500 is a game of tricks - the highest bidder attempts to win at least as many tricks as they bid. Making the bid increases the players score while failing to make the bid decreases it. The first player (or partnership) to reach 500 wins - hence: 500! A game of 500 will usually consist of several hands, each being of 10 tricks.
5 Players - 53 cards - winning bidder calls for a partner
6 Players - 63 cards - 2 or 3 partnerships - Australian deck (11, 12, 13)
These assume that the Joker is being played - it can optionally be left out.
The Deal.
The deal (and dealer) rotates clockwise. Each player is dealt three(3) cards facedown in turn, the kitty one(1), each player four(4) in turn, the kitty one(1), each player three(3) again and the kitty the final one(1) card. Each player then has a hand of ten(10) cards and there is a kitty consisting of three(3) cards.
A Player may request a re-deal provided they have no picture cards (cards valued over 10 (or 13)) and that they do so before bidding begins.
Bidding.
Bidding proceeds clockwise from the player sitting next to the dealer. Players may pass ("go away") or make a bid which must be valued higher than the previous highest bid and for at least 6 tricks. Once a player has passed they may not bid again for that hand (excluding house rules).
The following table indicates the major/common bids and their valuesﾉ
TRICKS: 6 7 8 9 10
SUIT/TRUMPS:
Spades 40 140 240 340 440
Clubs 60 160 260 360 460
Diamonds 80 180 280 380 480
Hearts 100 200 300 400 500
No Trumps 120 220 320 420 520
The order of cards (from highest to lowest) of the Trump suit is: Joker, left Bower (Jack of the trump suit), right Bower (Jack of the other same coloured suit), Ace, King, Queenﾉ For all other suits the order is: Ace, King, Queen, Jackﾉ except where the Jack is the right Bower and played as if in the trump suit.
In No Trumps the order for all suits is: Joker, Ace, King, Queen, Jackﾉ House rules vary on the use of the Joker in No Trumps - often it can only be played when there are no 'real' members of the lead suit in the player's hand and the player has previously always been able to follow the suit. When allowed to be lead a suit must often be nomiated for the Joker.
There are two additional, optional bids ﾉ Misere & Open Misere. Both involve the bidder attempting to not win any of the ten tricks and their partner(s) sitting the hand out. Misere has a value of 250 but is a lower bid than 8 Spades. Open Misere has a value of 520 and is the highest possible bid - it also requires the bidding player to expose their hand after the first trick is played.
Bidding stops when no other player wishes to out bid the current highest bidder.
House rules may allow the final bidder to raise their own bid - other house rules may then allow the other players another opportunity to bid.
If no players bid then either the deal moves onto the next player or a no trumps hand is played with all players/partnerships scoring 10 per trick taken, the player clockwise to the dealer leading first and the kitty not being picked up.
The Kitty.
The player who makes the bid picks up the kitty (three cards), integrates it with their hand and then discards three cards - there are no restrictions - the in-coming or out-going kitty can even be shown, provided it is to all players!
Play.
500 is played as 10 tricks in which the winner of the previous trick (or, for the first trick, the highest bidder) leads (plays) a card and the other players must in turn (going clockwise) follow suit where possible. The player who plays the highest card of the lead suit, or the highest trump played, or the Joker wins the trick (the Joker always wins).
The player who made the bid will often short suit themselves (get rid of all of a suit from their hand) using the kitty in order to be able to play trumps on that suit and hence regain control.
Scoring.
The player (or more often partnership) attempting to make the bid number of tricks only scores at the end of the hand. If they make the bid their score increases by the value of the bid. If they fail to make the bid then their score decreases by the value of the bid. If all ten tricks are won and the value of the bid is less than 250 then the score increases by 250 rather than the value of the hand.
The opposing players/partnership(s) score 10 for each trick won during the game, provided their score is less than 500 - the only way to score above 490 is to win a hand.
When a player's/partnership's score reaches or exceeds 500 they are declared the winners. Should a player's/partnership's score reach or exceed -500 then the player/partnership with the highest score at that point is declared the winner.
