Printable 500 Rummy rules

500 Rummy in one page

2–8 players · 1 deck (2 decks for 5+) · pencil and paper

Deal 13 cards each for two players or 7 each for three or more. On your turn you draw from the stock or take any card from the spread discard pile, lay down or add to sets and runs, and discard. When someone goes out, each player scores the cards they melded minus the cards left in hand, and the first to 500 wins.

In brief

• Deal 13 each for 2 players, 7 each for 3 or more
• Spread the discard pile so every card shows
• Draw: top of stock, top discard, or any discard
• Buried card: take all cards above it and meld it now
• Sets: 3–4 of a kind. Runs: 3+ in suit
• Ace high or low (Q-K-A or A-2-3), never K-A-2
• Lay off on any meld; keep those cards in front of you
• Discard 1 to end your turn
• Hand ends: someone goes out, or stock empty and no discard taken
• Score: melded cards minus cards in hand
• A = 15 (1 in A-2-3), K/Q/J = 10, others face value
• First to 500 wins; highest score if several pass it

Setup

1. Use one standard 52-card deck without jokers. With five or more players, shuffle two decks together.
2. Deal one card at a time, clockwise. In a two-player game each player gets 13 cards. With three or more players each gets 7 cards.
3. Turn the next card face up to start the discard pile and place the rest of the deck face down as the stock.
4. Spread the discard pile as it grows, overlapping the cards so every discard stays visible. Players will be allowed to take cards from anywhere in it.
5. The player to the dealer's left goes first. Keep a score sheet with a column for each player.

On your turn

1. Draw. Take the top card of the stock, the top card of the discard pile, or any card deeper in the discard pile.
2. If you take a card below the top of the discard pile, you must take every card above it as well, and you must meld the deepest card you took on this same turn. You can put it in a new set or run or lay it off on a meld already on the table.
3. Meld if you can and want to. A set is 3 or 4 cards of the same rank, and a run is 3 or more cards in sequence in one suit. Lay them face up in front of you.
4. Lay off cards on any meld on the table, yours or an opponent's. Keep laid-off cards in front of you, because they score for you, not for the player who started the meld.
5. Discard one card face up on the discard pile to end your turn. If you have no cards left after melding, you have gone out and the hand ends.

Scoring

Winning

Keep playing hands until one or more players reach 500 points. The session ends at that point, and the player with the highest score wins. If two players are tied for the lead, pagat.com says to play more hands until there is a single winner.