500 (card game)

500 is a trick-taking card game played in many parts of the world.

Geography/history

500 is an extension of Euchre and was originally invented in the United States by the United States Playing Card Company in the early 1900s but now mostly played in Australia, New Zealand, and French Canada.

500 is largely a social game and has not attracted the deep tactical analysis of bridge. Tactics often revolve around using various means to indicate to one's partner information about the hand one possesses, including agreements to make certain bids depending on whether one possesses specific cards (rather than on what the player believes they can realistically win), and surreptitious signals (by the tone of voice, exact words used to indicate bids, and so on).

Setup

There are many variants to 500, but the "standard" deck has 45 playing cards, the 2's, and 3's, being removed, and a Joker being added (in Australia, the Joker can be called 'the bird', as in Australian 500 decks this card may feature a Kookaburra rather than a jester). Alternatively, a 43 card deck can be used. In a 43-card game, the black 4's are also removed, and the widow consists of only three cards. Players play in pairs, usually opposite each other. To begin a hand, ten cards are dealt to each player, and the remaining five or three cards (known as the "widow," the "kitty" or the "blind") are placed in the center of the table. Traditionally, the deal is performed by dealing three cards to each player, then placing three cards in the widow, four cards each and two to the widow, and then three; or with a 43 card deck: a bundle of three cards 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.

As in Euchre, in non-trump suits, the order is the normal Ace high-King-Queen-Jack-10-9-8-7-6-5-(4) low, but in the trump suit, the highest card is the Joker, then jack of trump, called the right bower, then the jack of the suit of the same colour as the trump suit - the left bower. The left bower is part of the trump suit for all purposes. So the order of cards in the trump suit is Joker-Right Bower-Left Bower-Ace-King-Queen-10-9-8-7-6-5-(4)

Bower is an anglicsation of the German Bauer, a word meaning farmer, peasant, or pawn. This name is often used to refer to the jack of German games. This is important later in the game, and is usually known by newcomers as the hardest part to learn about the game.

Bidding

Note that bidding rules vary significantly. Common rules are described below, but they may not be the rules common in your area. After the deal, players bid in turn. A bid indicates that the player believes he and his partner together will win a certain number of tricks and that a certain suit will be trump for this hand, or that there will be no trumps. For instance, a bid of "seven spades" indicates that the player wants to attempt to win seven or more tricks with spades being the trump suit. A bid of "seven no-ies" 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).

In American play, a bid of six is called an "inkle". A player who bids "inkle spades" is indicating to their partner that they have some spades, but not enough to bid seven. Only the first two players may inkle.

A player may elect not to bid, called "passing". Bidding proceeds clockwise around the table, and each subsequent bid must be a higher-scoring bid (see the scoring table below) or the player must pass. A player who passes cannot subsequently make a bid in this hand. Eventually, all but one player will pass and the bid is decided. In American play, there is only one round of bidding, with each player getting only one chance, in turn, to either bid or pass. The player making the successful bid then collects the widow. This player sorts through his hand and discards the least-useful five (or three in the case of a 43 card deck) cards (possibly including cards picked up from the widow), and places them face down; the discarded cards playing no further part in the hand.

If nobody makes a bid, there are two variations. Most commonly, the hand is declared dead and a reshuffle and redeal is made, but some games are played where no bids mean the round is played as no trumps, and scoring is ten points per trick.

Special bids

No trump means that the joker is the only trump card (there are no bowers and no trump suit when playing no trump or "no-ies").
A Misère (also called Nullo or Nello) bid means the bidding player is trying to lose all ten tricks. If playing with a partner, the partner folds their cards and does not participate in the round. Misère is the French word meaning "poverty". It can only be bid after a 7 bid but before an 8 bid. However, because Misère is worth 250 points, and an 8-Spades bid is worth 240 points, players must decide before the start of play if the 8-Spades bet can beat a Misère since it is worth less points, but it is considered 'over' the Misère.
Open Misère is the same as misere except the player playing this bid must reveal all of their cards to their opponents after the first trick. It can only be bid after an 8 bid, and is one of the highest bids which can only be beaten by a 10-No Trump bet.
Double nullo is an American variant in which both players of the bidding team play and must lose all tricks. This is also called Grand nullo, which is often corrupted to Granola.
Wilkinson-Chambers Version of Misère is agreed to before the outset of the game, and is bid as such: 'closed misère' can be bid any time (even as a first bid) but is played open, and 'open misère' may also be bid likewise, but is played open and without the widow.

Gameplay

The game focuses on tricks. The lead starts with the player to dealer's left, and this person plays the first card. In some variations, the lead play is made by the player who won the bidding. All players must follow suit (yes, even the left bower if trump is lead, and it's the only trump a player has). After all four have played, the highest trump takes the trick, and receives the honor of leading the next. If no trump came out, the winner is the player with the highest card of the suit that was led. Once all ten tricks have been played, the hand is scored. The player to the left of the previous dealer then becomes the dealer for the next hand, so that the deal moves clockwise around the table.

Variations

The standard game described above is the setup and deck for the most common four-player (two teams of two) variety of 500. Variations exist, with appropriate additions or deductions to the deck for playing three-, five- or six-handed 500. Three-handed uses no teams, five-handed teams rotate and each player takes a turn without a partner, six-handed can be played as either three teams of two or two teams of three.

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 then gets to choose a card (the joker cannot be chosen). One of the bowers is usually chosen, or another high card. The player who owns the chosen card announces that they have it, and then becomes the bidder's partner for that round. 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 amount of tricks, they will both get points, and if they don't, they will both lose points. 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.

In no trump games, the only trump card is the joker and it has no suit. There are no bowers and all the jacks fall between the queen and ten of their respective suits. Players must always follow suit and may use the joker to trump a trick only if they cannot otherwise follow suit. The joker may be led, in which case the player immediately nominates the suit and players must play according to that suit.

In some variations, the person that won the bid also has the option to 'Declare'. This entitles the winner of the bid to receive one card from their partner after discarding from the widow or blind. The partner picks their best card and hands it to their partner face down. The winning bidder must then discard one additional card so they only have ten cards. The winning bidder now plays against the opponents without the assistance of their partner and must take all ten tricks. If they are unable to take all ten tricks then the score is -500 (negative 500).

Another variation allows for a 'Gold Misère', which is played exactly the same as Open Misère, however in this version the bidding player must also remove all their clothes after playing their first card. Should the bidding player lose all 10 tricks, they are awarded 1000 points (minus 1000 if they win one), therefore providing an opportunity to win from a negative score should the person be so uninhibited and courageous. This version is popular in Australia among university students.

Goal/scoring

The goal is for the team who won the bid to take at least as many tricks as they bid. If the high bid was "eight hearts," then the team wins the hand if they take 8, 9, or all 10 tricks and are awarded points according to the table below. If they do not make their bid, that number of points is subtracted from their score. The other pairing is awarded 10 points for each trick it won, known as "peggings," regardless whether the other team made their bid (except for during misere bids).

A team wins by winning the bid and scoring at least 500 points; i.e. a team who surpasses 500 points with peggings has not yet won the game. A team whose score dips below -500 points loses the game. This is also known as going "out the back door."

	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
Misère:	250
Open Misère:	500

If a team wins all 10 tricks and the bid scores less than 250 (or did not bid) the team gets 250 points. This is commonly known as a Slaming or a march.

External links

* Special K Software's classic 500 game to play against your PC