Rummy 500 is a free online card game that runs in the browser with no download and no account. It is the version of rummy where the discard pile is the game: you may reach for any card in it, not just the top one, as long as you take every card above it and put the card you reached for into a meld on the same turn. Three cards of junk is often a fair price for the one that finishes a run. Melds go face up on the table, which means you can extend your opponent's runs and sets as well as your own, and you score the cards you lay down rather than the cards you keep — anything still in your hand when the hand ends counts against you. Play as many hands as it takes to reach the target, from 150 up to a full 500. The opponent uses exactly the same rules you do; what changes with difficulty is how deep it digs and how long it holds cards back.
How to play Rummy 500
- Each turn: draw one card, lay down any melds you can, then discard one card.
- Draw from the stock, or take any card from the discard pile — but taking one from inside the pile means taking every card above it too.
- A card taken from inside the pile has to be melded or laid off on the same turn. Until it is, you cannot discard, so the turn cannot end.
- A meld is three or four of a kind in different suits, or three or more cards in sequence in one suit. Aces are low: ace-two-three is a run, queen-king-ace is not.
- Melds sit face up on the table. You can lay a single card onto any meld already there, including your opponent's, and you score it.
- You score the cards you meld — ace fifteen, ten and the faces ten, everything else its pip value. Cards still in your hand at the end of the hand are subtracted.
- A hand ends when someone plays their last card or the stock runs out. Then the next hand is dealt and the scores carry over.
- First past the target wins the match. Three stars needs a winning margin of half the target.
Tips
- Lay melds down early. You score what is on the table, so a run held back for one more card is worth nothing if the hand ends first.
- Count what the dig costs. Taking four cards to reach one means about thirty points of extra deadwood in your hand, so it has to buy a meld you would not otherwise have.
- Watch what they discard next to what they take. An opponent that reaches into the pile has told you exactly what it is collecting.
- Discard high before low. An ace kept for a maybe-run is fifteen against you; a two is two.
- Lay off aggressively at the end of a hand. Every card you can push onto a meld — theirs included — is points for you and one less card counting against you.
- The stock running out ends the hand, so when it gets short, dump your expensive cards rather than building.
- Do not feed the pile. Discarding a card next to something you have already seen them meld is handing them a lay-off.
- New Deal reshuffles at the same difficulty; Restart Match replays the identical deal, which is the clearest way to see what a different line would have done.
FAQ
Is Rummy 500 free to play?
Yes. It runs in your browser with no download, no sign-up and nothing to buy. All eight matches are included and unlock as you win them.
How is this different from Gin Rummy?
Three ways, and they change how you play. Gin lets you take only the top discard; here you can dig into the pile. Gin keeps melds hidden until the end; here they are face up and can be laid off on. And gin scores what you are left holding, while this scores what you managed to lay down.
Can I really take a card from the middle of the discard pile?
Yes — that is the defining rule of 500 Rum. You take that card and every card above it, and you must use the card you reached for in a meld or a lay-off during that same turn.
What happens if I cannot use the card I took?
The turn cannot end until you do, so the only way out is to discard the card itself, which puts it back on top of the pile and wastes the whole dig. It is worth being sure before you reach in.
Can I lay cards onto the opponent's melds?
Yes, and you should. A card laid off onto any meld on the table scores for whoever played it, so extending their run is worth exactly as much as extending your own.
Are aces high or low?
Low. Ace-two-three is a valid run and queen-king-ace is not. The ace is still worth fifteen points, which is why it is the most expensive card to be caught holding.
Does the computer cheat?
No. It draws, melds, lays off and discards through exactly the same rules you do, and it cannot see your hand. What its difficulty changes is how deep into the pile it will dig and how willing it is to hold a card back.
Does Rummy 500 work on a phone?
Yes. Your hand wraps to the screen width, the discard pile scrolls sideways so you can see every card in it, and the three action buttons sit under your thumb.