-------------------------------RULES FOR OKLAHOMA-------------------------------
-------------------------Compiled by John T. Wodder II--------------------------
INTRODUCTION
Oklahoma is a card game of the rummy family for two or more players,
though it is best with three. During each of the five hands, the players
attempt to be the first to obtain a certain set of melds and eliminate any
cards in their hands that are not a part of those melds (``deadwood'').
Depending on the hand currently being played, a meld can be either a book --- a
set of three of more cards of the same rank --- or a run --- a set of four or
more cards of the same suit and in consecutive, unbroken rank sequence. Large
enough books & runs may be split up into smaller ones. As soon as a player has
emptied his or her hand of melds & deadwood, the hand ends, and the other
players gain points based on what cards remain in their possession. The winner
is the player with the lowest score at the end of the game.
The number of decks of cards used should be equal to the number of
players divided by two & rounded up. Aces are high, and Jokers & black 2s
count as wild cards.
SET-UP FOR EACH HAND
Once the designated dealer performs the obligatory shuffing of the
decks, (s)he then deals out 10 cards to each player. The deck is then set in
the middle of the table, and the top card is turned over & placed next to it
face-up, starting the discard pile. The player to the left of the dealer then
takes the first turn, and from there the order of play proceeds clockwise.
PLAY
A normal turn begins with the current player either taking the top card
from the discard pile or else drawing one card from the deck. The card taken
is added to the player's hand, and the player then discards a card (possibly
the same one) from his/her hand, putting it face-up on the discard pile and
ending the turn.
As soon as a card is discarded, but before the next player's turn
begins, any player who desires the card may take it. If more than one player
wants it, whoever's turn will be coming up first of the desirers gets it. If
the player who takes the card is not the next player, then that player must
also draw a penalty/bonus card from the deck. If the discarded card is taken,
regardless of who took it, the next player cannot opt to take the top card from
the discard pile. If the player who took the card is the next player, that
action constitutes the first part of the player's turn.
The goal of each hand is to obtain the required melds and to empty
one's hand before the other players do so. The melds for each hand are as
follows:
Required Melds
------------------------
Hand 1 | 2 Books
Hand 2 | 1 Book, 1 Run
Hand 3 | 2 Runs
Hand 4 | 2 Books, 1 Run
Hand 5 | 1 Book, 2 Runs
Melds may not overlap, although large ones may be split up, and not all
cards in a player's hand need to be part of a meld in order to fulfill the
requirements for that hand (except during the last hand). Once a player has
the necessary melds, (s)he may ``lay down'' or, if possible, ``go out,'' either
of which is done in the middle of his/her turn before discarding. In laying
down, a player places his/her melds on the table face-up in front of
him/herself, reducing his/her hand to the deadwood. As soon as a player lays
down, and on each of the player's turns after that for the rest of the hand,
(s)he may place any cards still in his/her hand into any workable position in
his/her melds or the melds of any other player who has laid down. If possible,
a card may replace a wild card in a laid-down run, and the displaced wild card
must then take the position of the next highest card at the end of the run; if
this is not possible, then the wild card cannot be replaced.
When a player has eliminated all of his/her deadwood cards, or if they
lay down with no deadwood remaining, (s)he is said to have ``gone out.'' At
this point, the hand ends, and each player's score is increased by the total
point value of the cards in his/her hand (see below; this does not count
anything laid down); the player who went out attains a perfect score of 0.
NOTE: For the fifth & last hand, a player may not lay down with cards still in
his/her hand; (s)he must go out simultaneously with laying down without having
to discard a card.
At the end of the game, the player with the lowest score wins.
