Tournaments start with 10,000 points; the round stake is 250 × multiplier.
Players and tiles
Rummy 101 can be played by 2–4 players. Form valid melds, open your hand and finish before your opponents. Lower TP is better.
The base set contains 106 tiles: 104 numbered tiles from 1 to 13, in four colours and two copies each, plus two classic jokers. Each player receives 21 tiles; the starting player receives 22 and begins by discarding.
The indicator stays face up and cannot be taken. The next number in the same colour is wild: with a red 5 indicator, red 6 is wild; 13 wraps to 1. On your rack, hold the wild tile to turn it face down or back up; its value does not change. Printed joker tiles have that fixed value (red 6 in the example), keep their joker picture and cannot be flipped. The indicator gives no bonus. The counter counts only drawable tiles.
Normal and Quick Start tables need at least 2 players; tournament tables need at least 3; Arena needs 4. With 4 players, 85 tiles are dealt and one is reserved as the indicator: only 20 of the 106 tiles remain to draw.
Your turn, step by step
1. Take one tile: draw from the face-down stock, or take the previous player’s last discard if you can use it immediately. The Joker button may replace the stock draw.
2. Lay down melds or add tiles if eligible. A meld is a valid combination moved from your rack onto the table, face up. Adding means extending a meld already on the table.
3. Discard one tile to end your turn. The starting player already has 22 tiles and begins without drawing another.
One draw, then eligible actions, then one discard.
Taking a discard: one tile, not the whole pile
You may take only the last tile discarded by the player immediately before you. Take that one tile, not the whole pile. You cannot choose an older tile from the discard history or a tile discarded by any other player.
If you have not opened yet, use the tile in your first opening on that same turn: at least 101 points or five pairs. Its value counts towards the opening. A small run alone is not enough if your total is below 101.
If you have already opened, use the tile immediately in an allowed meld or add it to a meld on the table. You cannot take it just to keep it on your rack for later.
After taking a discard, you cannot also draw from the stock or use the Joker button on the same turn. If you cannot use the discard immediately, draw from the stock.
Take only the red 6, if you use it immediately. Leave the other tiles where they are.
You have already opened, and the last discard is a red 6: take it and add it to the red 3–4–5 run.
Valid melds
A run contains at least three consecutive numbers of one colour. A set contains three or four tiles of the same number, all in different colours.
The 1 goes before 2. The run 12–13–1 is not allowed. A pair contains two tiles of the same number and colour; a joker may replace one of them.
Valid: no number is missing and all tiles are red.
Valid: the number is the same, but each colour appears only once.
Invalid as a set: red is repeated. The two red tiles can form a pair.
Tile values
A numbered tile is worth its face value. In a meld, a joker takes the value of the tile it replaces.
A joker left in your hand counts as 101 penalty points. A joker obtained through the button has the same values as a regular joker.
| Tile / situation | Points |
|---|---|
| Numbered tile 1–13 | Face value |
| Joker in a meld | Value of the replaced tile |
| Joker left in hand | 101 |
How to make your first opening
Arrange valid runs and sets on your rack. Add the values of all tiles in the melds you want to lay down. You need at least 101 points in a single turn. You cannot lay down 60 points now and another 41 on a later turn.
Lay down all the melds that make up your opening. A run is not mandatory: sets alone are enough if their total reaches 101. Each tile counts once, in the meld where you place it.
After opening, you may add tiles on that same turn. Additions to existing melds do not count towards the 101 points required for your first opening. Keep a tile to discard at the end.
33 + 36 + 33 = 102. You can open. The first two melds alone total 69: not enough.
How to open with five pairs
You may open with at least five pairs: ten tiles grouped into pairs of the same number and colour. They do not need to total 101 points. Two tiles with the same number but different colours are not a pair.
A player who opens with pairs cannot later lay down new runs or sets, but may add to other players’ melds. A player who opened with runs and sets may add pairs once another player has opened with pairs.
If you opened with pairs and someone else finishes, your remaining-tile penalty doubles: 8 remaining points mean +16 TP. If that opponent also finishes with a joker, it doubles again to +32 TP. Finishing in one turn adds a separate ×2 factor; applicable multipliers multiply together.
Each pair matches in number and colour. For this opening, count pairs rather than 101 points.
Jokers and the Joker button
Example: if the indicator is a red 5, both red 6 tiles become wild jokers and can replace any tile. The tile with a printed joker is different: it represents only red 6, not any tile. After a 13 indicator comes 1 of the same colour. A melded wild joker appears face down and stays in its meld until the round ends: you cannot exchange or recover it, even with the tile it represents. The Joker button gives you an extra wild joker, face down with no number, not a fixed-value tile.
You may use the Joker button once per round, if you have jokers in your account, only when it is your turn to draw from the stock. You receive the joker in your hand instead of your normal draw; you do not draw another tile on that turn.
You cannot use the button after drawing or taking a discard. A joker obtained through the button is used and scored exactly like a normal joker, including opening, finishing and penalties.
When melded, the wild joker automatically appears face down in the meld. Turning it over only changes its appearance: it remains wild and takes the value of the tile it represents. The printed joker has a fixed value and is not turned over.
Example: if the indicator is a red 5, both red 6 tiles become wild jokers and can replace any tile. The tile with a printed joker is different: it represents only red 6, not any tile. After a 13 indicator comes 1 of the same colour. A melded wild joker appears face down and stays in its meld until the round ends: you cannot exchange or recover it, even with the tile it represents. The Joker button gives you an extra wild joker, face down with no number, not a fixed-value tile.
Receive one tile. Do not take both a joker and a stock tile.
How to add tiles
You must complete your own opening first. You may then add tiles to your own or other players’ melds, including on the turn when you open.
You can add a red 2 before a red 3–4–5 run, or a red 6 after it. You cannot add a 6 of a different colour. You can add the fourth 8, in the missing colour, to a set of three 8s in different colours.
Valid only after your own opening. A blue 6 does not fit this run.
Finishing
To finish, you must have no tiles left after discarding your last tile. Always keep a tile to discard: if you only have 7–8–9, you cannot lay down all three and claim a finish without a discard.
Finishing by discarding a joker doubles opponents’ penalties: 404 without opening, twice the remaining values after a normal opening, and four times the remaining values after a pairs opening. The winner receives −202 TP.
Finishing after opening with pairs doubles TP: −202 for the finisher, +404 for an unopened opponent, twice the remaining values after a normal opening and four times after a pairs opening. A joker as the final discard doubles these again: −404, +808, and four or eight times the remaining values respectively. Multipliers multiply together; stake winnings are not multiplied this way.
Finishing in one turn occurs when nobody has opened and a player lays down all tiles and finishes in a single turn. Each opponent receives +404 TP. The finisher receives −202 TP; with a joker as the final discard: −404 TP, and each opponent receives +808 TP.
You cannot finish by melding all three: you would have no tile left to discard.
Scoring and penalties
Normal games and Quick Start: the stake is 250 points per player. The winner receives the whole fund, including their own stake: a net gain of 250 with 2 players, 500 with 3, or 750 with 4. Each opponent loses 250. Settlement happens once at the end, without a separate entry debit. Joker and one-turn finishes do not multiply these amounts.
In normal games and Quick Start, if the stock runs out without a finish, compare penalties: the remaining tile values for opened players, doubled for pairs opening, or 202 for unopened players. Melded points are not added to the final score. The player with the unique lowest penalty wins the table fund. If nobody has opened or the lowest penalty is tied, no account gains or loses points.
Arena adds the TP from all 3 rounds; the lowest total wins. Tied first places share the prize under Arena rules. In normal games and tournaments, the result bar also shows the round score in parentheses (TP); Arena has no TP label. Tournament players start with 10,000 points each. The multiplier increases from ×1 to ×8 every 15 minutes and is fixed when the first player joins the table. First place gains 250 × opponents × multiplier; each opponent loses 250 × multiplier. At stock exhaustion or the tournament deadline, the unique lowest penalty wins. No melds or a tie for first place means no point transfers. Special finishes affect TP, not these awards. Final tournament prizes are unchanged.
TP is the round score: −101 for a normal finish; opened opponents add the values left on their own racks, while unopened opponents receive +202. Opening with pairs doubles the penalty. Melded tiles are not added. Lower TP is better. Account winnings and tournament standing points are calculated separately from the stake; more points in those standings means a better place.
| Tile / situation | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Without opening | 202 |
| Opening with runs / sets | Sum of remaining values |
| Opening with pairs | 2 × remaining values |
Increasing thresholds
With “Increasing threshold”, each player's first meld must exceed the previous opening. The first player needs at least 101 points. If they open with 116, the next player needs at least 117. If that player opens with 125, the next needs at least 126.
The pairs threshold increases separately from the points threshold: the first opening requires at least 5 pairs; after an opening with 5 pairs, the next requires at least 6.
The rule applies only to players who have not yet opened, on their first meld. Players who have already opened do not need to meet the threshold again. With “No special rules”, the threshold stays at 101 points or 5 pairs for every player.