The Rules of
Rummy 500 and How To Play Rummy 500
Rummy 500
(also known as Persian Rummy, Pinochle Rummy, 500 Rum, 500 Rummy)
is a hugely popular Rummy game which has important distinction
that for two players, each receives 13 cards (In straight Rummy, for two
players
each player receives 10 cards) and that players may draw more than just the
upcard from the discard pile.
According to the most commonly played
Rummy 500 rules, points are scored for cards that are melded, and points are lost
for cards that are not melded (ie deadwood) and remain in a player’s hand when
someone goes out. The game is won by the player who is first to
reach the cumulative target score of 500 points.
The Deck
Rummy
500 is played with what is called a standard deck of cards, which is 54 cards
(52 playing cards and two jokers). You can play this game with 2 to 8 players.
If there are 5 or more people playing, you should use two decks of cards (108 cards total).
The Deal
The
cards are dealt by the dealer, who deals the cards one at a time going
clockwise, starting with the person to the dealer’s left. This continues until
each of the players has received 7 cards or 13 cards if there are just two players.
|
Number of players |
Deck of Cards |
Number of cards dealt to each player |
|
2 Players |
1 Deck |
13 cards each |
|
3 or 4
Players |
1 Deck |
7 cards each |
|
5+
Players |
2 Decks |
7
cards each |
The
rest of the cards are placed on the table to form the stock pile, which is a face down pile that
each player can reach. The first card should be lifted over and set face up
beside the stock.
This will become the discard pile. The players may now examine and sort their
cards.
Object of the game
Draw (Compulsory) - When
it is your turn, you must either draw the top card from the stock and put it
into your hand without showing anyone, or you can take one card from
the discard pile. The discard pile is fanned out and you may draw from the entire pile, not just the upcard, but if
you take one from lower down in the discard pile you must take all the cards
above it. A card drawn in this way must be placed in a meld
right away - either in a new combination or by adding it to an existing meld
on the table. The other cards taken in addition to this discard, may be added
to your hand or melded in the same turn.
As with regular Rummy, the object of
Rummy 500 is to dispose of
all your cards and you can do this in one of three ways after the initial draw:
(1) Melding (Optional)
- Cards may be discarded by placing combinations of three or more
cards from your hand face up on the table before you. Alternatively, you may keep melds in your hand. You may only lay down one meld
during a turn. There are two kinds of combinations: runs and sets.
A
run (aka sequence) is three or more cards of the same suit in
sequence:
|
Example of
a Valid Run |
Example of
an Invalid Run |
3 4
5 |
3 4
5 |
|
10 J Q
K |
10 J Q
K |
A
set (aka group) is three or four cards of the same rank and different
suits:
|
Example of
a Valid Set |
Example of
an Invalid Set |
|
A A
A |
A A
2 |
|
K K
K K |
K K Q |
(2) Laying Off
(Optional) - This involves adding cards from your hand to melds already
on the table. Cards added must form a valid meld. Thus, if there is a run of 4
5
6 on the table,
you may add 3 or
you could add 2
and 3 or
you could even add
2 3 and 7.
If there was a 6
6
6 on the
table, you could add a 6
but not anything else. Even if you are playing
with two packs, the cards of a set must all be of different suits, so there is
no fifth 6 that can be included in that meld.
You are not permitted to
move cards from one meld to another to form new melds. You are not obligated
to lay off cards just because you can but there is no limit to the number of
cards you can lay off during a single turn.
When laying off a card,
there is often more than one meld it could be attached to. The player laying
off must choose which meld to extend. For example, if there is a run (sequence)
of 4
5
6 and a
set (group) 7
7
7
on the table, and you have a 7
in your hand, you must choose whether to add your 7
to the run or the set, but once it is played, it cannot be moved.
Jokers (
)
are wild cards that can stand for any card in a meld and even a duplicate of a
card already in another meld. The player who melds a joker must declare what card the
joker represents as this cannot be later changed by any player. Some house
rules say you do not need to specify the suit in a situation where you have
formed a group of two jokers melded with another, example: 2
and
because it has to represent a specific card, you cannot meld a joker against
four kings, as a fifth king does not exist.
(3)
Discarding (Compulsory) - Unless you melded all the cards
in your hand, you must place a card from your
hand face up on top of the discard pile to complete your turn. Once the player has
discarded, his turn is over and he may not play any cards until it is his turn
again. According to some house rules, unless you drew more than just the
upcard from the
discard pile, you cannot discard the upcard in the same turn.
Drawing from the Discard
Pile
For the purpose of
clarification, here is an example of how "drawing from the discard pile" works
in practice according to standard Rummy 500 rules. Let us say that the discard pile
consists of K
4
8
6
9
and the upcard is 4
and you want to get hold of the 6
in order to complete a set of three sixes. You would take 6
9
and 4.
The 6
completes your set and you put in your meld. The 9
and 4
are added to your hand. If you then discard 9
to complete your turn, the new discard pile arrangement becomes K
4
8
and the upcard is now 9.
End of Hand
The
game continues until a player has no cards left in hand. It will also stop
when a player, whose turn it is, wants to draw from stock and there are no cards left. When
either of these two things happen, the hand is over. At this time, the scores
for this hand will be added up for each of the people playing.
Some house rules provide that if the stock pile runs out,
the top card from the discard pile is set aside and the remainder of the
discard pile is shuffled and turned face down to become the new stock
pile. The top card starts the new discard pile.
When
play ends no more cards can be melded. Any cards remaining in the hands of
players are scored against them even if they could have been added to a meld.
If your deadwood count is more than the total of
the cards you have melded, your score for that hand is negative. Further hands
are played until someone reaches the target score of 500 points and that
player is the winner of the game. In the event of a tie, deciding hands are
played until there is a firm winner.
Scoring
The
cards are assigned fixed point values according to standard Rummy 500 rules.
|
Cards |
Value |
Example 1 |
Example 2 |
|
Jokers |
15 points |
is worth 15 points |
is worth 15 points |
|
Aces |
15 points |
A
is worth 15 points |
A
is worth 15 points |
|
Faces |
10 points |
J
is worth 10 points |
K
is worth 10 points |
|
Others |
Pip value |
2
is worth 2 points |
8
is worth 8 points |
For the Jack, Queen and King, their points values are 10 points each. For the
Ace and Joker, you get 15 points each.
The only exception to this rule is that when
you meld an Ace with a 2 or a 3 of the same suit as part of a sequence, you
get 1 point instead of 15. The rest of the cards have their own pip value. This means that the 2 has the value of
2, and the 3
card has the value of 3, and so on.
Other House Rules
The above are the most
commonly used items included in default Rummy 500 rules but the following
individual house rules may be introduced to the game at the discretion of the
those organising play, including:
(1) Some house rules say
that in order to draw from the discard pile you must meld. You can take a card
you need for your meld plus all the cards above it. This rule applies even in
the case where you only take the top card from the discard pile (the upcard).
If you are not going to meld, you must draw from the stock.
(2) A player is required to
discard a card before going out. A player without a card to discard must
become a floater until their turn arrives and they are able to draw and
discard a card that cannot be melded ie one unplayable card. If it can be
melded, you must remain a floater for another round. Note that you cannot
simply draw the upcard and discard it in the same turn since that is an
illegal move.
We are conscious about the
variations in different Rummy games and our features are therefore constantly
subject to review. If you know a different version of Rummy
500 rules or
can suggest some corrections, please let us know so that we can amend this
page
accordingly. Please contact us via email at the address below: |