500 Card Game Rules: How to Play, Bid and Score (NZ Guide)

500 (also written Five Hundred) is a trick-taking card game and one of the most-loved games in New Zealand homes, baches and RSA clubs. It blends the bidding of bridge with the trumps and “bowers” of euchre, and the aim is simple: be the first partnership to reach 500 points. This guide explains everything a beginner needs — the deck, the deal, how bidding works, how tricks are won and, most importantly, how scoring works — using the standard four-player partnership rules.

What is 500?

500 is a partnership card game in which the two teams bid against each other for the right to name the trump suit and the number of tricks they promise to win. A trick is a single round in which every player plays one card and the highest-ranking card takes them all. The trump suit is a chosen suit that beats every other suit for that hand.

The game was devised in 1904 by the United States Playing Card Company as a deliberate cross between euchre and bridge. Although it was invented in the USA, it never faded in the South Pacific the way it did in North America: today 500 is widely described as the national card game of both New Zealand and Australia, and it has been a staple of family game nights here for generations. If you enjoy 500 you will likely enjoy other classics too — browse our roundup of the best card games to play in New Zealand for more ideas.

What you need to play

The 43-card deck

Standard four-player 500 uses a specially reduced pack of 43 cards. You build it from an ordinary deck as follows:

• Red suits (hearts and diamonds): Ace down to 4 — eleven cards each.
• Black suits (spades and clubs): Ace down to 5 — ten cards each.
• One joker.

That means you remove the 2s, 3s and black 4s from a normal 52-card deck and add a single joker (11 + 11 + 10 + 10 + 1 = 43). Some households play with a 45- or 46-card pack; the 43-card version is the most common baseline.

Players and partnerships

The classic game is best with four players sitting in two partnerships, with partners seated opposite each other. You can also play three-handed or six-handed with a different deck size (covered further down). If you often have an odd number of players, our guide to three-player card games and to card games for two players may help you fill the gaps.

Card rankings and the bowers

Card order in 500 depends on whether a suit is trump. In any non-trump suit the ranking is normal, with Ace high, then King, Queen, Jack, 10 and downwards.

The trump suit is where 500 gets its character. From highest to lowest, the trumps rank:

1. The joker (the top trump in any hand with a trump suit).
2. The Jack of the trump suit — the “right bower”.
3. The Jack of the same-colour suit — the “left bower” (for example, if hearts are trumps the Jack of diamonds becomes a heart for that hand).
4. Then Ace, King, Queen, 10, 9, 8 and so on down.

Because the left bower is temporarily promoted into the trump suit, its original suit is one card short for that hand. This bower system is inherited straight from euchre, and it is the single most important thing new players need to remember.

How to deal

Choose a dealer, then deal 10 cards to each of the four players and place three cards face down in the middle of the table. These three cards are the kitty (also called the widow), and the player who wins the auction gets to use them. A common dealing pattern is to give each player a packet of three, then the kitty, then packets of two and finally two more, but any tidy deal that reaches 10 each plus a 3-card kitty is fine.

The bidding (auction)

Starting to the dealer’s left and moving clockwise, each player either bids or passes. A bid states two things: how many tricks your team promises to win (minimum six of the ten) and which suit will be trump — or that there will be no trumps at all. So “seven hearts” means “my team will win at least seven tricks with hearts as trump”.

Every new bid must be worth more points than the one before it. Suits are ranked in this seniority order, lowest to highest:

Spades < Clubs < Diamonds < Hearts < No-Trumps.

So the cheapest possible bid is “six spades” and the dearest is “ten no-trumps”. Two special bids also exist — Misere and Open Misere — explained in their own section below. Once three players pass in a row, the last (highest) bid becomes the contract, and that player’s team are the contractors. If everyone passes, the hand is thrown in and re-dealt.

Playing the hand

The player who won the bid first picks up the three kitty cards without showing them, then discards any three cards face down in their place, keeping the best 10-card hand. Those discards may include cards the team will never have to play — a useful way to dump weak suits.

The contractor leads to the first trick. Play then follows two firm rules:

• Follow suit if you can. You must play a card of the suit that was led. Only if you have none may you play any other card, including a trump.
• Highest card wins the trick. If any trumps are played, the highest trump wins; otherwise the highest card of the led suit wins. The winner of a trick leads to the next one.

In a no-trump contract the joker is the highest card in the game; the contractor usually nominates in advance which suit it belongs to, and it then acts as the top card of that suit. Play continues until all ten tricks are taken, then you score.

How scoring works

Scoring is the heart of 500. After the ten tricks are played:

• If the contractors make their bid (win at least the number of tricks promised), they score the point value of their bid from the chart above.
• If they fail, that same value is subtracted from their score — a painful penalty that rewards honest bidding.
• The opposing team always scores 10 points for each trick they win, whether or not the contract succeeds. There is no bonus for stopping the bid; the tricks themselves are the reward.
• Under a widely used rule, if the contractors sweep all ten tricks but their bid was worth less than 250, they score 250 instead of the smaller amount.

The first team to reach 500 points or more wins the game — usually on a hand where they successfully make their own bid. A team can also lose outright by dropping to minus 500, known as going “out the back door”. Keeping a running tally on paper is standard; it is very different from the simpler tallying you see in UNO scoring.

Misere and Open Misere

A Misere is a bid to win no tricks at all. There is no trump suit, and if the bidder succeeds in avoiding every trick their team scores 250 points; if they win even one trick the contract fails and 250 is deducted. Open Misere is the same promise but played with the bidder’s hand laid face up on the table for everyone to see — a bold declaration worth 500 points. Because a Misere is worth 250, it sits in the auction between the ordinary bids of that value; you can only call it once the bidding has climbed high enough.

Variations you may meet

• Three-handed 500: played with a 33-card pack (a joker plus a “Piquet” pack), every player for themselves and no fixed partners.
• Six-handed 500: uses an enlarged 63-card pack, played as two teams of three (or three teams of two in the “cut-throat” style).
• House rules: because there is no single worldwide rulebook, families often tweak the deck size, the Misere values or whether the joker must be nominated. Agree the details before you start.

Common beginner mistakes

• Forgetting the left bower. New players often lead the “other” Jack thinking it is safe — it is actually a top trump.
• Over-bidding. Missing your contract costs you the full bid value, so bid only what your hand can realistically win.
• Reneging. Failing to follow suit when you could is a serious error; always play the led suit if you hold it.
• Wasting the kitty. The three kitty cards are your chance to strengthen a suit or void a weak one — discard thoughtfully.

A few simple strategy tips

500 rewards counting and communication rather than luck alone. Track which trumps have gone, especially the joker and both bowers. Watch your partner’s leads for clues about their strong suits, and don’t chase a marginal bid just to “have a go” — a small made contract beats a large failed one. Once the basics feel natural, you may enjoy branching out to other trick-taking and shedding classics such as Crazy Eights, or lighter options from our list of fun card games for the whole table.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How many players do you need for 500?

The classic game is designed for four players in two partnerships sitting opposite each other. It can also be played three-handed with a 33-card pack or six-handed with a larger 63-card pack, but four is the most common and generally considered the best.

What cards make up a 500 deck?

Standard four-player 500 uses 43 cards: Ace to 4 in both red suits, Ace to 5 in both black suits, plus one joker. You make it from an ordinary deck by removing the 2s, 3s and black 4s and adding a single joker.

What are the bowers in 500?

The bowers are the two most powerful trumps after the joker. The “right bower” is the Jack of the trump suit, and the “left bower” is the Jack of the other suit of the same colour, which is treated as a trump for that hand. The order at the top of trumps is joker, right bower, left bower, then Ace and downwards.

How do you actually win at 500?

You win by being the first team to reach 500 points or more, usually by making your own bid on the deciding hand. Contractors score the value of their bid when they take enough tricks and lose that value if they fall short, while opponents always score 10 points per trick they win. A team can also lose by dropping to minus 500.

What is a Misere bid?

A Misere is a promise to win no tricks at all, played without a trump suit. Succeeding scores 250 points; taking even one trick costs 250. An Open Misere is the same bid played with your hand face up on the table and is worth 500 points.