Okey rules in English: how to play the Turkish tile game

Rules in short: draw a tile from the stock or take the previous player's discard, then discard one. Arrange fourteen tiles into runs (same color, consecutive) and sets (same number, different colors), or seven pairs, and finish by placing your last tile on the finish spot.

Okey is the rummy-style tile game played in every Turkish coffeehouse and family living room. Four players, 106 tiles, one wild tile that changes every hand. This page explains the full rules in plain English, the Turkish words you will hear at the table, beginner strategy and common questions.

Setup Example Turkish terms Strategy FAQ

Setup and deal

Four players sit around the table, each with a rack (in Turkish, ıstaka) that holds the tiles out of sight of the others. The tiles are shuffled face down and built into stacks. One player receives fifteen tiles, everyone else fourteen. A tile is turned face up as the indicator, and the remaining tiles form the stock in the middle. The player with fifteen tiles starts by discarding one.

Tiles

106 tiles: numbers 1 to 13 in red, yellow, blue and black, two of each, plus two false jokers. Each color also carries its own symbol on the tile so colors are never the only clue.

Indicator and okey

One tile is turned face up as the indicator. The tile one higher in the same color (13 wraps to 1) is the okey, a wild tile that stands in for any other. The false jokers only replace the okey's own value.

Turns

The first player gets fifteen tiles and only discards. Everyone else holds fourteen: on your turn draw from the stock or take the tile the player on your right discarded, then discard one. Play goes counter-clockwise.

Winning hands

Runs are three or more consecutive tiles of one color (12-13-1 is allowed, 13-1-2 is not). Sets are three or four tiles of the same number in different colors. When all fourteen tiles form groups, or seven pairs, place the fifteenth tile on the finish spot to go out.

Scoring

Everyone starts with 20 points. A normal finish costs the others 2 points; finishing with the okey tile or with seven pairs costs them 4. A player who reaches zero is out; the game ends when someone is out or two players remain.

Fair deal

Before the hand the SHA-256 hash of a secret seed is shown. The order of the tiles is a Fisher-Yates shuffle driven by HMAC-SHA256(seed, "r:" + i). When the hand ends the seed is revealed and the "Fair deal" badge recomputes the whole order in your browser.

When the stock runs out

If the stock is empty and nobody has finished, the hand ends without a winner and nobody loses points. A new hand is dealt.

An example finishing hand

Say the indicator is a yellow 6, so the okey is the yellow 7. A winning rack could look like this:

• Run: red 3, red 4, red 5
• Run: black 10, black 11, black 12, black 13
• Set: blue 8, yellow 8, black 8
• Run: yellow 1, yellow 2, okey (standing in for the yellow 3), yellow 4

That is fourteen tiles in four groups. You draw your fifteenth tile, discard it on the finish spot and win the hand. Had you discarded the okey itself to finish, the other players would lose 4 points each instead of 2.

Turkish okey terms

Gösterge (indicator)

The face-up tile that decides which tile is the okey this hand.

Okey (wild tile)

The tile one higher than the indicator, in the same color. It can stand in for any tile.

Sahte okey (false joker)

The two tiles printed with a joker sign. They play only as the okey's own value and color.

Istaka (rack)

The stand that holds your tiles.

Per (group)

Any valid group: a run or a set.

Seri (run)

Three or more consecutive numbers in one color.

Çift (pairs)

Finishing with seven pairs of identical tiles instead of runs and sets.

Bitmek (to go out)

To finish the hand by placing your last tile on the finish spot.

Okey strategy for beginners

• Keep the okey. Never discard it unless you are finishing with it. It fills any hole in your hand.
• Watch what your left-hand neighbor needs. The player after you can take your discard. If they picked up a red 9 earlier, do not hand them the red 10.
• Keep flexible tiles. A red 5 and red 7 can become a run with any red 6, and a 5 in two colors can become a set. Lone tiles with no partners are the first to go.
• Count what is gone. Each tile exists twice. If both blue 4s have been discarded, a hand waiting on a blue 4 is dead; change plan.
• Go for pairs early or not at all. If your first rack already holds four or five pairs, the seven-pairs finish is fast and worth double. Otherwise build runs and sets.
• Use the coach. The free coach suggests a discard and explains why, so you learn the habits of good players.