How to Play 101

Tiles

101 is played with the same 106 tiles as okey. There are 13 numbers across 4 colors (yellow, blue, black, red), and every tile exists twice. That makes 104 numbered tiles. The remaining 2 are special tiles called fake okeys.

Distribution

Each player receives 21 tiles at the start of a round. The starting player gets 22 and begins the round by discarding one tile. The starting position shifts to the right (counter-clockwise) each round.

Indicator Tile

Before tiles are dealt, one random tile is drawn from the pile and placed face up. This is the indicator tile. It determines which tile becomes the okey for that round.

If a fake okey is drawn as the indicator, it is set aside and another tile is selected instead.

Okey Tiles

The okey is the tile one number higher than the indicator in the same color. For example, if the indicator is red 5, the okey is red 6. If the indicator is 13, the okey wraps around to 1.

The two okeys are wild, like jokers: each one can stand in for any tile in a meld or a pair. This makes them the most valuable tiles in the game.

Fake Okey Tiles

The 2 tiles with the special symbol are called fake okeys. They count as the okey's number and color, but they are never wild. A fake okey is only ever the tile it represents, and it can sit in melds and pairs on that basis.

Melds (Per)

A valid group of tiles is called a meld (per in Turkish). Every meld needs at least 3 tiles. There are two types:

• Sets: Same number in different colors, three or four tiles. No repeated colors allowed. For example, red 7, blue 7, black 7.
• Runs: Consecutive numbers in the same color. For example, yellow 4, 5, 6, 7.

A pair is two identical tiles, same number and same color. A pair is not a meld. Pairs only count on the doubles route.

Important difference from okey: In 101, the sequence 12-13-1 is not valid. Runs cannot wrap around from 13 to 1.

Drawing Tiles

On each turn, a player either draws the next tile from the pile or takes the last tile discarded by the previous player. However, taking the discarded tile comes with a condition: the player must open their hand that turn.

If a player cannot open, they cannot take the discard. They may test the discarded tile on their rack to check, and return it without penalty if they cannot open, as long as nothing has been laid down.

Opening Your Hand

Opening means laying down melds from your rack onto the table for the first time. To open, you must clear the opening threshold, called the açar in Turkish. On the points route, your melds must total at least 101 points. This is where the game gets its name. Tiles count at face value, and an okey counts as the tile it stands in for.

Alternatively, a player can open on the doubles route with at least 5 pairs. The two routes are separate ladders: a doubles opening never raises the bar for a points opening, and the reverse is also true.

With Progressive, the default table rule, every opening must beat the previous one on its own ladder. If the first player opened with 120 points, the next player must open with at least 121. If a previous player opened with 6 pairs, the next doubles opening needs at least 7. With Fixed, the threshold stays at 101 points or 5 pairs all round. See Table Rules below.

Opening with Doubles

A player can open by laying down at least 5 pairs of identical tiles instead of melds. Pairs and melds cannot be mixed in the same opening.

Indicator claim: before drawing any tile in the round, a player holding a tile identical to the indicator can declare it and place it on top of the indicator in the middle. That tile then works as an okey for the doubles route only. Once it has been laid down in a pair, nobody can ever retrieve it.

After opening with doubles, a player can lay down more pairs and commit tiles to melds already on the table, but can never lay down a set or a run. The doubles route is one-way.

A leftover pair can only be committed if someone has opened with doubles and has a doubles area to commit it to. If nobody opened with doubles, loose pairs are dead weight.

Committing Tiles

After a player has opened, they can add tiles from their rack to any meld on the table, whether it belongs to them or another player. This is called committing, also known as laying off in other rummy games. A player who opened on points can also lay down new melds on later turns.

At most two tiles can be committed to either end of a run in a single turn. For example, if there is a run of 4-5-6 on the table, a player can add 7 and 8 in one turn, but not 9. The 9 can be added on the next turn. A set only ever takes the colors it is missing.

Everything laid down in the opening turn counts as one opening and is scored as one total. For example, opening with 4-5-6 and then adding 7-8 in the same turn counts as opening with 4-5-6-7-8 (scored as 4+5+6+7+8=30). Tiles committed on a later turn score nothing. They only make your rack smaller.

Retrieving Okey from the Table

If a meld on the table contains an okey and a player who has opened holds the real tile it represents, they can put the real tile in its place and take the okey. The retrieved okey can be used immediately or saved for later.

For sets: All 4 colors of that number must be completed before the okey can be retrieved. For example, if a set has yellow 12, blue 12 and an okey standing in for a missing color, the player must add both red 12 and black 12. Adding only one is not enough.

The player who originally laid that okey down gets 101 penalty points. Taking back an okey you laid down yourself gets you nothing. With Penalties off, this 101 is not written.

Ending the Round

The round ends when a player empties their rack completely (finishing) or when no tiles remain in the pile. A player finishes by laying down melds or pairs, committing tiles or a combination of both until no tiles are left on their rack, then discarding the final tile.

If the pile runs out and nobody has finished, it is an empty round and nobody earns a finishing reward. If nobody has opened, nothing is written. If anyone has opened, every rack is still scored: 202 penalty points for each player who never opened and the leftovers for each player who opened. See the scoring page for details.

A game lasts 11 rounds by default. Penalty points add up and reward points subtract. The lowest score at the end wins.

Direct Finish

If nobody has opened yet and a player opens and empties their entire rack in a single turn, every opponent gets 404 penalty points. In Turkish this is called elden bitmek.

If the final discard in a direct finish is an okey, every opponent gets 808 penalty points.