Rummy 500 scores in both directions — melds count for you, cards stuck in hand count against you — so this pad gives every player a plus column, a minus column and a running total, with the card values printed where the arguments happen.
| Rd | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | ||||||||
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| + | − | total | + | − | total | + | − | total | + | − | total | |
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Rummy 500 is standard draw-and-discard rummy with two twists that change everything. First, melds score as you lay them — you're banking points all round long, not just avoiding deadwood. Second, the discard pile is fair game to any depth: you may reach for a card buried five deep, as long as you pick up everything above it and immediately use the card you wanted in a meld.
When a player sheds their last card, the round freezes. Everyone totals the cards they melded (the plus column), totals what's still in hand (the minus column), and writes the difference into their running total. Big hands full of half-finished plans go sharply negative — that's the tension the deep-draw rule creates, because a fat discard pickup is ten cards of opportunity and ten cards of risk in the same fist.
Each player gets three columns per round: + for melds, − for the hand, and the running total. The first total to cross +500 ends the game. With more than four players, pair up on columns or print a second sheet.
Do you have to discard to go out? Most tables say yes, the last card leaves via the discard. Agree beforehand — it matters at the end.
Aces high or low? Both: Q-K-A runs score the ace at 15, A-2-3 runs score it low (1 or 5 by house rule).