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Six spades is worth 40 points, six clubs
60, six diamonds 80, six hearts 100, and six no trumps 120. Seven spades is
worth 140, seven clubs 160, seven diamonds 180, seven hearts 200, and seven no
trumps 220. Eight spades is worth 240, eight clubs 260, eight diamonds 280,
eight hearts 300, and eight no trumps 320. Nine spades is worth 340, nine clubs
360, nine diamonds 380, nine hearts 400, and nine no trumps 420. Ten spades is
worth 440, ten clubs 460, ten diamonds 480, ten hearts 500, and ten no trumps
520. You score ten points for every trick you take while in opposition to a
calling team, but you cannot add to a score of plus 490 except by completing a
successful bid.
I.E.
| |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
| Spades |
40 |
140 |
240 |
340 |
440 |
| Clubs |
60 |
160 |
260 |
360 |
460 |
| Diamonds |
80 |
180 |
280 |
380 |
480 |
| Hearts |
100 |
200 |
300 |
400 |
500 |
| No
Trumps |
120 |
220 |
320 |
420 |
520 |
You score 10 points for every trick you
take while in opposition to a team which has won the bidding, and you
can score right up to, but not past 490. You cannot get to 500
except by completing a successful bid.
A "hand" 500 consists of 10 cards, and each hand is
played as ten "tricks". A trick is won by the player who plays the highest card
in any suit which is led, or by the player who being unable to follow the suit
led, plays the highest "trump". You must follow the suit led while you have
cards of that suit in your hand. If you do not have cards of the suit led, you
must either discard cards from other suits, or if the hand is not being played
as "no trumps", you may play a trump card. Trumps are determined by the last
bidders call. The last bidder in the calling of the hand determines by his last
call whether the hand is played in any of the four suit calls or as no trumps.
When playing in no trumps, the cards are valued as ace high, then king,
queen, jack, ten, down to four.
When spades are trumps, the joker is the top trump, then the jack of spades, the jack of clubs. ace, king, queen, ten down to five of spades.
When clubs are trumps, the joker is the top trump, then the jack of clubs,
the jack of spades, ace, king, queen, ten down to the five of clubs.
When diamonds are trumps, the joker is the top trump, then the jack of
diamonds, the jack of hearts, ace, king, queen, ten down to the four of
diamonds.
When hearts are trumps, the joker is the top trump, then the jack of hearts,
the jack of diamonds, ace, king, queen, ten down to the four of hearts.
Note the special treatment of the jacks in suit calls. The jack of the suit
which is trumps is known as the right bower, and the other jack of the same
colour as the trump suit is known as the left bower. Jacks in the other colour
suit to trumps have their normal no trump ranking. Take special care to notice
then that when hearts or diamonds are trumps there are thirteen trump cards.
When either of the black suits are trumps there are twelve trump cards.
The most commonly accepted practice is that the
joker can only be used as a trump card if the player holding the joker cannot
follow a suit led. However a player may use the joker to call it any suit and
lead it at any time. Put in another way, if an ace is led to which you hold the
king, you must follow the suit led, even if the king is the only card you hold
in that suit. However if you hold the joker, you may call it any suit you
nominate, and lead it even though you hold other cards in that suit.
In four handed 500 you must first determine who are
partners. It is not good to get into the habit of always playing with the same
partner, so it is suggested that you cut for partners, and rotate partners as
you continue to play. If you give one point to each partner of a winning team as
games are won, you will finish up with one player as overall winner for the
night.
If you play regularly with the same players over a period of time, keep
on recording points to see who is the top player. This will add to the effort
you make, and means that you try that much harder to play accurate 500. It also
means you never give away a game without playing as hard as you can for it, and
you will think twice before committing suicide and over bidding a call you
cannot really afford, unless of course you know your opponents call will win the
game for them if you allow them to pick up kitty. Partners sit opposite each
other.
Make sure the cards are well shuffled between hands. Select the
first dealer by draw, and alternate dealer in a clockwise manner for every new
set of hands dealt. The accepted method of dealing is to commence dealing to the
player on dealers left, then clockwise, three cards to each player, one into the
"kitty", then four to each player and one into kitty, then three more to each
player, and the last card into kitty.
To save
time I suggest you use two packs with different patterns on the backs.
One partnership uses one of these packs, and the other uses the other
one of course. The pack not being dealt is placed in front of the next
dealer, so you will always see who is next dealer. This person will
often get the opportunity to deal the next round of cards, on the table
in front of him or her, face down of course, and they can be passed ot
the appropriate player as soon as the last hand has been played. This
saves you both the shuffling and the dealing time.
Check that you have ten cards. Sort your cards into
groups of suits. Get into the habit of keeping your cards in descending order
from left to right or vice versa. Try to separate the red and black suits, so
that two suits of the same colour do not merge with each other.
You will not know when you pick up your cards what suit your jacks may become
bowers, so put your jacks with what looks the strongest suit, as this will help
you evaluate your call. In the event that the hand is played in another suit,
you can either shift the jack, or jacks, into a more appropriate position, or
just be careful to remember if it is out of position in your hand. If an
opponent sees you shift a card in your hand after kitty has been picked up, he
will probably recognise that as a jack being shifted, and this may help them
attain their call.
Some players consider that they have a right
to ask for a redeal if their hand holds no court cards, that is no joker, or any
ace, king, queen or jack. I can find no logic to support this practice. The
worse your hand is the better your partners may be. You have to learn to take
the strong and weak hands without showing excitement or disappointment. In the
long run your hands will balance out. Hands without court cards can be good
supporting hands especially when they contain say five or more of the same suit,
and that is the suit your partner wants to go. And it can also cause the
downfall of your opponents call.
Cards below the Jack, i.e. 4's up to
10's, are usually referred to as "rags".
There are many various "local" rules for
playing 500, and you must establish that all players are going to play by the
same set of rules. When calling, the most commonly accepted rules are adhered to
in the calling system outlined later. These are... If only one call is made by
one player, the other three players having passed, the hand must be played at
that single call. However if more than one person calls which is normal, any
player may change his call at any time provided he is always escalating the bid.
Any player changing the suit of any call he makes at any time gives all players
the right to re-enter the bidding. Any player left with the bid after the other
three finally pass may escalate the call, and if it is escalated in the same
suit, no other player may re-enter the bidding.
You have to be on your guard for
players who call less than they can get, knowing that the scoreboard says you
can leave them, and then call higher in that suit to lock you out and win the
game. Be careful also of calls where getting all 10 tricks gives 250 points,
which may be enough to win a game.
The player on the left of the dealer has first bid.
Calling is clockwise. If a player does not want to make a bid he must say
"pass". The successful bidder is the one with the highest bid, and the other
three players pass. The highest bid therefore determines the suit the hand will
be played in. Remember all bids must be for a higher points value than the
previous bid.
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