1: Four players, partners facing. Use 43 cards: a joker, and no 2s, 3s or black 4s.Take those ten cards out of a regular deck and add one joker.
2: Deal ten cards each, plus three to the middle, face down. Those three are the kitty.The usual deal: three each, one to the kitty, four each, one, three each, one.
3: From the dealer's left, each player bids a number of tricks and a trump suit, or passes.The lowest bid is six. "Seven hearts" means seven tricks with hearts as trumps.
4: Each bid must beat the last: more tricks, or the same tricks in a higher suit.Low to high: spades, clubs, diamonds, hearts, no trumps. A player who passes is out.
5: The highest bidder takes the kitty into hand, then discards any three cards face down.The discards may include cards that came from the kitty.
6: The bidder leads. Follow suit if you can; if you cannot, play any card.The highest trump wins the trick, or else the highest card of the suit led.
7: Trumps rank joker, jack of trumps, the other jack of that color, ace, king, queen, 10, down.The two jacks are the right bower and the left bower. Other suits run ace high.
8: Bidders who take their tricks score the bid's value. If they fall short, they lose it.The other side scores 10 points a trick either way.
9: First side to 500 wins. A side that falls to minus 500 loses.Many tables say you must make a bid to go out. Agree before the first deal.
1: Four players, partners facing. Use 43 cards: a joker, and no 2s, 3s or black 4s.Take those ten cards out of a regular deck and add one joker.
2: Deal ten cards each, plus three to the middle, face down. Those three are the kitty.The usual deal: three each, one to the kitty, four each, one, three each, one.
3: From the dealer's left, each player bids a number of tricks and a trump suit, or passes.The lowest bid is six. "Seven hearts" means seven tricks with hearts as trumps.
4: Each bid must beat the last: more tricks, or the same tricks in a higher suit.Low to high: spades, clubs, diamonds, hearts, no trumps. A player who passes is out.
5: The highest bidder takes the kitty into hand, then discards any three cards face down.The discards may include cards that came from the kitty.
6: The bidder leads. Follow suit if you can; if you cannot, play any card.The highest trump wins the trick, or else the highest card of the suit led.
7: Trumps rank joker, jack of trumps, the other jack of that color, ace, king, queen, 10, down.The two jacks are the right bower and the left bower. Other suits run ace high.
8: Bidders who take their tricks score the bid's value. If they fall short, they lose it.The other side scores 10 points a trick either way.
9: First side to 500 wins. A side that falls to minus 500 loses.Many tables say you must make a bid to go out. Agree before the first deal.
Show all 45 rows (36 more)
What each bid is worth 9
1: Six tricks: spades 40, clubs 60, diamonds 80, hearts 100, no trumps 120.Each suit up adds 20. This is the Avondale table.
2: Seven tricks: spades 140, clubs 160, diamonds 180, hearts 200, no trumps 220.Each trick up adds 100.
3: Eight tricks: spades 240, clubs 260, diamonds 280, hearts 300, no trumps 320.Eight clubs is the first bid worth more than a misere.
4: Nine tricks: spades 340, clubs 360, diamonds 380, hearts 400, no trumps 420.Nine hearts made from 100 points up ends the game.
5: Ten tricks: spades 440, clubs 460, diamonds 480, hearts 500, no trumps 520.Ten no trumps is the highest bid there is.
6: Misere, a bid to take no trick, is worth 250. Open misere is worth 500.The defenders score nothing on a misere hand, made or failed.
7: Slam: win all ten tricks on a bid worth less than 250 and score 250 instead.Some tables give no slam bonus.
8: Extra tricks earn nothing: eight clubs made with nine tricks is still 260.Only a slam pays more than the bid.
9: A worked hand (ours): bid eight hearts, take seven. The bidders lose 300.The other side took three tricks and scores 30.
Misere, no trumps and the joker 9
1: Misere: the bidder plays alone and must lose every trick. The partner sits the hand out.The partner's cards go face down on the table.
2: Misere beats any bid of seven. The sources differ on whether it also beats eight spades.It may be bid only after someone has bid seven.
3: Open misere: the same, but the bidder's hand goes face up after the first trick.It ranks between ten diamonds and ten hearts and may open the bidding.
4: No trumps: the joker wins any trick, but you may play it only when you cannot follow suit.Some tables let a bidder who holds it name its suit before the first lead.
5: Lead the joker in no trumps and you name the suit the others must follow.The sources differ on which suits you may name. Agree before play.
6: In a misere hand a player who cannot follow suit must play the joker.So a misere bidder who holds the joker names a suit for it before the first lead.
7: Everyone passes: throw the cards in and deal again.Another way: play the hand with no trumps, each side scoring 10 a trick.
8: House rule: the last bidder left in may raise their own bid once the others have passed.Most tables allow it only when more than one player has bid.
9: House rule: no misere bids at all.Some tables find a misere too easy to make for 250 points.
Two, three, five or six players 9
1: Every head count deals ten cards each and three to the kitty. Only the deck changes.Bidding, the kitty and the bid table stay the same.
2: Three players: 33 cards, the 7s and up plus the joker. Everyone keeps their own score.The high bidder plays alone against the other two.
3: Two players: the 43 cards. Each gets ten in hand and five piles of two, top card face up.A trick is four cards: one from each hand and one from each player's piles.
4: Two players: when a face-up card is played, the card under it is turned up after the trick.Open misere is not played by two.
5: Five players: 52 cards and a joker. The bidder plays alone or names a card for a partner.Whoever holds the named card is the partner, and says nothing until it is played.
6: Five players: each partner wins or loses half of the bid. A lone bidder takes it all.Some tables give each partner the full value.
7: Six players: two teams of three seated in turn, with a 63-card deck made for the game.It adds 11s and 12s in every suit and 13s in the two red suits.
8: No 63-card deck? To 52 cards and a joker, add a second deck's 2s, 3s and red 4s.When two of the same card meet in a trick, the first one played wins.
9: Misere with five players: the bidder plays alone against the other four.With six, both partners of the bidder lay their hands down.
American table rules and tournaments 9
1: American play has one round of bidding: each player gets one chance to bid or pass.Other names for the kitty are the widow and the middle.
2: Misere is called nullo. Some American tables leave it out.Where it is played, it ranks above eight spades and below eight clubs.
3: A bid of six is an inkle. Only the first two bidders may inkle.It shows your partner a suit. If nobody bids above six, the cards are dealt again.
4: A common American deck: 45 cards, with no 2s or 3s, one joker and five in the middle.The high bidder takes all five and discards five.
5: In American play the defenders can win on tricks alone: first side to 500 takes the game.If both sides pass 500 on the same hand, the bidding side wins.
6: A tournament format: rounds of four hands, each player at the table dealing once.No target of 500: a round can end above 500 or below minus 500.
7: After each round the lower-scoring pair moves to the next table and every pair splits up.Old partners now play against each other.
8: Each player keeps a running total of their own. The highest total at the end wins.One format plays six to ten rounds, by the size of the field.
9: These tournament formats leave out nullo.One format adds 100 for taking all ten tricks on a smaller bid.
How this list was compiled: Written for this site on 2026-10-13, in our own words. 500, or Five Hundred, is a traditional trick-taking card game with no governing body and no single agreed rule set. The sheets were checked on 2026-10-13 against English Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, 500 (card game): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/500_(card_game), and against the card game rules site Pagat: https://www.pagat.com/euchre/500.html. Both give four players in partnerships, 43 cards (a regular deck without the 2s, 3s and two 4s, plus a joker), ten cards each and three to the kitty, bids from six tricks up with suits ranked spades, clubs, diamonds, hearts and no trumps, the joker and the two bowers as the top trumps, the bid values known as the Avondale table, 10 points a trick to the defenders, a game to 500 and a loss at minus 500. The standard sheet takes out the two black 4s, as Pagat does; Wikipedia gives that and a second way. Where the sources differ the sheets say so: Pagat ranks misere above every bid of seven and below every bid of eight, Wikipedia usually between eight spades and eight clubs; they also differ on which suit a led joker may be called. The slam at 250, the joker's suit named before play, a bid raised by the last bidder, the games for two, three, five and six players, American play (one round of bidding, the 45-card deck, a win on defenders' tricks) and the tournament formats are as Pagat gives them; the inkle is in both. Wikipedia marks its own section on variations as lacking citations, so no row rests on that section alone. A 63-card deck is sold for the six-player game; no maker is named and this page has no tie to any. Rows marked ours are this site's own worked examples and are not official; their sums come from the bid table. Licence: own work
How it works
500 is a trick-taking card game for four players in two partnerships, played with 43 cards. It grew out of euchre in the United States and is widely played in Australia.
Read the full guide
Learn to play the 500 card game: one hand, from bid to score
You hold the joker, both red jacks and the ace and king of hearts, and bid seven hearts. Nobody bids higher, so you take the kitty and discard three cards. You lead the joker, then the jack of hearts. Your side takes eight tricks and scores 200, the value of seven hearts, with nothing extra for the eighth. The other side took two tricks and scores 20.
Playing 500 with another head count, or in a tournament
Two, three, five or six players changes the deck and little else. American table rules and tournaments has the one-round auction, the inkle, the 45-card deck and a 500 card game tournament format.
Before the first deal, agree on misere and on whether a side must make a bid to go out. Tables differ on both.
Questions and answers
How do you play the card game 500?
Deal ten cards each and three to the kitty. Players bid a number of tricks and a trump suit. The highest bidder takes the kitty, discards three and leads. Make the bid to score its value. The first side to 500 wins.
How many cards do you need to play the 500 card game?
Forty-three for four players: a regular deck without the 2s, 3s and black 4s, plus a joker. Three players use 33 cards, five use 53, and six use a 63-card deck made for the game.
What are the bowers in 500?
The jack of the trump suit is the right bower, and the other jack of the same color is the left bower. Both count as trumps. They rank just below the joker and above the ace.
How does a 500 card game tournament work?
One format in our sources plays rounds of four hands with no target of 500. After each round the lower-scoring pair moves tables and partners split up. Every player keeps a total of their own, and the highest total wins.
Is there a 500 card game rules PDF?
Press Print this list and choose Save as PDF in the print window. To save the bid table or another sheet, pick it from the menu first.