- Score sheets
- Card games
- Rummy 500
How to score Rummy 500
After every hand, add up the cards you laid down and subtract the cards still in your hand. Keep a running total. The first player to reach 500 wins.
- 2 to 8 players
- One deck, two for 5 or more
- First to 500
- Highest total wins
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This is the real Scorepad, live. Tap any hand to change it and watch the totals.
Rummy 500
A rummy game where every card you lay on the table scores for you and every card still in your hand counts against you, played hand after hand until someone reaches 500.
How to play Rummy 500, in brief
Cards you lay down as melds (sets and runs) count for you, and cards left in your hand count against you. Play hands until someone’s total reaches 500.
- Deal 13 or 7Deal 13 each to two players, 7 to more. Turn the next card up and spread the discards so all show.
- Draw from the stock or the pileTake the top stock card, or any discard plus every card above it, melding the deepest one at once.
- Meld and lay offA set is 3 or 4 of one rank; a run is 3 or more in a row in one suit. You can add to anyone’s melds; those cards stay in front of you.
- Discard, or go outEnd each turn with a discard. The hand ends the moment a player has no cards left.
Melds count for you. Cards in your hand count against you.
The hand stops the moment someone goes out, and nobody melds after that. Then everyone scores at once. Every card counts once: it is either on the table in front of you or still in your hand.
What each card is worth
| Card | Points |
|---|---|
| AceCounts 1 when it sits low in a run: A, 2, 3 | 15 |
| King, Queen, Jack, 10 | 10 |
| 9 down to 2A 7♥ is worth 7 | Face value |
- Count what you laid downEvery meld in front of you, and every card you laid off on someone else’s meld: those score for you, not for them.
- Subtract what you are still holdingEvery card left in your hand counts against you, an ace for a full 15.
- Add the hand to your totalA hand can come out below zero. It still goes on the total, which can drop too.
- Stop at 500The game ends with the hand in which someone reaches 500. If more than one player gets there, the highest total wins; a tie at the top plays another hand.
Hand 4: You go out with 106.
You lay down three aces, a club run and a heart run, then go out. Mara is caught holding an ace. Dev has laid down a little but still holds two cards. This is hand 4 on the Scorepad above.
| Player | Laid down, minus your hand | Hand |
|---|---|---|
| You | A♥ A♦ A♣ · 10♣ J♣ Q♣ K♣ · 6♥ 7♥ 8♥45 + 40 + 21, nothing left in hand | 106 |
| Mara | Holding A♠ 5♦Nothing laid down, 0 minus 20 | −20 |
| Dev | Q♠ Q♥ Q♦ · 2♣ 3♣ 4♣, holding 9♠ 8♦30 + 9, minus 17 | 22 |
The adding happens for you.
Tabletales is a scorepad and scrapbook for game night. In Rummy 500, type each player’s score for every hand on the Scorepad. It keeps the running totals and lights up the first total past 500.
- Every hand gets a rowSwitch to By hand and each deal is its own row. Tabletales adds up the totals, so nobody adds the column again at midnight.
- 500 is right on the padSet the game to play to 500. The first total past it lights up, so the table knows the game is over.
- Minus is one tapCaught holding cards? Tap ± and type it. Type a hand’s score, or type its melds (45 + 40 + 21) and Tabletales adds them up.
- And the night is keptSave it with who played and a photo from the table. Each game gets a history: how often you play it, who with, and who holds the high score.
- Everyone who was there
- Photos from the table
- Rummy 500, with its scores
Common Rummy 500 scoring mistakes
- Forgetting to subtractThe cards left in your hand count against you, even in a hand where you laid down a lot.
- Getting the ace wrongAn ace is worth 15 on the table and in your hand. It counts 1 only at the low end of a run, A, 2, 3.
- Giving away your lay-offsA card you lay off on someone else’s meld scores for you. Keep it in front of you so it gets counted on your side.
- Ending the game earlyFinish the hand. If two players pass 500 in it, the higher total wins, not whoever went out.
Rummy 500 scoring, answered
- How many points do you need to win Rummy 500?
- 500. The game ends at the end of the hand in which someone reaches 500, and the player with the highest total wins.
- Can your score go negative in Rummy 500?
- Yes. If the cards left in your hand are worth more than the cards you laid down, the hand scores below zero, and your running total can drop below zero too.
- What is an ace worth in Rummy 500?
- 15 points, whether you laid it down or were caught holding it. It counts 1 only at the low end of a run: A, 2, 3.
Rummy 500 score sheet
Print one for the table: six players and twenty hands, with a running total beside every hand and the card values at the bottom.
Score another game
House rules vary: some tables add two jokers at 15, count every card from 2 to 9 as 5, give the game to whoever went out when two players pass 500 together, or play to 1,000 or more. Rules checked on 19 October 2026 against Bicycle Cards and Pagat.
Keep score tonight. Keep the night for good.
Tabletales adds up every hand, then saves the whole night: the games, the scores, the photos and who was there.
