Rummy 500 Strategy: Keep Your High Cards and Dig Into the Pile
How to win more at Rummy 500: dig into the discard pile, lay off on every meld, keep high cards and throw low ones, and the usual rummy advice that backfires.
Sunroom Games · Updated
Rummy 500 looks like the rummy you grew up with, but its scoring changes what good play looks like. Every card you put on the table scores for you, the whole discard pile is open to you, and nearly every hand ends with someone going out. We measured which habits matter by letting Ben, our computer player, play thousands of games against copies of Ben that each changed one habit. The biggest surprise: the usual rummy advice to get rid of your high cards loses badly.
If you'd like the rules first, see how to play Rummy 500.
What our test games showed
We played 4,000 games to 500 points for each comparison, dealing every game twice with the players swapping seats. Against Ben, a copy of Ben with one habit changed won:
| Habit changed | Games won out of 100 |
|---|---|
| Always drawing from the stock | under 1 |
| Taking only the top card of the discard pile | 5 |
| Never laying off on a meld already on the table | 6 |
| Always throwing your highest card | 8 |
| Throwing your highest card unless it goes with others | 20 |
| Throwing high cards once Ben is down to five cards | 26 |
| Taking from the pile only for a gain of 10 points or more | 42 |
| Keeping pairs and throwing a higher card instead | 42 |
| Ignoring which cards Ben picks up | 48 |
| Holding melds back until you can go out | 50 (no real difference) |
Anything well below 50 is a habit worth keeping. A few more facts from the same games: a game to 500 took about five hands, each player scored about 105 points a hand, and 99 hands in 100 ended with someone going out. The player who went out scored more in that hand 74 times in 100. Going first in a hand was no real advantage (51 in 100).
1. Use the discard pile
In most rummy games you draw from the stock and glance at the discard pile. In Rummy 500 the pile is spread out so you can see every card, and you may take any card in it, as long as you take every card above it too and meld that deepest card straight away. That rule is the heart of the game. A player who always drew from the stock won 26 games out of 4,000 against Ben, and one who only ever took the top card won about 5 in 100.
Digging was common in our games. About one draw in four came from the discard pile, and a player who took a card from below the top took four cards on average. Extra cards are more chances to meld, and every card you take is one Ben can't.
2. Lay off on every meld you can
Any card that fits a meld on the table, yours or Ben's, can be added to it, and it scores for you. A fourth 9 goes on three 9s, and the next card at either end goes on a run. Before you discard, look along both ends of every run and at every three of a kind. A player who never laid off won only 6 games in 100.
Laying off also gets cards out of your hand, which helps you go out first. Our game edges your cards on the table in gold, so you can see at a glance what's scoring for you.
3. Keep your high cards, throw your low ones
Most rummy advice says to get rid of high cards early, so you aren't caught holding them. In Rummy 500 it's the other way round, and it was the biggest difference in our tests after the two above. A player who always threw their highest card won 8 games in 100. Even a player who threw away cards at random did better than that (22 in 100).
Two things make high cards worth keeping. Every card you meld scores its own value, so three Kings put 30 points on the table, while three 4s put 12. And whatever you throw away, Ben can pick up: a high card you throw could become Ben's 30 points instead of yours.
Being caught costs less than you might fear. When both players kept their high cards, the player caught with cards when the hand ended was holding 26 points on average, and had already put about 114 points on the table. Keep the habit to the end, too: switching to throwing high cards once Ben was down to five cards won only 26 games in 100.
4. Take from the pile whenever it helps
Don't wait for a big prize. Taking from the pile whenever the cards add anything to your score did better than waiting for a gain of 10 points or more, which won 42 games in 100. There is a limit, though: taking cards that leave you a few points worse off won 45 in 100. If what you'd take doesn't make a meld or fit one, draw from the stock.
5. Don't hold on to pairs
A pair feels like half a set, so it's tempting to keep it and throw something higher. In our tests that was a mistake: keeping pairs and throwing a higher card instead won 42 games in 100. A low pair isn't worth much even when it's completed. Keeping cards that nearly make a run made no real difference (49 in 100).
6. Watch what Ben picks up
Both players see every card taken from the discard pile. If Ben picked up the 9 of hearts, Ben took it for a reason, so don't throw another 9, or the 8 or 10 of hearts, if you have a safer card. It's a small edge: ignoring it won 48 games in 100 over 16,000 test games. Ben watches what you pick up in the same way.
7. Meld when you like
Some players keep their melds in hand, so the other player can't lay off on them, and put everything down at once to go out. In our tests it made no difference either way: 50 games in 100. Melding as you go keeps your hand small and easy to read, so do whichever you find easier.
8. Ask for a hint
The Hint button in our game chooses the way Ben does: whether anything in the pile is worth taking, which meld to put down, where a card can be laid off, and which card to throw and why. It's a quick way to make the habits above second nature.
How often should you win?
Ben plays every habit above, so Ben is a strong opponent. A player who followed the usual rummy advice, drawing from the stock unless the top card helped and throwing the highest card that didn't go with others, won about 4 games in 100 against Ben. Two players with the same habits each won about half their games, and dealing first made no real difference (51 in 100). If you're winning half your games against Ben, you're playing as well as our computer.
For more games to enjoy with a partner, see our guide to card games for two, and if you like Rummy 500, try Gin Rummy too: our Gin Rummy strategy guide will get you started.