Last Updated on March 19, 2025 by The Official Game Rules Team

South African Kaluki (also called Kalooki), a popular rummy variant in South Africa, shares its roots with Contract Rummy, as also seen in Jamaica.

Like in other Rummy games, the goal is to form combinations with your cards that can be melded (placed face up on the table). The game consists of seven rounds, each with specific minimum requirements that must be met before a player is allowed to meld. The objective is to be the first to go out by laying down all your cards, which forces the other players to face penalties for the cards they still have left.

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How to Play South African Kaluki (Kalooki)

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Players

Kalookie is played by 3 to 5 players using two standard 52-card decks plus four jokers (108 cards in total). The point values for cards, used to calculate penalties at the end of the game, are as follows:

• Joker: 25 points
• Ace: 11 points
• King, Queen, Jack, Ten: 10 points
• 2 to 9: face value

To determine seating and the first dealer, a selection process is used. For four players, an ace, king, queen, and jack are drawn from the deck (for three players, only the A, K, and Q; for five players, A, K, Q, J, 10). These cards are shuffled, and each player is dealt one card. The player receiving the ace becomes the first dealer. The player with the king sits to their left, followed by the queen and so on, in clockwise order.

The Stake

Each player contributes a stake (for example, R1.00 South African Rand, you can use any currency) into the “kitty” before the first round. As the game progresses, more money is added to the kitty, and at the end of all seven rounds, the player with the lowest total points wins and collects the kitty.

The Deal

The dealer shuffles the cards at the start of each round, and the player to the dealer’s left cuts. The player who cuts must check if the cut card (the card now at the bottom of the deck) is a joker. If it is, they keep it and are paid R1.00 by the other players. The dealer then deals 13 cards to each player (12 if the cutting player kept the joker). The next card is revealed to start the discard pile, and the remaining cards are placed face down to form the stock. If a player has three or more jokers, they reveal them and are paid R1.00 by each of the other players.

After each round’s score is tallied, the next dealer is the player to the left.

The Play

The player to the dealer’s left begins, and play proceeds clockwise. Each turn consists of drawing the top card from the stock or discard pile, optionally laying down (melding) cards, and discarding a card face up onto the discard pile. Unlike other Kalookie versions, players can draw from either the stock or the discard pile, even if they haven’t yet melded any cards.

Valid melds are:

• A group of three or four cards of the same rank but different suits.
• A run of three or more consecutive cards of the same suit. Aces can be placed at either end of a run (e.g., A-2-3 or A-K-Q), but not in the middle (e.g., 2-A-K is invalid).

Jokers can be used to substitute missing cards but must adhere to certain rules. The first meld in each round must meet the round’s specific requirement. Once the first meld is laid down, players can add more melds or extend existing ones. A four of a kind is “closed” and cannot be extended further.

There’s a penalty for discarding a card that could have been played—either to extend a run or complete four of a kind or in exchange for a joker. The player who discarded must pay R0.10 to the kitty, and the discarded card cannot be picked up from the discard pile or bought by another player.

Play continues until one player has melded or discarded all their cards. The remaining players then count the penalty points for the cards left in their hands.

If the stock is depleted, the discard pile is shuffled and placed face down to form a new stock.

Initial Meld Requirements

Each round has a unique requirement, as shown in the table below:

Round	Requirement
1	Blitz (meld all your cards at once)
2	A group of three of a kind
3	A run of three cards in a suit
4	A run of three cards in a suit + a group of three of a kind
5	A run of four cards in a suit
6	A group of four of a kind
7	A run of five cards in a suit

Jokers

Jokers can substitute for any card in a group or run, but players must declare which card the joker represents. Jokers can be used in the initial meld, but only one can be used (except in the Blitz round). For most rounds, the card a joker represents must be “half safe” — meaning at least one of the two cards of that rank and suit must already be in play.

In later melds, jokers can substitute for any card, and more than one joker can be used. If a player holds the real card that a joker represents, they can reclaim the joker by swapping it for the real card during their turn, but only if they’ve already laid down their initial meld.

Buying Cards

If a player wants a discarded card but it’s not their turn, they can buy it. The player whose turn it is has first dibs on the discard. If they don’t want it, the next player clockwise can buy it. The player whose turn it was then draws the top card from the stock, and the buyer pays R0.10 to the kitty, takes the discard, and draws from the stock. The buyer can’t meld or discard at this point.

Each player can buy up to four cards per round, increasing their hand size by eight cards. While useful for forming combinations, buying cards can become costly if the player ends up holding them when someone else goes out.

Scoring

When a player goes out, the others tally the points of the cards remaining in their hands. Points are recorded on the score sheet and added to each player’s total. Players also make immediate payments:

• Each player pays the one who went out R0.10 for every 10 points or fraction of 10 points in their hand.
• If a player goes out three times consecutively, all players pay them an extra R1.00.
• In the Blitz round, players pay R1.00 in addition to the points-based payment.

At the end of round 7, the player with the lowest total points wins the kitty, which includes the R1.00 stake and all R0.10 payments from buying cards.

Variations

Some variations include:

• Jokers must be “half safe” throughout the game.
• A discard is required when going out in the Blitz round.
• A player who goes out in the Blitz without using jokers is paid double.
• Players can go out in a single turn in any round after the first meld.
• Some allow up to five cards to be bought per round, rather than four.
• Some variations allow the last round’s run of five cards to contain two jokers, if both are “half safe.”
• Some play with a different round sequence, as shown below:

Round	Requirement
1	A group of three of a kind
2	A run of three cards in a suit
3	A group of four of a kind
4	A run of four cards in a suit
5	Blitz (meld all your cards at once)
6	A run of three cards in a suit + a group of three of a kind
7	A run of five cards in a suit

The game is commonly called South African Kaluki, but it can also be spelled Kalooki in some regions. Both names refer to the same game, which is a variation of Contract Rummy.