500 Challenge

LOCAL RULES

Listed below are the ‘local rules’:

• Misere and Open Misere can be called.

• Misere/Open Misere can only be called after a 7 bid.

• An 8 bid will outbid a Misere call.

• A bid of 10 of any suit or ‘10 No Trumps’ will outbid an Open Misere call.

• When the bid is ‘No Trumps’ a player may lead a trick with the joker by naming the suit to be followed, but may not name a suit to which the player has previously claimed to be void.

• The non-bidder will score 10 points for each trick they take, but they cannot win a game by using these points.

• If a bidder wins all 10 tricks they score 250 points if their bid was below this amount of points.

• In Misere, the Joker must be discarded by the person who picks up the kitty, or is the last card played if possessed by any other player.

• A game in progress when the 40 minutes has elapsed may continue if the bidding has concluded and if the result will determine the winner of the match.

• The winner of a match will have won the most games, or be in front when time is up.

COMPETITION FORMAT

Listed below is the format for Qualifying Rounds of the ‘500 for 2’ Queensland Championships for 2025.

• The competition will begin with an education segment to ensure all participants understand the ‘500 for 2’ format.

• You must already now how to play the 4-player game of 500.

• Players will be randomly allocated to a pool of 8 people, and drawn to play one of the participants in that pool.

• Each player will play 3 matches.

• The winner of a match will be:

  • The first player to win 3 games, or

  • The player who is ahead when the buzzer goes to end the 40 minutes allocated to play the match.

  • Players may finish the hand they are playing if it could effect the outcome of the match.

• In the 2nd match, winners from round 1 will play each other and losers from round 1 will play each other.

• In the 3rd match:

  • the 2 players who have won both their matches will play each other

  • the 2 players who have lost both their matches will play each other

  • the players who had a win followed by a loss will play each other

  • the players who had a loss followed by a win will play each other.

• The winner of the pool will be the player who wins all 3 games. This player will automatically be eligible to play in their respective ‘500 for 2’ Queensland Championship for 2025.

• Every match you win on the day gives you a free entry into a prize draw.

The following graphic illustrates how the pairings work for each pool of 8 players.