What Is Caloochi?
Caloochi — also spelled Calooki or Kalookie — is a rummy variant with deep roots in Sephardic Jewish culture, popular across the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Europe. It plays similarly to Kaluki: two decks plus Jokers, an opening meld of 51+ points required, and Jokers can be stolen from table melds. The final round has a special rule — players must go out without discarding, meaning every card must play.
What You Need
- Two standard 52-card decks plus two or four Jokers shuffled together
- Two to six players
- Score pad
Card Values
- Aces: 11 points
- Face cards: 10 points each
- Number cards 2–10: face value
- Jokers: wild — 25 penalty points if held when someone goes out
Setup
- Deal 13 cards to each player.
- Flip one card to start the discard pile.
How to Play
- Draw one card from stock or top discard.
- Your first meld of the game must total at least 51 points. Until then, you cannot lay off on others’ melds.
- After opening, meld sets (3+ same rank) and runs (4+ consecutive same suit) freely.
- Steal Jokers: Replace a tabled Joker with the natural card it represents and use the Joker in a new meld immediately.
- Discard one card to end your turn.
Final Round Rule
In the final round of the game, players must go out without discarding — every card in hand must be played into a meld or laid off. This makes the final round significantly harder and more exciting.
Scoring
Going out scores 0. All others count cards in hand (Jokers = 25 pts each). Lowest cumulative total over multiple rounds wins.
Tips
- Plan your 51-point opening from the first draw — three Aces (33 pts) plus any face card combination gets you there fast.
- Never hold Jokers near the end of the game — use them or you pay heavily.
- In the final round, plan your entire hand layout before committing — one card that doesn’t fit means you cannot go out.