The American rummy where the whole discard pile is in play: meld sets and runs, lay off on anyone's melds, and be first to 500 points.
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How to play
Two players each get 13 cards. The rest form the stock, and one card is turned up to start the discard pile. The pile is spread out so every card in it can be seen.
On your turn, draw one card: the top of the stock, the top of the discard pile, or a card further down the pile. If you take a card from further down, you also take every card above it, and you must meld that card in the same turn.
Then put down any melds you can. A set is three or four cards of the same rank; a run is three or more cards in a row in one suit. An ace can be low (A-2-3) or high (Q-K-A) but not both, so K-A-2 is not a run. You can also lay off single cards onto any meld on the table, your opponent's included. Finish your turn by discarding one card.
Card values: 2 to 10 at face value, jacks, queens and kings 10, aces 15. An ace melded low in A-2-3 counts only 1.
Cards you put on the table score for you, including cards you lay off on your opponent's melds.
The hand ends when a player gets rid of every card, or when the stock is empty and the player to move doesn't take from the discard pile.
Your hand score is the value of the cards you put down minus the value of the cards still in your hand. First past 500 wins.
Controls
Draw: tap the stock, or a highlighted card in the discard pile. Only cards you could meld straight away are highlighted below the top.
Meld: tap three or more cards in your hand, then press Meld.
Lay off: tap one card, then tap a meld on the table. Melds it fits are outlined in gold.
Discard: tap one card and press Discard. On the table, the stripe under each card shows who put it down.
Game modes
Daily: everyone gets the same shuffle each day.
New Game: a fresh game against the CPU, to 500 points.
Tips & strategy
Watch the discard pile. A card buried deep can be worth taking if it completes a meld, and the cards above it come free.
Every card you pick up is a liability until you meld it. Take a big chunk of the pile only if you can use it quickly.
Lay off on your opponent's melds as well as your own. The points count for whoever puts the card down.
Don't discard a card your opponent could lay off on a meld that's already on the table.
Aces are worth 15 when played high or kept, but only 1 when melded low. Q-K-A beats A-2-3.
Origins
500 rum, also called pinochle rummy, Michigan rummy, Persian rummy, rummy 500 or 500 rummy, is a popular American variant of rummy. The rules here follow pagat.com.
Rummy itself has two competing origin stories: Mexico or China, both in the 19th century. The games scholar David Parlett combines the two, proposing that the Mexican game of conquian, first attested in 1852, is the ancestor of all rummy games.
500 rum sits in the middle of that family tree. It is a direct descendant of basic rummy, and canasta and several other games are believed to have developed from it.
About Rummy 500
Rummy 500 is a free browser version of the classic American card game, with a CPU opponent, a new daily deal every day and online leaderboards. There's nothing to download and no sign-up.
A free, original browser game on PlayPendium. No download, no install.
