Rummy 500 is one of the most popular variations of Rummy. In fact, this is thegame that many people think of as regular, normal or standard Rummy. The biggestdifference from the actual Standard Rummy is that players may draw morethan just the top card from the discard pile if they wish, although they mustplay the the bottom card of the stack they draw.
Object of the Game To lay matched number sets of 3 or 4 and/or sequences of 3 or more cards of the same suit to be the first player to obtain 500 total net points. Categories: Multiplayer Games The basics-Number of players: Two to Six, but three is an ideal number.-Cards: 32 pack of cards (standard pack excluding all cards between 2 and 6, inclusive) plus one joker.
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Another difference is that scoring is based on what the player has melded orlaid off, not just the deadwood left in their hand at the end of a game. Thisfact places Rummy 500 into a slightly different category of games from StandardRummy, which we'll call Meld Scoring Games.
Setup
Players: Rummy 500 can be played by 2 to 8 players.
Cards: A standard deck of cards is used, with 52 playing cards and 2 jokers.If 5 or more players are playing then a second deck should be used, with 108cards total.
The Deal: The number of cards dealt depends on the number of players. Ifthere are 2 players then they get 13 cards each. If there are 3 or more playersthen players then deal 7 cards each. The remaining cards should be placed facedown on the table and will become the stock pile. The top card should be flippedand placed beside the stock pile, this will be the start of the discard pile.
Objective: The object of the game is to get rid of all your cards by formingmelds or laying off cards on preexisting melds. Points are scored from the cardsplayed by each player.
Game Play
The turn-by-turn game play in Rummy 500 is nearly the same as in Standard Rummy.The player starts by drawing either from the stock pile or the discard pile,optionally forms melds (a run or a set), optionally lays off cards ontoother melds, and then discards one card to the discard pile. Since there isso much similarity, only the additions or differences will be described here.Please read the description of Game Play in Standard Rummy if you’re not alreadyfamiliar with it.
Drawing multiple cards from the discard
The most obvious difference from Standard Rummy is that more than one card maybe drawn from the discard pile. To facilitate this, the discarded cards shouldbe stacked to the side so the previous discards are still partially visible. Ifa player is able to make a meld or lay off a card that is not on the top of thestack then the player may take that card and all the cards above it in thestack. The bottom card taken must be played on that turn, (unless the playertook only the top card). The player should then play that card as well as anyother melds or layoffs they are able to do, and then discard a single card likenormal.
It is very important to understand how to use the discard pile for youradvantage. Suppose that you have these cards in your hand:2-4-5-8-J-K-K and that the discard pile is as follows:
500 Card Game For 3 Players
You want to take the 4 and 4 from the discard pileto go with your 4 to make a group. To get these cards, you musttake all the cards from the 4 onwards, leaving only the 6 in the discard pile. You can then meld the 4-4-4, andyou have the following cards left in your hand: 2-5-7-8-J-Q-K-K-A. You can then discard something you don't need such as the 2 and the discard pile is then:
500 Card Game App
If you had taken only the 7 you would have been allowed to keepit in your hand and not meld it. Since you took the cards from 4onward, you must meld the 4.
End of Hand
The hand can end in one of two ways. First, when a player disposes of all thecards in their hand via forming melds, laying off cards, or adding a final cardto the discard pile, then the hand is done. Note that it is not required toinclude adding a card to the discard pile when going out, all the remainingcards in a player’s hand may be played if they are all going to valid melds orlay offs.
The other way that a hand can end is if the stock pile is exhausted and thecurrent player does not want to draw any cards from the discard pile. If theplayer is able to use something in the discard pile then they take their turnlike normal and play continues on to the next player.
Once the game has ended in one of the ways described above then the hand is overand other players may not meld or lay off cards even if they have validcombinations in their hand. Calling “Rummy!” also not allowed.
Scoring
All players count the value of the cards they have melded, and subtract thevalue of the cards remaining in their hands. Each player’s score is added totheir ongoing score for the series of games being played. Games continue untilone or more players reach a score of 500 points or better. Note that it ispossible to have a negative score if the value in the hand is more than thevalue of cards melded. Also note that unplayed melds still must be counted.
Cards have the following values:
| Card | Value |
|---|---|
| Ace, Joker | 15 |
| Face cards | 10 |
| Others | Face value |
Card Game 500 Free
Optional Rules and Variations
- Playing without jokers: Rummy 500 was originally played withoutwild cards, and it certainly can still be played that way now. It makes for aslightly more challenging game, which some people prefer.
- 5/10/15 card values: To make scoring simpler the cards 2-9 can be givena value of 5 instead of their face value. If an ace is played as a low card,such as a A-2-3 run, then it will have a value of 5 points instead of 15.
- Card from discard pile must be played: With this variation the rule thatthe deepest card taken from the discard pile must be played also applies evenif only one card is taken from the discard pile.
- New meld for discard cards: When cards are drawn from the discard pilethen the deepest card must be played in a new meld, not laid off on existingmelds.
- Rummy in the Pile, or Calling Rummy!: This is a commonly played variant,although it is not regarded as part of standard Rummy 500 by most game books.The way it works is that if, for example, a player discards a card whichcould have been melded, or leaves the discard pile in a state where itcontains cards which can be melded without requiring a card or cards from anyplayer's hand, then before the next player draws, any player other than theone who just discarded, may call 'Rummy!' and take the discard pile as fardown as the relevant card. This player then completes their turn by meldingthat card and possibly others, and by discarding one card to end their turn. Theturn to play then passes to the player on the left of the one who called'Rummy!' and moves clockwise from there, possibly skipping some players ineffect. Note that it is not possible to call 'Rummy!' in this way when thegame has ended. When a player discards or melds their last card, the gameends and they need not have any regard to what is left in the pile. Here aretwo examples of how 'Rummy In The Pile' works in practice:
- If there is a 3-4-5 on the board (i.e. in the meld area)and someone discards a 2 or a 6 then anyplayer, apart from the the discarder may call out 'Rummy!', take the cardand meld it.
- If it is your turn and you have 7 and 8 inyour hand, you draw 6 from stock but there is already a 5 buried in the pile. If you meld your 6-7-8 inthis turn, then anyone can call 'Rummy!', take the 5 fromthe pile (and all cards above it) and add it to your meld. You cannot makethis call yourself immediately after placing your meld down, only the otherplayers may do this, but you may once the next player has taken his turn,in the unlikely event that no one else has spotted it and called 'Rummy!'.In situations like this you may want to hold on to your meld until yournext turn and then take the 5 from the pile (and all cardsabove it) in order to play the larger meld.
- Calling Rummy for top card only: For this variation only the mostrecently discarded card is eligible for being stolen by another playercalling “Rummy!”
- Discard required when going out: This variant requires a player who goesout to keep one card so that they can discard at the end of their turn. Inthis version of the game you are not allowed to meld all your cards, leavingyourself nothing to discard.
- Floating: This variant also required that a player must discard in orderfor the hand to be ended, but they can meld all of their cards on their turn.When this happens the player “floats” until it is their turn again. Theplayer can then draw a card and discard it, draw from the discard pile andmake a meld and discard like normal, etc. If the player still has cards atthat point (because of drawing more than one card from the discard pile) thenplay continues like normal until a player is able to go out with a discard.
- Unplayable discard required: if a player goes out with a discard thenthe card must be unplayable on any existing melds. Otherwise they will gointo floating mode as described above.
- Must go out to win: If another player is the one to go out on a hand,then you can not be the winner even if you have 500 points or better. If theplayer who did go out does not have 500 points then play continues withanother round. It is possible for the winner to have less points than otherplayers.