FIVE HUNDRED

FIVE HUNDRED is a trick-taking game invented early this century which was very popular for a long time in the United States

NUMBER OF PLAYERS

The poker game is designed for three players, but may be played by two to five, as described later.

CARDS

The usual short pack of 32 is required, plus the Joker, making a pack of 33. From a standard pack the 6s,5s,4s,3s, and 2s are removed.

The game is played with a trump suit, and the cards in the trump suit rank as follows: Joker, Jack (called right bower), Jack of the same color as the trump suit (called left bower), ace, King, Queen, 10,9,8,7.

The cards in the plain suits rank normally: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10,9,8,7, except that the suit of the same colour as the trump suit will not contain a Jack. Therefore the suits have an unequal number of cards: the trump suit has ten cards, the suit of the same colour has seven cards and the other two suits have eight cards. In addition, the suits are ranked, as follows: hearts (high) diamonds, clubs, spades.

Players poker draw for deal, the lowest dealing. For this purpose the cards rank in their usual order, but Ace counts low, and Joker lowest of all. The dealer shuffles, the player on his right cuts, and the dealer deals three cards to each hand, beginning on his left, then three to the centre to form a widow, then four to each hand, then three to each hand. Each player therefore has ten cards, with extra three being in a widow.

THE PLAY

The players examine their cards and a round of bidding begins. A bid is an offer by a player to make a stated number of tricks with a specified trump suit or without a trump suit (a bid in ‘no-trump’). Each bid must be higher than the previous bid. The values of the bids are as follows:

Eldest begins and may bid or pass, and bidding continues until two players in succession pass, whereupon the last bid made constitutes the contract. (In some schools the bidding is not continuous, and each player progressive draw poker is allowed one bid only, while in other schools the bidding is progressive but a player who passes cannot re-enter the bidding.)

Should none of the players bid, the deal is abandoned, and passes to the next player. Once a player has won the contract, he picks up the widow, and discards three cards face down to keep his hand to ten cards.

The ten tricks are now played out, with the player with the contract leading to the first trick. The winner of a trick leads to the next. The normal rules of trick-taking apply: each player must follow suit to the lead, and if unable to he may trump or discard. A trick is won by the highest trump played, or if there is none by the highest card in the suit led.

In a no-trump contract, the Joker remains a trump the only one. It can be played only if its holder cannot follow suit. If the Joker is led in a no-trump contract, its player specifies the suit it represents, and the other players must play poker cards of that suit if able to. The Joker always wins the trick.

The object, so far as the declarer is concerned, is to make at least as many tricks as he contracted to do. His opponents score individually for the tricks they make, so are playing for themselves, but they should also play in partnership, because defeating the contract will cost the declarer more than the points they can make individually for themselves.

If the declarer makes his contract, he scores its value as set out in the table above. There is no bonus for overtricks, with one possible exception, which is that a player who takes all ten tricks scores a minimum of 250 points. So if a player’s contract is worth less than 250 (i.e. eight spades or less), he will earn a bonus by taking all ten tricks.

If the declarer fails to make his contract, he loses the value of his bid. A player can thus have a minus score, which is recorded with a circle round it, and the player is said to be ‘in the hole’.

Each of the two players opposing the declarer scores separately for the tricks they make ten points per trick, and there is no bonus for defeating the declarer. Game is to 500 points (hence the name). It is rare for a player to win without making at least one contract, so, as stated earlier, the ten points per trick are of less significance than the making or defeating of contracts.

Should the declarer and an opponent pass 500 on the same deal, the declarer is the winner. Should the two opponents pass 500 on the same deal, the declarer is the winner. Should the two opponents pass 500, the one who took the trick to take his score to 500 first is the winner.