500 Rum
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500 Rum, also called Pinochle Rummy, is a popular variant of rummy. The game of Canasta and several other games developed from this popular form of rummy. The distinctive feature of 500 Rum is that each player scores the value of the sets he melds.
500 Rum may be played by anywhere from 2 to 8 people, but it is best played with 3 to 5 players.
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Rules
The Cards and Deal
500 Rum is played using a standard 52-card pack. When playing with more than 4 players, a double pack should be substituted.
An ace counts as 15 points, except in the sequence 3, 2, A, when it counts as 1. Face cards count as 10 points each. Other cards count their pip value. Some people play where A-9 are 5 points, unless the ace is used high, when it is 15.
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 seven cards to each player. The player to the left of the dealer becomes the dealer in the next game.
The Play
The object of the game is to score points by laying down and laying off cards as in regular rummy, in matched sets of three or four, and in sequences of four or more cards of the same suit. Aces are high or low; they may be played before the king or after the two card.
The undealt portion of the cards, placed face down, forms the stock; the top card is turned face up and is placed beside the stock as the upcard to start the discard pile. The discard pile should be slightly spread, so that players can readily see all the cards in it. 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. There are two conditions when drawing a card from the discard pile: 1) the player must take all the cards on top of the selected card and 2) the card so drawn must immediately be used, either by laying it down in a set or by laying it off on a set already on the table. The remaining cards taken with the discard may be melded in the same turn or simply added to the player's hand. If you draw only one card from the discard pile, you do not have to use it immediately.
Each player in turn, after drawing but before discarding, may lay down any matched set or may lay off any card that matches a set already on the table. Cards that are laid off are kept on the table in front of the player. The player ends his turn by discarding a single card from his hand.
Sequences may not "go round the corner"; thus, A, K, Q or A, 2, 3 may be melded, but not K, A, 2.
Scoring
When any player discards the last card in his hand, the play immediately ends. Each player's score is then figured as follows: The player is credited with the point value of all cards that he has showing on the table. From this figure is subtracted the point value of all cards remaining in his hand. The difference is added or subtracted from his score, as the case may be.
Example: If the cards he has shown total 87 points, and the cards left in his hand total 90 points, 3 points are subtracted from his previous net score.
The first player whose score reaches +500 wins the game. If two or more players reach 500 on the same hand, the one with the highest score is the winner.
When a player lays off a card, he keeps it on the table in front of him for convenience in scoring later, but must state to what showing combination it is being added. Thus, if J♦ 10♦ 9♦ are on the table, along with the set Q♠ Q♥ Q♣, a player putting down the Q♦ must state to which set it belongs: if the player makes the queen part of the diamond sequence, any player may later add K♦ to that sequence.
Modified Scoring Systems
These systems have been put in to simplify scoring, and speed up games.
Aces count 15 whether high or low. Face cards and the ten card are worth 10 points. All other cards are worth 5 points. Some may play with aces worth 25. If preferred, all of these scores may be divided by five and the game played to 100.
Boathouse Rule
Some rummy players play that you must discard on the turn in which you go out. So for example, if I held a hand of two 3's and picked up another 3, I would be unable to go out as I would not have a discard. This may not in fact be a variant but more of a standard practice.
Also, if the stock is finished then players may continue to draw from the pile only so long as they are able and willing to do so. Otherwise, the hand is finished with all cards in each player's hand counting against him. This is also normally standard. However some play the alternative that the cards should be reshuffled, and play should continue.
Add Opponent's Hand Rule
Instead of players subtracting their remaining totals when play is finished, they add the values in their hands to the player who went out's total.
If nobody has gone out when play ends (see Boathouse rule):
with two players (or two partnerships): add opponent's remainder to your score
with more than two players: do not add any totals
This again, is meant to speed up the game.
Partnership 500 Rum
This game is the same as 500 Rum, with the following exceptions.
Four players are organized into two teams of two players each, with partners facing each other across the table. The rules are exactly as in 500 Rum, except the partners may play off on each other's matched sets and sequences in an effort to go out as quickly as possible. When any player goes out, the play ends and the score of each partnership is figured as a unit. The game is over when either side reaches +500.
Persian Rummy
The game is the same as Partnership 500 Rum, with the following exceptions.
The pack is 56 cards: the standard 52 cards plus four jokers.
Each joker counts as 20 points, and jokers may not be used in sequences or as wild cards, but only in groups of three or four jokers. Any meld of four, laid down all at once, counts double its face value. Thus, four jokers laid down together count 160; three jokers laid down count 60, and the fourth joker when added counts only 20 more. Four 6s put down together count 48, but three 6s count only 18, and the fourth 6 adds only 6 points. If a player gets rid of all his cards, his side scores a bonus of 25.
A game ends after two deals. The side with the best score receives a bonus of 50 points and wins the difference between its final score and the opponents' score.
500 Rum
Rum
A player that has just discarded a rum into the discard pile may not call rum until the other player has drawn from the discard pile. The player can pick any card that plays on a spread laid down from another player, from the discard pile. You may only take the card that plays for the rum.(Not any other card in the deck with it that doesn't play). However if the cards play with the cards in another plays hand then you must pick the whole pile behind the card playable. A rum can also solely exist in the discard pile for example 456 spades a player can pick up with out taking any other cards from the discard pile.Rummy
A player that has just discarded a rum into the discard pile may not call rum until the other player has drawn from the discard pile. The player can pick any card that plays on a spread laid down from another player, from the discard pile. You may only take the card that plays for the rum.(Not any other card in the deck with it that doesn't play). However if the cards play with the cards in another plays hand then you must pick the whole pile behind the card playable. A rum can also solely exist in the discard pile for example 456 spades a player can pick up with out taking any other cards from the discard pile.