How to Play Rummy 500

What you need

• 2–8 players. Everyone for themselves. No partners tonight. Three is a real table. Four is typical. Two is a real table.
• 2–4 people: one standard 52-card deck, no jokers. 5–8 people: two 52s shuffled together. Deal 13 each at 2, 7 each at 3 or more. The rest is the stock.
• Paper for the race to 500. Melds score when they hit the table. Leftover cards subtract when someone goes out.

Sit, pick a dealer, agree on the house

Sit where you can see the discard and reach the stock. Cut for the first deal, or point at someone. After each hand, the deal moves clockwise.

Say these out loud before the first card:

1. One 52 at 2–4. Two 52s at 5–8. No jokers. No partners. Two people get 13 each. Three or more get 7 each.
2. Fan the discard. Buried cards stay visible. You may take the top discard, draw from the stock, or fish a buried card — and you must meld that buried card this turn.
3. Melds go on the table. Sets of 3+ of a kind, runs of 3+ same suit. Ace low or high, not around. Lay off on anyone's meld.
4. First to 500. Score a meld when you table it. When someone goes out, leftover cards subtract. Not gin (knock at 10, hold the hand). Not Five Hundred (tricks, a short pack, a joker).

Deal 13 at 2, 7 at 3+, then a stock

Shuffle. Deal clockwise: 13 each if two people, 7 each if three or more. Put the rest of the pack face-down in the middle. That is the stock. Turn the next card face-up beside it. That is the first discard. Fan later discards so the pile stays readable.

Three people: 21 cards dealt, 31 in the stock, one of those turned up. Four people: 28 dealt. Two people: 26 dealt. At five or more, shuffle two 52s together first — duplicate ranks are fine. If someone has the wrong count, throw it in and deal again.

Left of the dealer plays first.

Melds: sets, runs, and layoffs

You put melds on the table. They score when they land, not when someone knocks. Two legal meld types:

• Set: three or more of a kind, any suits. Three kings. Four 8s. A pair is not a meld.
• Run: three or more consecutive cards of the same suit. 5-6-7 of clubs. 9-10-jack-queen of hearts.

Ace is low or high, not around. A-2-3 of diamonds is a run. Queen-king-ace of diamonds is a run. King-ace-2 is not. You pick one end for that ace; it does not wrap.

You may lay off on anyone's meld — yours or theirs. A fourth king onto three kings already down. A 4 of spades onto someone's ace-2-3 of spades. The card still scores for you when you table it.

This is the opposite of gin rummy. In gin you hold the hand until a knock. Here the table is public, and fishing only works because you can see what is in the pile.

Your turn: draw, take the top, or fish

Play goes clockwise. On your turn:

1. Draw one from the stock, or take the top discard, or fish: take a buried card from the discard pile and every card above it. If you fish, you must meld the buried card you claimed this turn. The cards that came with it go into your hand.
2. Meld if you want — new sets, new runs, or layoffs on anyone's piles. You may table more than one meld in a turn.
3. Discard one card face-up on the pile, unless you melded out with nothing left. That ends the turn.

Fishing is the house difference from gin. You do not take one buried card and leave the rest. You take the claimed card and the stack sitting on it. If you cannot meld that buried card right now, you cannot fish it. Taking only the top discard does not require an immediate meld.

When the stock is gone, play on with what is in hand until someone goes out or nobody can discard. Do not reshape the discard into a new stock — those cards are the fishing pond.

Scoring, in the amount you need tonight

Write a column for each person. Add a meld when it hits the table. When someone goes out, subtract leftover cards still in hand. Same values both ways.

Example: you table three aces. That is 45, write it now. Later you lay a 7 onto someone's 5-6 of hearts. That is 7 more. East goes out. You still hold a king: minus 10. Net for the hand is whatever you tabled minus that king.

Going out means you empty your hand — table the rest, with or without a final discard. First person to 500 on the pad wins the game. If the hand ends and nobody is at 500, deal again. Alternate the deal.

This pad is not Five Hundred. That game scores tricks from a short pack plus a joker. This pad scores cards you put on the table.

Walk through one first-night hand

Three people — a real table. You are West. East dealt. Seven cards each. The discard is 8♥.

You hold 8♠, 8♦, 7♥, 6♥, K♣, 5♣, 2♠. You take the 8♥, table three 8s (8+8+8 = 24, write it), discard 2♠. Four cards left.

North draws from the stock, tables nothing, discards 5♥. East draws, discards 9♣. The pile is now 2♠, 5♥, 9♣ — 9♣ on top.

You still have 7♥, 6♥, K♣, 5♣. You could try to fish the 5♥ — take 5♥ and the 9♣ sitting on it — but you must meld that 5♥ this turn, and two 5s is not a set. Illegal. Leave the pile. Fish only when the buried card tables right now.

Instead you draw from the stock: 4♥. You table 4♥-6♥-7♥ as a heart run (4+6+7 = 17). Discard K♣. One card left: the 5♣.

A few turns later you have drawn a 5♠. The pile is fanned: 5♦ (buried), Q♠, K♣ (top). You fish the 5♦ and take Q♠ and K♣ with it. Table three 5s. Discard the queen. Next turn East has three kings down. You lay the king onto East's kings and go out with nothing left. No final discard. North still holds a jack: minus 10 for North. Add your tabled cards, subtract nothing, write the line. If nobody has 500, deal again.

Night-one habits

• Fan the discard. Fishing only works if buried cards stay visible.
• Do not fish a card you cannot meld this turn. The extra cards in the stack are a bonus, not the reason.
• Table a meld when it is ready. Waiting is how gin works, not this.
• Lay off on anyone's piles. Those points are yours.
• Three people is a real Rummy 500 table. Two is a real table. Deal 7 at 3+, 13 at 2.

You know enough to deal. Keep this page beside the table. Four people is a tonight pick. Three people is a tonight pick. There is no Rummy 500 trainer on CardPractice — this how-to is the product. If you wanted 10 cards, a knock at 10, and no fishing, that is gin rummy. If you wanted a 43-card pack, a joker, and tricks to 500, that is Five Hundred.