Rules for Five Hundred

Use a standard 52-card deck. If there are five or more players, use two decks. Each player receives seven cards, and the rest are placed face down in a draw pile on the table. Turn the top card of the draw pile face up and place it next to the pile. This is the start of the discard pile.

The goal of the game is to be the first to reach Five Hundred points. Each round is about getting rid of the cards in your hand by laying down combinations of cards that score points. When the first player runs out of cards, the cards left in the other players’ hands count as negative points.

A combination is a series of at least 3 cards placed together on the table, and there are two types:

• A group of three or four cards with the same rank. For example ♥️A ♠️A ♦️A
• A group of three or more cards of the same suit in numerical order. For example ♣️3 ♣️4 ♣️5

The game begins with the player to the left of the dealer. That player draws a card from the draw pile, lays down any valid combinations they have, and ends their turn by discarding one card face up onto the discard pile. Now it's the next player's turn.

The next player must draw a card, either from the draw pile or the discard pile. If you draw from the discard pile, you can choose to take just the top card, or, if you have already laid down a combination, you may take the entire discard pile.

It's always a good idea to remember what's in the discard pile, because if a player takes the entire pile, they must immediately lay down a valid combination. If they can't, they receive a 50-point penalty.

After drawing cards, you can lay down a valid combination. You may lay down as many valid combinations as you want. You're not required to lay any, but it’s usually a good idea. Players can even build onto each other’s combinations, but only after laying at least one valid combination themselves.

Example: If player 1 has laid down ♥️A ♠️A ♦️A, player 2 can, on their turn, lay down ♣️A. At the end of the round, player 1 scores points for ♥️A ♠️A ♦️A, while player 2 scores for ♣️A.

If you’re unable to play combinations with all your cards, you end your turn by discarding one card face up onto the discard pile. If you still have cards left in your hand, the turn passes to the next player, who starts by drawing a card.

If you manage to get rid of all your cards, the round ends and the points from combinations and leftover cards are tallied:

• The player who went out first gets a 50-point bonus.
• Cards ranked 2 through 9 are worth 5 points each.
• 10, J, Q, and K are worth 10 points each.
• If an Ace is used as 1 in a 2–3–4 sequence, it counts as 5 points.
• If an Ace is used in a 3- or 4-of-a-kind, or is left in hand, it counts as 15 points.
• Cards left in hand are scored by their value, but as negative points.

Example: A player who has laid down ♦️7 ♦️8 ♦️9 ♦️10 and ♣️J ♦️J ♥️J, added ♥️A to another’s combination, and has ♠️3 left in hand, scores 25 + 30 + 15 – 5 = 65 points.

Record the score, and the next player deals. The game continues until someone reaches Five Hundred points or more.