500 card game: rules, bid table and score keeper

The 500 bid table (Avondale schedule)

Every bid has a fixed value. Start at 40 for six spades, add 20 for each suit up the ladder (spades, clubs, diamonds, hearts, then no trumps) and 100 for each extra trick. The table below is generated by the same code as the keeper and checked against Pagat and Wikipedia.

The bid order and the score order are the same thing, with two exceptions: misère and open misère. Pagat's Australian rules put misère above all the sevens and allow it only after someone has bid seven. Open misère can be bid at any time, even as the opening bid.

How to play 500

The deck

Four players use 43 cards. Pagat keeps A down to 4 in hearts and diamonds, A down to 5 in spades and clubs, and adds one joker. Wikipedia describes the same count made by taking out the 2s, 3s and two of the 4s, and also mentions a 45-card version that keeps all the 4s and uses a 5-card kitty. A standard deck works: just pull the cards out before the first deal.

Card order, bowers and the joker

When a suit is trumps, the joker is the top card. Next comes the jack of trumps (the right bower), then the other jack of the same colour (the left bower), then ace, king, queen, 10 and down. The left bower changes sides: it counts as a trump for following suit, so the other suit of that colour has no jack for the hand. The non-trump suits run ace high down to 5 or 4.

Deal and kitty

Deal clockwise. Pagat's pattern is 3 cards to each player, 1 to the kitty, 4 each, 1 to the kitty, 3 each, 1 to the kitty. That gives everyone 10 cards and leaves 3 face down. The deal passes to the left after every hand.

Bidding

Starting left of the dealer, each player bids or passes. A bid names a number of tricks, six to ten, and a suit or no trumps. A higher bid has more tricks, or the same number in a higher suit. In Pagat's Australian rules a player who passes cannot bid again, and if all four pass the cards are thrown in. The auction ends when three players have passed.

Misère is a bid to lose every trick, playing alone while your partner lays their hand face down. In open misère you also spread your cards face up after the first trick.

Play

The winning bidder picks up the kitty without showing it, then discards any 3 cards face down. The contractor leads to the first trick. Follow suit if you can; if you cannot, play any card. The highest trump wins the trick, or the highest card of the suit led if no trump was played. The winner leads next.

The joker in no trumps and misère

With no trump suit, the joker is the only trump. Pagat's main rule: a contractor holding it may say before the first lead which suit it belongs to, and it is then the top card of that suit. Otherwise it belongs to no suit and wins any trick it is played to. You may play it only when you cannot follow suit. You may lead it and name a suit the others must follow, as long as that suit has not been led yet. Once all four suits have been led, the joker can only be led to the last trick. In misère, a player holding a joker that belongs to no suit must play it when void in the suit led.

Scoring

• Bid made: the contractors score the bid's value, with nothing extra for overtricks. Their opponents score 10 for each trick they took. Example: 7 hearts made with 8 tricks: +200; Opponents took 2 tricks: +20.
• Bid set: the contractors lose the bid's value, and the opponents still score 10 a trick. Example: 8 spades set with 6 tricks: -240; Opponents took 4 tricks: +40.
• Slam: taking all ten tricks on a bid worth less than 250 scores 250 instead. Example: Slam on 6 clubs: all ten tricks, scored as 250 instead of 60. A bid worth 260 or more just scores its value.
• Misère: plus 250 (open misère 500) if the contractor takes no tricks, minus the same if they take any. In Pagat's Australian rules the opponents score nothing either way. Example: Misère lost (the contractor took 1 trick): -250.

Winning and losing

In Pagat's Australian game, a side wins by reaching 500 or more as a result of making a bid. Points from tricks taken against the other side's bid can carry you past 500, but you still have to make a bid to finish. A side that falls to minus 500 or worse loses ("going out backwards").

Where the sources differ

• Winning on trick points. Pagat's Australian rules: never. Pagat's American section: the first to 500 wins, even on trick points, and the contractor wins if both get there on the same deal. Wikipedia gives the same tie rule and lists the Australian rule as a variation. The keeper's rule set switches between them.
• Misère placement. Pagat's Australian rules put misère above every seven, bid only after a seven. Pagat's American section and Wikipedia put it between 8 spades and 8 clubs, where its 250 falls in the table.
• Trick points against misère. Pagat's Australian rules give the opponents nothing. Pagat's American section gives them 10 for each trick the contractor takes. The rule set covers both.
• The 43 cards. Pagat keeps the red 4s. Wikipedia says either the black 4s or the 4♠ and 4♦ come out, and in the second case the 4 of the trump colour counts as a trump.
• Joker in no trumps. Pagat lists several local versions: no naming the suit in advance, never leading it, or no using it on a suit you have shown void in. Agree on one before you start.
• Other house rules Pagat lists. Bidding again after passing, no slam bonus, no misère at all, and frozen trick points at 490 or 460. The keeper has switches for the slam and for misère. Bidding again and no misère change only the bidding; the keeper does not freeze trick points, so a table that plays that rule should keep it in mind when a side nears 500 on tricks.
• Other player counts. Pagat: three players use 33 cards (sevens and up plus the joker) and each scores alone. Five use the full pack plus the joker, and the contractor may call a partner by naming a card. Six play two teams of three with a 63-card pack. This keeper covers the four-player game.

Tips

1. Count the top three. The joker and two bowers are the best trumps. Holding two of them is a strong start for a trump bid in that colour.
2. Remember the kitty. You will see 3 more cards before play, so a hand one trick short may still be worth the bid.
3. Watch the score before you bid. Near 500, a cheap made bid wins (Australian rules). Near minus 500, a failed big bid ends the game. The keeper shows both.
4. Misère wants low cards in every suit. A single high card you cannot get rid of will sink it, and the opponents will lead that suit.

500 questions

How do you play 500?

Four players in two partnerships each get 10 cards from a 43-card pack with a joker, and 3 cards go face down as the kitty. Players bid how many tricks (six to ten) their side will take and which suit will be trumps. The highest bidder takes the kitty, discards 3, and leads. Make your bid to score its value from the table; miss it and you lose that much. First side to 500 wins.

What is the highest card in 500?

The joker. With a trump suit, the order is joker, the jack of trumps (right bower), the other jack of the same colour (left bower), then ace, king, queen, 10 and down. The left bower counts as a trump, not as a card of its own suit.

How many points is each bid worth in 500?

Six spades is worth 40. Each suit up the ladder (clubs, diamonds, hearts, no trumps) adds 20 and each extra trick adds 100, so ten no trumps is worth 520. Misère is 250 and open misère 500. This is the Avondale table that Pagat and Wikipedia both print.

Can you win 500 on the opponents' bid?

Not in the Australian game Pagat describes: you must reach 500 by making a bid of your own, and trick points past 500 just carry you along. In the American rules Pagat and Wikipedia give, the first side to 500 wins, even on trick points, but the bidders win if both sides get there on the same hand.

What happens to the joker in no trumps?

Under Pagat's main rules, a contractor who holds it may name its suit before the first lead. Otherwise it belongs to no suit, wins any trick, and can only be played when you cannot follow suit. You may lead it and name a suit that has not been led yet. Groups play this several ways, so agree first.

Is 500 the same as Rummy 500?

No. This 500 is a trick-taking game with bidding and trumps, descended from Euchre. Rummy 500 is a rummy game where you meld sets and runs. They share a target score and nothing else.