500 Rules — How to Play and Keep Score
A rummy game for two or more, played to 500 points, in which the discard pile is face up and you are allowed to take all of it. That one rule is what separates this from ordinary rummy and what makes it a holiday favourite — a player can be sixty points behind and scoop twelve cards in a single turn.
Overview
A rummy game for two or more, played to 500 points, in which the discard pile is face up and you are allowed to take all of it. That one rule is what separates this from ordinary rummy and what makes it a holiday favourite — a player can be sixty points behind and scoop twelve cards in a single turn.
It needs an app more than most rummy games do, because scores go down as well as up. Every hand you both add what you laid down and subtract what you got caught holding, so a bad hand is genuinely negative and the running total has to cope with that.
Setup
A standard 52-card pack plus two jokers. Deal seven cards to each player. Place the rest face down as the stock and turn its top card face up beside it to start the discard pile.
With five or more players, or if you simply want longer hands, shuffle two packs together.
How to play
On your turn you first take a card, choosing one of three options:
- the top card of the face-down stock;
- the top card of the face-up discard pile;
- the entire discard pile. Most tables require that you immediately meld the card you wanted — the rest come into your hand, useful or not.
You may then lay down any melds you can, and add single cards to melds already on the table, including other players' melds. A meld is three or more cards in sequence in the same suit — 5-6-7 of clubs — or, if sets are switched on, three or more of the same rank.
You end your turn by discarding one card face up.
Cards you have laid down stay on the table in front of you and count for you at the end of the hand. This is why laying down early is safe and hoarding is not.
Scoring
Cards are worth:
| Card | Value |
|---|---|
| Joker | 25 |
| Ace | 15 |
| 10, Jack, Queen, King | 10 |
| 2 through 9 | 5 |
At the end of a hand, each player adds the value of every card they have melded or laid off, and subtracts the value of every card still in their hand.
That subtraction is the point. A player who melded 60 points and is caught with an
ace and two kings scores 60 − 35 = 25. A player who melded nothing and holds a
joker, an ace and a nine scores 0 − 45 = −45. Negative hand scores are ordinary,
and a player's running total can sit below zero for a long stretch of the game.
Going out earns no bonus by default — the reward for going out is that you are caught holding nothing while everyone else is.
Ending the game
A hand ends the moment a player gets rid of their last card, playing it as their discard. Everyone else counts what they are left holding.
Deal again and keep a running total. The first player to reach 500 wins. If two players cross 500 in the same hand, the higher total takes it.
Common variations
Playing to 1000 for a longer game; allowing only runs and no sets; forbidding the scoop so only the top discard may be taken; and paying a bonus to whoever goes out. All four are settings rather than separate games.
Scoring at a glance
| Who wins | First to target |
|---|---|
| Played to | 500 points by default |
| Score sheet | One number per player per round, with a running total |
| Typical round score | -100 – 200 |
| Negative scores | Possible |
| Worth knowing | One number per player per hand — the value of everything they melded minus the value of everything left in their hand. Negative hands are normal and are the whole reason this sheet needs a minus key. |
500 — score sheet
Worked example
Settings: targetScore: 500, allowSets: true, goingOutBonus: 0, jokerValue: 25,
aceValue: 15. Players: Anna, Ben, Cara.
Hand 3 in detail, to show where the numbers come from:
- Anna went out. She had melded 6-7-8 of hearts (5+5+10 = 20), three queens
(10+10+10 = 30) and laid a joker onto Ben's run (25). She holds nothing.
Score:
75 − 0 = +75. - Ben melded 4-5-6 of spades (5+5+5 = 15) and is caught holding an ace, a king
and a three. Score:
15 − (15 + 10 + 5) = 15 − 30 = −15. - Cara melded nothing and is caught holding a joker, an ace and two eights.
Score:
0 − (25 + 15 + 5 + 5) = −50.
The full match:
| Hand | Anna | Ben | Cara |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 85 | −20 | 40 |
| 2 | −35 | 120 | 65 |
| 3 | 75 | −15 | −50 |
| 4 | 140 | 60 | 95 |
| 5 | 65 | 190 | 30 |
| 6 | 190 | 85 | 110 |
Running totals:
| After | Anna | Ben | Cara |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 85 | −20 | 40 |
| 2 | 50 | 100 | 105 |
| 3 | 125 | 85 | 55 |
| 4 | 265 | 145 | 150 |
| 5 | 330 | 335 | 180 |
| 6 | 520 | 420 | 290 |
Expected standings after hand 6: Anna 520, rank 1 — winner; Ben 420, rank 2;
Cara 290, rank 3. finished: true, because Anna crossed 500.
What this catches:
Hand scores are frequently negative, and so are running totals. Ben sits at −20
after hand 1 and goes on to finish second. A scorer that clamps hand entries at zero,
or that refuses a negative running total, produces a different game. allowNegative
must be on and the number pad must offer a minus key.
A player can lose ground while others gain. Anna's hand 2 is −35 while Ben scores 120 — a 155-point swing in one deal. This is normal here and is why the running total column, not the last hand, is what people read.
Melded value counts even when someone else goes out. Ben still banks 15 in hand 3 despite being caught. An implementation that scores only the player who goes out gets every hand wrong in the same direction.
Laying off counts for the layer, not the owner of the meld. Anna's joker onto Ben's run is worth 25 to Anna. Getting this backwards is easy and quietly decides matches.
House rules and settings
Every table plays 500 a little differently. These are the 11 rules groups argue about. Each one is a setting in the app — and changing it recalculates a match that is already in progress, which is the thing no other score keeper does.
Play to: what is the default in 500?
The first player to reach this total wins. The game is named after it, but plenty of tables play to 1000 for a longer evening or 200 for a quick one.
Default: 500. Adjustable from 100 to 2000 in steps of 50.
In the app: “Play to”.
Sets count as melds: on or off in 500?
Three or more cards of the same rank, like three queens. Most tables allow these alongside runs. Some Danish descriptions of the game mention only runs — turn this off to play that way.
Default: on.
In the app: “Sets count as melds”.
Cards dealt each: what is the default in 500?
Seven is standard. Two-player games sometimes use ten, and large tables sometimes drop to five.
Default: 7. Adjustable from 5 to 13 in steps of 1.
In the app: “Cards dealt each”.
May take the whole discard pile: what are the options in 500?
The gamble that defines this game. Scooping the pile can hand you a huge meld or bury you in penalty cards. Most tables require that the card you took the pile for is melded immediately.
Default: Yes, if you use the top card at once. Three options:
In the app: “May take the whole discard pile”.
Jokers in the deck: what is the default in 500?
How many jokers are shuffled in. Set to zero to play without them.
Default: 2. Adjustable from 0 to 4 in steps of 1.
In the app: “Jokers in the deck”.
Jokers are wild: on or off in 500?
A joker can stand in for any card in a meld. When it is left in your hand at the end it still costs its full value.
Default: on.
In the app: “Jokers are wild”.
Joker is worth: what is the default in 500?
Counted for you when melded and against you when caught in your hand.
Default: 25. Adjustable from 0 to 50 in steps of 5.
In the app: “Joker is worth”.
Ace is worth: what is the default in 500?
Aces are the heaviest ordinary card, which is what makes being caught holding one hurt.
Default: 15. Adjustable from 1 to 20 in steps of 1.
In the app: “Ace is worth”.
Aces run both ways: on or off in 500?
Whether an ace may sit below a two as well as above a king. Off by default — most tables treat the ace as high only, so A-2-3 is not a run.
Default: off.
In the app: “Aces run both ways”.
Lay off on other players' melds: on or off in 500?
Adding a single card to a meld anyone has already laid down. This is how a losing hand gets emptied late, so switching it off makes the game much harsher.
Default: on.
In the app: “Lay off on other players' melds”.
Bonus for going out: what is the default in 500?
Extra points for the player who empties their hand first. Traditionally there is none — going out is rewarded by not being caught holding anything.
Default: 0. Adjustable from 0 to 100 in steps of 5.
In the app: “Bonus for going out”.
Variants of 500
Runs only
Melds must be sequences in a single suit; three of a kind does not count. This is how several Danish descriptions of the game present it. Switch off "Sets count as melds".
Play to 1000
A longer game that gives an early disaster time to recover. Raise the target.
No scooping
Players may only ever take the single top card of the discard pile, which removes most of the game's swing.
500 is also known as
500 Rum, Rummy 500, Five Hundred Rum, Pick-up Rummy, Persian Rummy. These are the same game — the rules and the score sheet above apply to all of them.
Keep score offline
The sheet above works in your browser. Cardzo for iPhone remembers your players, survives a closed tab, and works in a field with no signal.
Coming to the App Store.