tile that the player to their left last discarded. (Attention: This is subject to special rules, see Section 5).

Opening: If a player meets the 101-point requirement, they can lay down their formations on the table during their turn. (See Section 4).

Adding tiles: Once a player has opened, they can add matching tiles to their own or to other opened players' sets.

Discard: To end their turn, the player must always discard one tile from their hand. This is placed to the right of their rack and forms the discard pile for the next player.

Game End: The game ends when a player discards their last tile or the tiles in the center are used up.

At least 3 tiles of the same color in numerical order.

Valid: Red 7-8-9 or Black 11-12-13.

Valid: 1-2-3 of the same color.

Invalid: The run is not circular. 12-13-1 or 13-1-2 are not valid runs.

3 or 4 tiles of the same number, but in different colors.

Valid: Red 8, Black 8, Blue 8.

Invalid: A set cannot contain two tiles of the same color (e.g., Red 8, Red 8, Blue 8 is invalid).

Taking the discard tile from the predecessor is a strategic move with strict rules:

• Obligation to open: If you take the predecessor's discard tile, you MUST immediately use this tile to open your hand (i.e., reach or expand the 101-point threshold).

• Laying obligation: The formation (set or run) containing the taken tile must be laid on the table.

• Giver penalty: When Player B opens (or finishes) using a tile that Player A just discarded, Player A receives a flat +101 punitive penalty — separate from and on top of any round-end scoring.

Discarding the joker when you weren't winning the round (or weren't at least using it as your final move) is treated as a misplay: the player who threw the joker collects a flat +101 punitive penalty. The penalty does not apply to a deliberate joker-finish, where the joker is your last tile and the round is doubled instead.

If all tiles in the pile are used up, a final rule takes effect:

If the player whose turn it is can take the face-up indicator tile (revealed at the beginning) and use it to finish (win) their hand, they may do so.

• You have already opened (>= 101 points).

• Over the next turns, you add all remaining tiles (or form new sets).

• You discard your very last tile to the center.

You open your hand with 101+ points and lay down all your 21 tiles (except the last discard tile) in a single turn.

A player who collects 10 pairs (e.g., two Red 3s, two Blue 8s...) wins the round immediately when it's their turn.

• They do not need to meet the 101-point rule.

• A win with pairs doubles the penalty points for all opponents.

• Winner: Receives -101 points (Minus 101).

• Players who opened: Receive the sum of the numbers on their remaining hand tiles as penalty points (e.g., +35 points).

• Players who did not open: Receive a flat +202 penalty points — the steepest round-end penalty in the game and the main reason to open as soon as you legitimately can.

In certain cases, all penalty points (positive and negative) are doubled:

• Joker Win: The winner finishes the game by discarding a joker as their last tile.

• Pair Win: The winner wins with 10 pairs.

• Winner: -202 points.

• Players who didn't open: +404 penalty points (doubled from +202).

• Players who opened: (sum of hand tiles) x 2.

If the indicator revealed at the beginning is one of the two "False Jokers" (smiley), the round is played in risk mode.

In risk mode, all scores at the end are doubled again.

Example: A normal pair win gives -202 points. A pair win in a risk round gives -404 points.