Göbek 17 okey rules and scoring
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Göbek 17 is a form of 101 okey played with as many tiles as classic okey: faster, with harsher penalties. You lay melds on the table, add tiles to melds and try to finish first; scores are penalty points and the lowest total wins. This guide covers the rules of göbek 17 on Boombala and how the scoring works.
Tiles and the deal
The 106-tile okey set is used, with the indicator and the okey as in classic okey. Everyone is dealt 14 tiles; the player right of the dealer gets 15 and starts by throwing one. Play goes right: draw from the pile or take the tile the player on your left threw, then throw a tile.
What is the göbek? Opening with 51
The göbek ("belly") of a three-tile meld is its middle tile: 5 in 4-5-6, 11 in a red-black-blue 11. A three-tile meld always adds up to three times its göbek, so when the göbeks of your melds make 17 the melds make 51, which gives the game its name.
- Opening with melds: the numbers of the melds you lay down add up to at least 51.
- Opening with pairs: at least 4 pairs. Who opens with pairs can only lay pairs afterwards.
Example opening
Black 5-6-7 (göbek 6, total 18) and a red-black-blue 11 set (göbek 11, total 33): the göbeks make 6 + 11 = 17 and the melds 18 + 33 = 51, enough to open. Black 1-2-3 with a four-colour 11 set makes 6 + 44 = 50: not enough.
Raising openings
Openings raise: once someone has opened this hand, the next opening needs at least one more than the best so far. If one player opened with 63 the next needs 64. Pairs work the same way: after 4 pairs come 5, then 6.
After opening: laying melds and adding tiles
- After opening you may lay as many new melds as you like (no 51 needed).
- You can add a tile to either end of a run on the table, or the missing colour to a three-tile set.
- Mind: adding a tile to another player's meld makes its owner score ten times that tile, a way to hand out penalties.
- You must always keep a tile to throw; throwing your last tile finishes the hand.
Taking a tile from the side
You may take the tile the player on your left threw, but it must go on the table that turn: to open with, onto a meld, or in a new meld. As soon as you take it, the player who threw it scores ten times its number: 130 for a 13, 70 for a 7. If you can't use it you give it back, for 500 if the table says so.
Counting the penalties
| Case | Points |
|---|---|
| Finisher | −1000 |
| Never opened | 1000 |
| Opened | Sum of the tiles left in hand (okey counts 500) |
| Opened with pairs | Sum of the tiles left in hand × 2 |
Finishing with the okey, before anyone else opened (or from the hand, laying every tile in one opening) and with pairs each double everyone: −2000 with the okey, −4000 with the okey before anyone opened, −8000 with pairs on top; the others score with the same doubling.
Penalties during the hand
- Throwing an okey: 500.
- Throwing a workable tile (one that fits a meld on the table): 500.
- Giving back a tile taken from the side: free (500 if the table says so).
- Your thrown tile taken from the side: ten times the tile.
- Another player adds to your meld: ten times the tile (nothing from your partner).
- Another player adds a pair to your pairs: twice the tiles added (nothing from your partner).
Example hand
Ayşe finished: −1000. Mehmet had opened with 3 and 9 left, but Ayşe had added a 12 to his meld: 12 + 120 = 132. Can never opened and Deniz had taken his 13 from the side: 1000 + 130 = 1130. Deniz had opened with pairs and kept a 5: 5 × 2 = 10. Had Ayşe finished with the okey, Can would score 2000 + 130 and Deniz 20.
If the pile runs out nobody finishes: everyone scores their hand, and who never opened still scores 1000.
Göbek 17 tips
- Before you throw, think of the player on your right: handing them a useful 13 costs you 130.
- Once your melds are on the table others can add to them; long runs with open ends can cost you more.
- Openings raise, so opening early pays: wait too long and you may need more than 60.
- Never opening costs 1000; with 14 tiles opening is easier than in 101, so take your chance.