Glossary of Okey and card game terms
Okey terms and ONE's rules, all in one place — from the indicator to laying off, from stacking to calling ONE. Each term says which game it belongs to, and most say how it works at Masabaşı.
Okey terms
- False okey101 OkeyOkey
- The tile with a symbol instead of a number; there are two of them. It isn't wild — it only takes the place of that hand's okey tile, so if the okey is the red 6, a false okey is simply a red 6.
- At Masabaşı: The host picks how many false okeys are in play: 0, 1 or 2 (2 by default).
- Tiles and the okey (101 Okey rules) →
- Going out from hand101 Okey
- In 101, laying down your whole hand in a single turn while nobody else has opened, then discarding the last tile. That opening needs no 101; the table pays double, or four times if your last tile is the okey.
- At Masabaşı: With the multipliers off, going out from hand still needs no threshold but counts single. (Table setting:
Finish multipliers
) - The match and scoring (101 Okey rules) →
- Going out with the okey101 OkeyOkey
- Going out by throwing the okey as your last tile. Holding the okey till the end takes nerve — finish with it and the table pays double.
- At Masabaşı: With the multipliers off, going out with the okey counts like any other finish. (Table setting:
Finish multipliers
) - Three ways out, and the score (Okey rules) →
- Indicator101 OkeyOkey
- The tile turned face up to fix the okey for the hand. The okey is the next number up in the same colour — if the indicator is a 13, the okey is a 1. If a false okey turns up as the indicator, another tile is turned instead.
- Tiles and the okey (101 Okey rules) →
- Laying off101 Okey
- In 101, adding tiles to the sets and runs already on the table once you've opened: the end of a run or a missing colour in a set. Your own groups or your opponents' — both are fair game.
- At Masabaşı: On by default; the host can switch it off. (Table setting:
Laying off
) - Turn order and flow (101 Okey rules) →
- Okey101 OkeyOkey
- The tile one number above the indicator, in the same colour — there are two of them. The okey is wild: it stands in for any tile, in a set or a run.
- Tiles and the okey (101 Okey rules) →
- Opening threshold101 Okey
- In 101, the minimum your sets and runs must add up to before you can lay them down. Each tile is worth the number on it, the okey counts as the tile it replaces, and the game takes its name from the 101 threshold.
- At Masabaşı: 101 by default; the host can drop it to 34 or 51. (Table setting:
Opening threshold
) - Counting points (101 Okey rules) →
- Opening with pairs101 Okey
- In 101, opening with at least 5 pairs instead of reaching the threshold — the tiles' values don't matter. You can't open with pairs and with sets or runs at once.
- At Masabaşı: On by default; the host can switch it off. (Table setting:
Open with pairs
) - Pair101 OkeyOkey
- Two copies of the same tile: same colour, same number. The okey can pair with anything. In classic Okey 7 pairs finish a hand; in 101, 5 pairs open one.
- Pair finishOkey
- In classic Okey, completing your hand with 7 pairs instead of sets and runs, then discarding the last tile. It costs the table twice what a normal finish does.
- At Masabaşı: On by default. With it off, only sets and runs can finish a hand. (Table setting:
Pair finish
) - Three ways out, and the score (Okey rules) →
- Penalty points101 Okey
- In 101, what goes on your score at the end of a hand: the total of the tiles left in your rack if you opened, 202 if you never did. The player who goes out takes 101 off, and after a set number of hands the lowest total wins.
- At Masabaşı: A match is 5 hands by default, and a total can go below zero. Never opening costs 202 and going out takes 101 off; the host can change all of it.
- The match and scoring (101 Okey rules) →
- Playable discard101 Okey
- In 101, a tile that could be laid off on a set or run already on the table. At most tables, throwing one away costs 101 penalty points — unless it's your finishing tile.
- At Masabaşı: On by default: throwing one away costs 101, even before you've opened. The host can switch it off. (Table setting:
Playable tile penalty
) - The match and scoring (101 Okey rules) →
- Rack101 OkeyOkey
- The stand each player keeps their tiles on, hidden from everyone else. It's where your hand comes together, in sets, runs or pairs.
- At Masabaşı: Valid sets and runs on your rack are spotted and framed for you, and in 101, until you open, the rack also shows your total and how far you are from the threshold. The host can switch the frames off. (Table setting:
Group frames
) - Run101 OkeyOkey
- Three or more consecutive numbers in one colour — say a yellow 4-5-6. In classic Okey the 1 can also follow the 13 (12-13-1); in 101 it can only start a run (1-2-3). 13-1-2 doesn't work in either.
- At Masabaşı: Both forms play it that way: 12-13-1 counts at a classic table and doesn't at a 101 table.
- Set101 OkeyOkey
- The same number in three or four different colours — say a red, a black and a blue 7. Two tiles of one colour can't share a set, but the okey can fill a missing colour.
- Showing the indicatorOkey
- In classic Okey, a player holding the tile matching the indicator — same colour, same number — shows it before their first draw, and everyone else loses a point.
- At Masabaşı: On by default; the host can switch it off. The tile you show stays in your rack, and the turn stays with you. (Table setting:
Showing the indicator
) - Showing the indicator (Okey rules) →
ONE terms
- +4 challengeONE
- If the next player suspects a Wild +4 broke the official rule — that the player who threw it held a card of the current colour — they can challenge. Caught bluffing, the thrower draws 4; if it was legal, the challenger draws 6.
- At Masabaşı: Off by default, and it can only be switched on once +4 is set to the official rule; the Hardcore preset has it on. Both penalties are adjustable (4 and 6 by default), and with challenges on, the server won't stop a bluff: catching it is up to you. (Table setting:
+4 challenges
) - The deck (ONE rules) →
- 0 passONE
- When a 0 is played, everyone hands their cards to the next player in the direction of play, so every hand moves one seat along. It's the 7 swap's twin, and it scrambles the table in an instant.
- At Masabaşı: Off by default, on in Street Rules. Anyone who has gone out or been eliminated sits it out, and if your last card is a 0 the hands stay put. (Table setting:
Zero rotates hands
) - House rules: 7 and 0 (ONE rules) →
- 7 swapONE
- Play a 7 and you swap your whole hand with an opponent of your choice. Together with the 0 pass it makes up the 7-0 house rule. With 7-0 on, even being down to one card isn't safe.
- At Masabaşı: The setting is off by default, but it's on in Street Rules, the preset already picked when you set up a table. If your last card is a 7 there's no swap: you've simply gone out. (Table setting:
Seven swaps hands
) - House rules: 7 and 0 (ONE rules) →
- Calling ONEONE
- The moment you're down to one card you have to call "ONE!". Forget, get caught, and you draw penalty cards, usually 2.
- At Masabaşı: On and manual by default: you press the ONE! button yourself, and getting caught costs you 2 cards. How long you get to call, who does the catching (players, the system or both) and a penalty for false catches are all adjustable; by default a false catch costs nothing.
- Calling and catching ONE (ONE rules) →
- Jump-inONE
- Hold an exact copy of the top card (same colour, same number or symbol) and you can throw it without waiting for your turn. Play carries on from you, and anyone in between loses their go. Pure reflexes.
- At Masabaşı: Off by default, on in Street Rules. You can't jump in while a penalty chain is running, while a Colour Lock is active, or when a wild is on top. (Table setting:
Jump-In
) - Right to passONE
- Permission to say pass and hand the turn on without drawing, even when you could play. Normally you have to draw before you can pass; this house rule skips the draw and opens the door to hoarding cards.
- At Masabaşı: Off by default, and no preset turns it on: if a card fits, you play it; if not, you draw, and that's how the turn moves on. (Table setting:
Right to pass
) - StackingONE
- When a +2 or +4 lands on you, throw another penalty card on top instead of drawing and pass the growing total along. Whoever can't keep the chain going draws the lot. It isn't in the official rules, and it's the most argued-about house rule there is.
- At Masabaşı: On and mixed by default: +2 and +4 stack on each other, there's no ceiling, and whoever draws the pile loses their turn too. The host can limit it to same-type stacks, set a ceiling or switch it off; the Classic preset has it off. (Table setting:
Penalty stacking
) - Stacking (+2 and +4 chains) (ONE rules) →
- Wild +4ONE
- The wild that changes the colour and makes the next player draw 4; a classic deck has 4 of them. Under the official rules you may only play it when you hold no card of the current colour.
- At Masabaşı: No restriction by default: play your +4 whenever you like. Switch on the official restriction and playing a +4 while you hold the current colour breaks the rules (it isn't checked when you answer a penalty chain with a +4). To catch a bluff, there's the +4 challenge. (Table setting:
+4 legality
) - The deck (ONE rules) →
You know the words — now take a seat
Reading only gets you so far. Sit down with the bots, and the indicator and laying off will click within a hand.