500 or Five Hundred is a trick-taking game developed in the United States from Euchre. Euchre was extended to a 10 card game with bidding and a Misère contract similar to Russian Preference, although Preference or Prefens wasn't publishing in the US until Holye 1909. and a four-player game played in partnerships like Whist which is the most popular modern form, although with special packs it can be played by up to six players.
It arose in America before 1900 and was promoted by the US Playing Card Company, who copyrighted and marketed a deck with a set of rules in 1904. The US Playing Card Company released the improved Avondale scoring table to remove bidding irregularities in 1906. 500 is a social card game and was highly popular in the United States until around 1920 when first auction bridge and then contract bridge drove it from favour. It continues to be popular in Ohio and Pennsylvania, where it has been taught through six generations community-wide, and in other countries: Australia, New Zealand, Canada (especially Ontario and Quebec) and Shetland. Despite its American origin, 500 is the national card game of Australia.
Setup
Of the many variants to 500, the standard deck contains 43 playing cards: a joker is included (sometimes two, in which case the black joker beats the red one), and the 2s, 3s, and two 4s are removed. Either the two black 4s are removed, or the 4 of spades and 4 of diamonds are removed, in which case the 4 that matches the trump colour is also considered trump, so that there are always 13 trump cards (14 when using two jokers). Cards are dealt to each of the four players and three (four with two jokers) are dealt face down on the table to form the kitty (also known as the widow, the blind or the hole card). Alternatively, a 45-card deck can be used (46 with two jokers), in which case the 4s are not removed. Each player still receives a hand of 10 cards, but the kitty is increased to five cards (six with two jokers).
Players play in pairs, usually opposite each other. Traditionally, a bundle of three cards is dealt to each player, one to the kitty, a bundle of four to each player, one to the kitty, a bundle of three to each player, one to the kitty or with a 45-card deck: the deal is performed by dealing three cards to each player, then placing three cards in the kitty, four cards each and two to the kitty, and then three. In some versions, if a player does not receive a face card this is considered a misdeal and a redeal may be required.
As in euchre, in non-trump suits, the order of cards from highest to lowest is
: ace, king, queen, (jack), 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, (4).
In the trump suit, the order is (from the highest):
: joker, the jack of trumps, the jack of the same color, ace, king, queen, 10, 9,..., 5, (4).
For instance if diamonds are trumps then the order in diamonds is following (from the highest):
: joker, , , A, K, Q, 10, 9,..., 4.
The jack of the trump suit is called right bower. The jack of the suit of the same colour as the trump suit is called left bower and is considered part of the trump suit. The joker is sometimes known as best bower in reference to the trump jacks.
Bower is an Anglicization of the German Bauer, a word meaning farmer, peasant, or pawn. This name is often used to refer to the Jack of German games.
Bidding
After the deal, players call in turn, electing either to bid or to pass. A bid indicates the combined number of tricks the bidder believes they and their partner will take and the suit that will be trump for that hand, or that there will be no trump suit. For instance, a bid of "seven spades" (7) indicates that the player intends to win seven or more tricks with spades being the trump suit, whereas a bid of "seven no-trump" (7NT) indicates that the player intends to win seven or more tricks with no trump suit (in which case the only trump card is the joker).
Auction commences at the level of 6. A player may elect not to bid, or to "pass". Bidding proceeds clockwise around the table, with each player passing or making a higher-scoring bid. A player who passes cannot subsequently make a bid in that hand.
A player who has bid may only bid again in that hand if there has been an intervening bid by another player. However, in some variations a player who has bid and not passed may always bid again in that hand.
The order of seniority of suits in bidding (from lowest to highest, as reflected in the scores below) is as follows:
: , , , , no trump.
Therefore, for example, a player who bids 7 may be outbid by a subsequent bidding player on 7 or 7, but not seven spades. A "no-trump" bid beats any suited bid of the same number. Eventually, all but one player passes and the bid is decided.
In American play, there is only one round of bidding, with each player getting one chance, in turn, to either bid or pass. Moreover, in American play, a bid of six is called an "inkle". A player who bids "inkle spades" is typically indicating to their partner that they have some spades but not enough to bid seven. In most versions, one cannot win auction with an inkle. If auction doesn't reach the level of 7, cards are reshuffled.
Value and precedence of open misère can vary. It can, for instance, also be worth 330 and placed between 8NT and 9.
Joker
The joker is always the highest card. If there are trumps, the joker is the highest trump. In no trumps (including misère) the joker can be played only when the player cannot follow suit. When leading the joker, a player can nominate it into a suit. Other players need to follow the nominated suit. The joker can be led at any time and nominated to any suit even if the player holds cards in the suit.
Variations
There are variations of the rules concerning the size of deck, use of the joker, bidding after pass etc.
Bidding after pass
Some play that it is allowed to bid after pass if someone hereafter changes the suit of their bid.
Raising own bid by the winner
Some play that the winner of the auction can raise their bid. If they change their suit (or no trumps) other players are allowed to bid again.). Dealing, scoring and game play are as for the standard game. The common variant is in bidding, where misère may be bid before a bid for seven tricks. This variant is permitted due to the relative rarity of seven-trick bids outside of team play. Open misère may be bid in a similar fashion. Alternatively, the game may be played with the standard deck (45 or 43 cards) with one hand dealt face down, which remains untouched during the game (a so-called "dead hand"). The common strategy is that the two players who are unsuccessful in bidding form a temporary alliance in an attempt to force the other player to lose their bid.
Five-handed 500
Another variation allows five players to play. All of the cards in a deck are used (although only one joker) so that each player can be dealt ten cards. The bidding starts to the dealer's left, and works by the same system as normal 500. The player who wins the bidding may then choose to "go it alone" (go on his/her own – without a partner for this hand) or gets to choose a card (in some versions the joker cannot be chosen) to select a partner. One of the bowers is usually chosen, or another high card; however, some variants prevent any trump card from being called. There are two versions of this variation. In one, the player who owns the chosen card announces that they have it, and then becomes the bidder's partner for that round. In the other, even the player winning the bidding will not know who the partner is until the chosen card is played (although the card chosen could be a card the bidder themselves has, that is they effectively selected no partner). Note that the partnership will usually change for each round. The remaining three players then play against the partnership. The player who won the bid gets to play the first card.
Scoring for this variation uses the same values as normal 500. If the partnership wins the required number of tricks, they will both get points (full points each or half points each, depending on the variation), and if they don't, they will both lose points (either full or half). If one of the three remaining players wins a trick, that player will receive ten points. Neither misère nor open misère is usually permitted in this variant since it is too easy to win. Because the partnership changes each round, there are no fixed teams and each player plays for themselves. This adds dynamic, and new strategies will arise.
Six-handed 500
Special decks of cards were created by the United States Playing Card Company for playing six-handed 500, using a total of 63 cards. Besides using all 52 cards of the standard poker deck, plus one joker, these sets include 11s, 12s, and red 13s (a variation of their 61-card packs, with no red 13-spot cards, patented in 1881, that had been sold with rules for a forerunner of 500, and updated in 1897 to include red 13s). Each player receives 10 cards, and the kitty receives 3. Players seated in alternating positions around the table form two teams of three players each (or three teams of two, in "Cut Throat Six-Handed" 500). These decks are also made by Queen’s Slipper, Piatnik, and Cartamundi. A variation is to use two jokers, the black-and-white one ranking highest.
Score keeping
The goal is for the team who wins the bid to take at least as many tricks as they bid. If the high bid is 8, then the team wins the hand if they take 8, 9, or all 10 tricks and are awarded points according to the table below. There are no bonuses for overtricks (tricks over the number bid) in the original rules. If they do not make their bid, the same number of points is subtracted from their score. Whether or not the bid winning team achieves its bid, the opposing team receives 10 points for each trick they take. A team wins the game by scoring at least 500 points; if two teams score 500 or more in the same hand, one by winning their contracted bid and the opponent by winning some tricks, only the team winning the bid wins the game ("goes out the front door"), although some Australian versions (see below) hold that winning the game at any time requires winning a bid. The original (copyrighted 1904) rules, by the U.S. Playing Card Co., state "If any player scores out during play of a hand, balance of hand is not played, unless the bidder can win out" meaning that the first player to make 500 wins, unless the bidder (also called the "maker" or "declarer") makes 500 later in the same hand. A team whose score dips to −500 points or below (referred to as "set back 500 points") loses the game. This is also known as going "out the back door" or "out backwards".
Avondale
The following table is the most commonly used "Avondale" Scoring (and bid precedence) convention}
:{| class="wikitable"
|-----
!Tricks
! Spades !! Clubs !! Diamonds !! Hearts
! No Trump
|-----
! 6 tricks
| 40 || 60 || 80 || 100 || 120
|-----
! 7 tricks
| 140 || 160 || 180 || 200
| 220
|-----
! 8 tricks
| 240 || 260 || 280 || 300
| 320
|-----
! 9 tricks
| 340 || 360 || 380 || 400
| 420
|-----
! 10 tricks
| 440 || 460 || 480 || 500
| 520
|-----
! Slam
| colspan="5" | 250 for contract below total points of 250, normal for above 250
|-----
! Misère
| colspan="5" | 250
|-----
! Open Misère
| colspan="5" | 500
|-----
! Blind Misère
| colspan="5" | 1000
|}
Original
:{| class="wikitable"
|-----
!Tricks
! Spades !! Clubs !! Diamonds !! Hearts
! No Trump
|-----
! 6 tricks
| 40 || 80 || 120 || 160 || 200
|-----
! 7 tricks
| 60 || 120 || 180 || 240
| 300
|-----
! 8 tricks
| 80 || 160 || 240 || 320
| 400
|-----
! 9 tricks
| 100 || 200 || 300 || 400
| 500
|-----
! 10 tricks
| 120 || 240 || 360 || 480
| 600
|-----
! Slam
| colspan="5" | 250 for contract below total points of 250, normal for above 250
|-----
! Misère
| colspan="5" | 250
|-----
! Open Misère
| colspan="5" | 500
|-----
! Blind Misère
| colspan="5" | 1000
|}
Perfect variant
Scoring for each family of tricks is reduced by 20 points (see table below), causing 10NT (the highest bid) to be worth exactly 500 points.
:{| class="wikitable"
|-----
!Tricks
! Spades !! Clubs !! Diamonds !! Hearts
! No Trump
|-----
! 6 tricks
| 20 || 40 || 60 || 80 || 100
|-----
! 7 tricks
| 120 || 140 || 160 || 180
| 200
|-----
! 8 tricks
| 220 || 240 || 260 || 280
| 300
|-----
! 9 tricks
| 320 || 340 || 360 || 380
| 400
|-----
! 10 tricks
| 420 || 440 || 460 || 480
| 500
|-----
! Misère
| colspan="5" | 150
|-----
! Open Misère
| colspan="5" | 250
|-----
! Hi/Lo
| colspan="5" | 350
|-----
! Double Misère
| colspan="5" | 450
|-----
! Patastrophe
| colspan="5" | 750
|-----
! Blind Misère
| colspan="5" | 1000
|}
Other scoring variations
These are options that may be agreed upon amongst players at the outset, or regional variations of the usually-assumed rules.
- 6-trick bids are considered inkles, raising the minimum bid to 7.
- If a team bids 8 or less, but takes all 10 tricks, they can receive 250 points; known as a "slam".
- A variation (common in Australia) is to require a team to win the game by scoring at least 500 points through winning bids, which means that any team surpassing 500 points solely with tricks has not yet won the game; the game would continue until a team wins through winning a bid.
- The game can be played with the removal of the trick points, thus only winning bids score points.
- If two or more teams pass 500 points on the same hand, a non-standard variation is to give the game to the one with the highest points.
- A team whose score dips below −500 points loses the game only if the other team is not in the negative.
- In an unrestricted bidding game, there are no limitations on which hands can be called when, such as only allowing a Misère call after a bid of 7 has already been made. Instead, each subsequent player need only be able to outbid the current highest bid (or pass).
- Some informal games allow the bidder to lay down several cards at once when they know they will win the tricks, but some rules penalise such actions with 100 points.
- According to the rules supplied with most Australian 500-specific playing card decks, 6 is scored as 40 points, 6 as 60 points, increasing by 20 points each bid in this fashion to 120 points for 6NT all the way through to 520 points for 10NT. However, Open Misère, also scoring 520 points, is ranked as the highest bid. Additionally, Misère is deemed to outrank a 7 bid but not an 8 bid.
- Split the colours In this scoring variation Misère outbids 7/7, but not 7/7; Open Misère outbids 8/8, but not 8/8; Hi/Lo outbids 9/9, but not 9/9; and Double Misère outbids 10/10, but not 10/10 (shown in table below).
Bidding conventions
Similarly to bridge there are possible bidding conventions in 500. It is considered standard to bid 6NT whenever one holds the joker. John McLeod states it is allowed in Saint Paul, Minnesota to bid "no trumps" (for instance 6 no trumps) if one holds strong cards and "no" (for instance 6 no) when one holds the joker or two jacks of opposite colors (red and black). Some propose that opening 6 should indicate an ace or king in the suit and that rebid should indicate good suit for play. Openings 6/// can be bluffs in order to bid misère when auction reaches the level 7. 6 shows the ace of clubs and lack of the ace of spades etc.