500 rum, also called pinochle rummy, Michigan rummy, Persian rummy, rummy 500 or 500 rummy, is a popular variant of rummy. The game of canasta and several other games are believed to have developed from this popular form of rummy. The distinctive feature of 500 rum is that each player scores the value of the sets or cards they meld. It may be played by 2 to 8 players, but it is best for 3 to 5.
The term Michigan rummy may also refer to an unrelated game, very similar to the Canadian Rummoli (both sharing traits with the much older Poch), involving a playing board, chips, and accumulated pots that are awarded to players who play certain cards.
Rules
The cards and dealing
500 rum is played using a standard French deck and can use 52 cards, or 53–54 cards including one or two jokers. When playing with 5 or more players, two decks of cards should be used with a total of 104–108 cards.
The players draw for deal, low dealing first. Ace is the lowest card in the draw. The dealer shuffles, and the player to the right cuts. The dealer completes the cut and deals cards one at a time to each player face down, clockwise starting at the dealer's left. The number of cards dealt depends on the number of players.
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
|+
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!Number of players
!Number of cards dealt
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|2 players
|13 cards
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|3 or more
|7 cards
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|}
The remaining cards are placed in a single pile face down between the players, forming the stock. The top card of the stock is turned face up and placed besides the stock to start the discard pile. As play continues any cards added to the discard pile are placed face up on top of any cards already in the discard pile. The discard pile should be slightly spread, so that players can readily see all the cards in it. Players are permitted to move the cards in the discard pile to view the cards, but may not change the order of the discard pile. After a round is complete, the next player to the left becomes the dealer.
In one variation, the discard pile is started by dealing one extra card face down to the player on the dealer's left, who can then choose any card from their hand to place face up besides the stock to start the discard pile. The player that wins the round then becomes the dealer in the next round.
Game play
The object of the game is to score points as in regular rummy by laying down or laying off cards, initially in groups of matching cards known as melds, with a meld consisting of either: 3 or 4 cards of the same rank (e.g. or ) called a set; or in sequences of three or more cards of the same suit (e.g. ) called a run. One variation of the game requires that laying down a run can only be done starting with four or more cards of the same suit (e.g. ).
Aces can be played as either a high card or a low card, meaning that they may be played after a king as a high card (e.g. ) or before a two as a low card (e.g. ). Going "around the corner" means that Ace is allowed to be both high and low in the same run (e.g. ). If going around the corner is not allowed, Q-K-A and 2-3-4 must be separate runs.
Each player in turn, beginning with the player to the left of the dealer, may draw either the top card of the stock or any card from the discard pile. Once a card is picked up, either from the stock or the discard pile, it is final and no other cards may be picked up. However, there are two conditions when drawing more than one card from the discard pile:
- The player must take all the cards on top of (i.e., discarded after) the selected card.
- The selected card so drawn must immediately be used, either by laying it down in a meld or by laying it off on a meld already on the table if permitted.
When drawing a card from the discard pile any remaining cards taken with the card drawn from the discard pile may be either melded in the same turn or simply added to the player's hand. Also, multiple cards picked up from the discard pile are left out until the selected card is played in an acceptable manner.
During a player's turn, after drawing but before discarding, they may lay down any meld of matching cards, or may lay off any cards that match a meld or cards that have already been played. A player may lay down a single card or pairs of cards, but only if they match cards that have already been played. For example, a player may lay down a single card (e.g. ) on either a set that has already been laid down (e.g. ), or a run or part of a run that has already been laid down (e.g. or ). A player may also lay down a pair of cards in sequence of the same suit on a run or part of a run that has already been laid down (e.g. lay down the on a run of or previously laid down).
Cards that are laid down or laid off are kept spread out on the table in front of the player, visible to other players. The player ends his turn by discarding a single card from his hand to the discard pile.
Players are usually only permitted to lay down cards when it is their turn, after drawing but before discarding. In a variation, players may put down melds or matching cards on other people's turns. The round is not over until one of the players puts down their last card, so with this variation a player can put down a meld whenever they want, until that last card is down.
If jokers are used in the game, they are treated as wild cards and can represent any card the player chooses even if that card is already used in another meld.
The round is over when one player has no cards in his or her hand, either by melding or laying off all cards, or when there are no cards left in the stock pile. Players typically receive no bonus for finishing first.
Discarding
When picking up from the discard pile you cannot pick up just to play a single card on a meld or other cards that have already been laid down, sometimes referred to as "picking up to hit". You may only pick up from the discard pile if you were to put down a meld consisting of 3 or more cards including the card that was picked up.
In one variation, a player may pick up from the discard pile to play a single card or pair of cards on a meld or other cards that have already been laid down by any of the players. In another variation, a player may pick up only the top card from the discard pile and keep it in their hand without immediately playing it.