What Is Five Hundred?
Five Hundred is Australia’s most beloved card game and one of the most strategically rich trick-taking games in the world. Players bid to predict exactly how many of the ten tricks they will win, and which suit will be trump. The highest bidder picks up three hidden kitty cards to improve their hand, then tries to fulfill the contract. Score 500 points to win — but fall to negative 500 and you lose immediately.
What You Need
- For three players: a 33-card deck — remove 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, and 6s from a standard deck, then add one Joker. Keep 7 through Ace in all four suits plus the Joker.
- For four players: a standard 52-card deck plus one Joker — 53 cards total.
- Score pad
The Special Cards
The Joker is always the highest trump card — it beats everything, including the Jacks.
When a suit is trump, the Jack of that suit (called the Right Bower) is the second-highest trump. The Jack of the same-color suit (called the Left Bower) is the third-highest trump and counts as part of the trump suit for that hand.
Full trump ranking from highest to lowest: Joker, Right Bower (Jack of trump), Left Bower (Jack of same color), Ace of trump, King, Queen, 10, 9, 8, 7.
Setting Up the Game
- Shuffle all cards.
- Deal 10 cards to each player and place 3 cards face-down in the center — these are the kitty.
- Bidding begins with the player to the left of the dealer.
Bidding
Each player bids the number of tricks they will win (6 through 10) and names a trump suit or No Trump. A bid of 6 Spades means winning 6 tricks with Spades as trump. To outbid someone, you must bid more tricks OR the same number in a higher-ranking suit.
Suit ranking for bidding purposes from lowest to highest: Spades, Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, No Trump. So 7 Clubs beats 7 Spades, and 7 No Trump beats all 7 bids.
Players bid or pass in turn. Once two players pass consecutively, the highest bidder wins. If everyone passes on the first round, the hand is thrown in and re-dealt.
Taking the Kitty
The winning bidder picks up all three kitty cards into their hand — now holding 13 cards. They look at all 13 and select any three cards to discard face-down. The discarded cards count as tricks won by the bidder for scoring purposes.
How to Play
- The winning bidder leads the first card.
- Going clockwise, each player must follow suit if they can.
- Remember: the Left Bower counts as the trump suit — if trump is led, the Left Bower must be played if you have no other trump.
- The Joker is always the highest trump and must follow trump when trump is led.
- In No Trump games, the Joker is a special card — its holder names which suit it belongs to when played.
- Highest trump wins any trick where trump was played. If no trump, highest of the led suit wins.
- Play all 10 tricks.
Scoring
Bid values (approximate points): 6♠=40, 6♣=60, 6♦=80, 6♥=100, 6NT=120. Each level above 6 adds 100 points to the suit value. So 7♠=140, 8♠=240, and so on.
- Making your bid: Score the bid’s point value.
- Failing your bid: Lose the bid’s point value — your score goes negative.
- Non-bidding players: Score 10 points for each trick they personally win.
Winning
First player or team to reach 500 points wins. If a player falls to negative 500 points, they lose immediately.
Tips for New Players
- Count your guaranteed winners before bidding — the Joker, Right Bower, and Left Bower are almost certain tricks. High trumps and Aces in other suits add up quickly.
- Use the kitty strategically — discard cards that weaken your hand and void suits you cannot control.
- In No Trump, the Joker is still a powerful card but you must declare its suit — choose wisely based on what suit you want to establish.