500 is as much a part of Ponui as donkeys and barge jumping. There’s no denying that alongside stretching body and Spirit, generations of campers have also had their minds tested by games of 500. And their endurance too, with games sometimes lasting late into the night...  however once Ponui’s card playing elite leave the island they are scattered round the world; from London to Seattle, Christchurch and Melbourne. Ponui 500 Online has been created to remove those distances, to enable everyone to continue both their Ponui fellowship, and competition!

It’s full of features. The chat window connects you with the other players, displaying everything in helpfully coloured text. You can congratulate (or gloat with) your team member on a trick well won, or explain rules and tactics to beginner players.

Team member names are in matching colours. And if you forget what trumps is, you can scroll back up to check. Calls are written in bright red, so you can’t miss them!

The bid window shows what's left to call. All bids lower than the last are shaded out. It also does the maths: when you hover the mouse over a bid it works out how many points you'll be on if you win or lose that bid. Brilliant for those last ditch "nine no trumps!" calls to stop your opponents winning the game. It's even easier to play online than in real life. The game auto-sorts your hand: trumps to the left, red and black suits alternating and when you win the bid the kitty is automatically sorted into the correct places to make for easy discard selection.

But Ponui 500 isn’t going to help you cheat! No ‘forgetting’ to discard the kitty or not following suit here…

The current version is still in beta. People are welcome to assist this process by reporting any bugs or issues they encounter when playing. Please direct any such emails to bugreport@ponui500.com. Thanks! Every piece of feedback helps make the game better. If a game goes wrong, all players should refresh the web page, log in again and go into an empty room to start a new game.

There are even more features planned for the future. Development will continue over time and plans include the following:

  • A personal profile. It will be possible to add and edit information, choose nicknames and upload pictures.
  • Increased interactivity. You will be able to swap partners, join a game that is in play, or be a spectator. Even if you don’t play 500, you will be able to learn from and enjoy watching others play!
  • Statistics being recorded. For the more competitive among us, you will be able to view and compare the number of games won, and the best partnerships.

PONUI 500 – LET THE COMPETITION COMMENCE.