For more resources on the rules of Canasta, check out pagat's article on the game here and gathertogethergame's article here. In , Canasta was invented by Segundo Santos and Alberto Serrato who wanted to create a quicker game than bridge.
Countless books were written on the game then, specialty decks were sold and Canasta overtook Bridge as the popular pastime. For more information on the history of Canasta, check out game developer Philip E.
Orbanes' article here. In Two Player Canasta, 15 cards are initially dealt. If a player draws from the stock, they must draw two cards instead of the normal one. Additionally, a player needs to complete two canastas in order to go out and end the round. All other rules of Classic Canasta apply including the point objective.
Samba is practically Classic Canasta but, with increased values for everything. Three 52 card decks are in play, totaling cards. Instead of a point objective, teams have to reach points. Melds can be made by cards of a kind and cards in sequence. Melds can only have two wildcards in them.
For teams with points or more, the first meld of a player must be least points. About the author: John Taylor is a content writer and freelancer through the company Upwork. You may view his freelancing profile here. He has a B. You may view his previous articles about card games here and his LinkedIn profile here. Do you count the value of all the cards within a canasta when the game ends even though you count the or for each canasta?
Glad to have found your site. Is there a different action needed if she was going to meld as well as pick up the discard pack? Log in Sign up. Cart 0 Check Out. The undealt remainder of the pack is placed face down in the center of the table, becoming the stock, and the top card is turned face up beside it. If the upcard is a joker, deuce or three, one or more additional cards must be turned upon it until a "natural" card a four or higher appears. A player finding a red three in their hand must, on their first turn, put it face up on the table and draw a replacement from the stock.
A player who draws a red three from the stock also lays it on the table face up and draws a replacement. Finally, a player who takes the discard pile and finds a red three in it must place the three face up on the table but does not draw a replacement. Each red three has a bonus value of points, but if one side has all four red threes, they count each, or in all. The value of the red threes is credited to a side that has made a meld, or debited against a side that has made no meld, when the hand ends.
The principal object of play is to form melds - combinations of three or more cards of the same rank - with or without the help of wild cards. Sequences are not valid melds. The player to left of the dealer plays first. Thereafter, the turn to play rotates clockwise to the left.
Each turn comprises a draw, a meld optional after drawing, and a discard, which ends the player's turn. When the players turn comes, a player is always entitled to draw the top card of the stock. Or, if the player wishes, they may instead subject to restrictions under "Taking the Discard Pile" take the top card of the discard pile to use it in a meld; having done so, they must take the rest of the discard pile.
The discard is always one card from the hand never from a meld. All discards are placed in one pile beside the stock on the upcard, if it is still there , and the discard pile must be kept squared up, except as noted later. A meld is valid if it contains at least two natural cards of the same rank - aces down to fours inclusive - and not more than three wild cards.
Jokers and deuces may never be melded apart from natural cards. A set of three or four black threes without wild cards may be melded only when a player goes out. To count plus, a meld must be laid on the table face up during a person's turn to play. All cards that are left in the hand when play ends, even though they form melds, count minus.
A player may meld as many cards as they please, of one rank or different ranks, forming new melds or adding cards to previous melds. But see restrictions on "Going Out". All the melds of a partnership are placed in front of either partner. A partnership may meld in a rank already melded by the opponents, but may not make two different melds of the same rank.
A player may add additional cards to a meld by their side, provided that the melds remain valid having no more than three wild cards. He may not add cards to the opponents' melds. A meld comprising seven or more cards, including at least four natural cards called a "base" , is a canasta. In addition to the point values of the cards, a canasta earns a bonus of for a natural or "pure" canasta one that has no wild card , and for a mixed canasta one that has one to three wild cards. A completed canasta is squared up with a red card on top to indicate a natural one and a black card on top to indicate a mixed canasta.
Additional cards may be added to a canasta to score their point values, but these do not affect the bonus - except that a wild card added to a natural canasta reduces it to a mixed canasta and a black card replaces the red card that was previously on top.
Minimum Count. A partnership's first meld its "initial" meld must meet a minimum count requirement that depends on the accumulated score of that side at the time, as follows: Accumulated Score at beginning of the deal Minimum Count Minus 15 0 to 1, 50 1, to 2, 90 3, or more The count of a meld is the total point value of the cards in it.
To meet the minimum, a player may make two or more different melds. If a player takes the discard pile, the top card but no other may count toward the requirement.
Bonuses for red threes and canastas do not count toward the minimum. After a side has made its initial meld, either partner may make any valid meld without reference to any minimum count. The discard pile is frozen against a side before that side has made its initial meld.
The initial meld unfreezes it for both partners, provided that it is not frozen again as described below. The discard pile is frozen when a red three is turned as an upcard or if a wild card or a black three is turned as an upcard or discarded.
The lowermost freezing card of the pile is turned sidewise to indicate the freeze. A frozen discard pile is unfrozen only by being taken. When the discard pile is topped by a wild card or a black three, at least one natural card must be discarded on top of the pile before the pile may be taken. Then, a player may take that card and the pile only with a natural pair of the same rank from their hand. Before touching the discard pile, the player should show the pair together with any additional cards if needed to meet the minimum count of an initial meld.
When the discard pile is not frozen against their side, a player may take it: a with a natural pair matching the top card as above; or b by melding the top card with one matching natural card and one wild card from his hand; or c by adding the top card to a meld they already have on the table.
Having taken and melded the top discard as described, the player takes the rest of the pile into their hand and may then meld some or all of the additional cards as they please. The discard pile may never be taken when its top card is a wild card, a black three, or a red three. A player may: 1 Examine the discard pile during their first turn before discarding. When it is their turn to play, a player is entitled to be informed of a the minimum count requirement or score at the beginning of the hand of either side; b the number of cards held by any player; and c the number of cards remaining in the stock.
If a player's hand is reduced to one card, they may announce this fact. A player goes out when they get rid of the last card in their hand by discarding or melding it, provided that their side has melded at least one canasta or they complete a canasta while going out. Failing this requirement, a player must keep at least one card in their hand. When a player goes out, the hand ends and the results on both sides are scored. A player with only one card left in their hand may not take the discard pile if there is only one card in it.
If a player sees that they are able to go out, before or after drawing, the player may say "Partner, may I go out? Before responding, the partner may obtain the information specified under "Information" see above. A player may not ask "Partner, may I go out? However, they may go out without asking permission. A player goes out "concealed" when they meld their entire hand in one turn, including at least one canasta, without having made an earlier meld and without previously having added any card to melds that their partner has made.
If a partner has not made an initial meld, the player must meet the minimum count without the canasta bonus if they has taken the discard pile, but need not do so if they has drawn from the stock.
If a player draws the last card of the stock and it is a red three, they must reveal it. The player may not then meld or discard, and play ends.
Each player is dealt 11 cards, and the rest of the cards are placed in a face-down stock pile in the centre of the table. The top card of the stock is taken off and placed face up next to the stock pile, to start the discard pile. If this first face-up card is wild or a red three, another card is turned and places on top of it, continuing until a card which is not a wild card or red three is turned up; the wild card or red three should be stacked at right angles to the rest of the pile, to indicate that it is frozen see below.
Each player must immediately place face-up in front of them any red threes they were dealt, and draw an equal number of cards from the top of the face-down pile to replace them. Every meld must contain at least two natural cards. The smallest meld, as usual, consists of three cards, which could be three natural cards such as or two natural cards and a wild card such as Q-Q Melds can grow as large as you wish. A meld of seven or more cards counts as a canasta. No meld can contain more than three wild cards - so a six card meld must include at least three natural cards, and a canasta must contain at least four natural cards.
There is no limit on the number of natural cards that can be added to a complete canasta. A wild card added to a pure canasta of course makes it mixed. Once a canasta contains three wild cards, no further wild cards can be added. It is not allowed for one partnership to have two separate melds of the same rank. Any cards melded by a partnership which are the same rank as one of their existing melds are automatically merged into that meld, provided that the limit of three wild cards is not exceeded.
It is however quite possible and not unusual have a meld of the same rank as one of your opponents' melds. As usual, each turn is begun by either drawing the top card from the face-down stock or taking the whole of the discard pile. The player may meld some cards and must do so if taking the discard pile. Each turn must be ended by discarding one card face-up on top of the discard pile. A player may always opt to draw the top card of the face down pile. You can only take the discard pile if you can meld its top card, combined with cards from your hand if necessary.
There are additional restrictions on taking the discard pile if it is frozen against your partnership see below. But first let us consider the case where the discard pile is not frozen against you. In that case, if the top card of the pile is a natural card from four up to ace , you can take the pile if either:.
The procedure for taking the pile was described in the general rules. You must show that you can use the top card in a valid meld before you are allowed to pick up the rest of the pile.
After picking up the pile, you can then make further melds. For example, if there is a five on top of the pile and another five buried, you cannot use a single five in your hand to take the pile and meld the three fives. But if you have two fives in your hand you can meld these with the five on top of the pile, take the pile, and then add the other five to this meld. Note that you can never take the discard pile if its top card is a wild card or a black three.
Note also that it is not necessary to take the discard pile in order to meld. If you wish, you can meld after drawing from the stock. When the discard pile is frozen against you, you can only take it if you hold in your hand two natural cards of the same rank as the top card of the discard pile, and you use these with the top discard to make a meld. This meld can either be a new one, or could be the same rank as an existing meld belonging to your partnership, in which case the melds are then merged.
For example, suppose the pile is frozen against us and our team already has a meld of 4 sevens on the table. If the player before me discards a seven, I cannot pick up the discard pile unless I have two further sevens concealed in my hand. If I do have 2 sevens in my hand, I can add them and the discarded seven to our meld making a canasta , and take the pile.
If your partnership has not yet melded, then in order to meld, the total value of the cards you lay down must meet a minimum count requirement. This requirement depends on your partnership's cumulative score from previous hands as follows:. To achieve this count, you can of course put several melds at once, and the melds can be of more than the minimum size of three cards. The standard values of the cards you play are added to check whether the requirement has been met.
We have seen that if you have not yet melded, the discard pile is frozen against you. Therefore, in order to achieve the minimum count, you must either meld entirely from your hand after drawing from the stock, or you must use two natural cards from your hand which match the top card of the discard pile. In this second case, you can count the value of the top discard, along with the cards you play from your hand in this and any other melds, towards the minimum count.
You cannot count any other cards in the pile which you may intend to add in the same turn. Example: there is a king on top of the discard pile and a king and a queen buried in the pile.
You have two kings, two queens and a two in your hand. If your initial meld requirement is 50, you can meld K-K-K, Q-Q-2 using the king from the top of the pile, for 70 points.
You can then add the king and queen from the pile to these melds in the same turn if you wish. But you could not make this play if you needed a minimum count of even though the king and queen from the pile are ultimately worth a further 20, you cannot include these towards your initial requirement. Bonuses for red threes, canastas and so on cannot be counted towards meeting the minimum.
Even if you have a complete canasta in your hand, you are not allowed to put it down as your initial meld if the total value of its individual cards does not meet your minimum count requirement. There is just one exception to the minimum count requirement. Suppose that your team has not yet melded, and that having drawn from the stock you are able to meld your entire hand including a canasta.
In this case you may meld you whole hand with or without a final discard and go out without having to meet any minimum count requirement. In doing this you will score the extra bonus for going out concealed. This option remains available to a player who has exposed red threes, provided that they have not melded anything else.
The play ends as soon as a player goes out. You can only go out if your partnership has melded at least one canasta. Once your side has a canasta, you may go out if you can and wish to, by melding all of your cards, or by melding all but one and discarding your last card. It is legal to complete the required canasta and go out on the same turn. If your side does not yet have a canasta, you are not allowed to leave yourself without any cards at the end of your turn: you must play in such a way as to keep at least one card after discarding.
It is against the rules in this case to meld all your cards except one. You would then be forced to discard this last card, which would constitute going out illegally. Note that it is not always an advantage to go out as soon as you are able to; the cards left in your partner's hand will count against your side, and you may in any case be able to score more points by continuing. If you are able to go out but unsure whether to do so, you may if you wish ask your partner "may I go out?
This question can only be asked immediately after drawing from the stock or taking the discard pile, before making any further melds other than the one involving the top card of the pile if it was taken. Your partner must answer "yes" or "no" and the answer is binding. If the answer is "yes", you must go out; if the answer is "no" you are not allowed to go out.
You are under no obligation to ask your partner's permission before going out; if you wish, you can simply go out without consulting your partner. Another way that play can end is when there are no more cards left in the face-down stock. Play can continue with no stock as long as each player takes the previous player's discard and melds it.
In this situation a player must take the discard if the pile is not frozen and if the discard matches any previous meld of that player's side. As soon as a player is entitled to draw from the stock and chooses to do so, but there is no card in the stock, the play ends. If a player draws a red three as the last card of the stock, the red three is placed face up as usual and then, since there is no replacement card that can be drawn from the stock, the play immediately ends.
The player who drew the red three is not allowed to meld nor discard. After the bonuses have been calculated, the cards melded by each team are counted using the standard values - see general rules. Black threes are worth 5 points each. For ease of counting and checking, the usual method is to group the cards into piles worth points each.
Note that in a canasta, the values of the cards themselves are counted in addition to the bonus for the canasta, so for example a natural canasta of seven kings is really worth points altogether - for the canasta and 70 for the kings. The cards remaining in the hands of the players are also counted using the same standard values, but these points count against the team and are subtracted from their score.
A cumulative total score is kept for each partnership. It is possible to have a negative score. When one or both partnerships have a total of 5, or more points at the end of a hand, the game ends and the side with the higher total score wins. The margin of victory is the difference between the scores of the two sides. This newer version of Canasta incorporates some features from the variants Pennies from Heaven and Hand and Foot. Those who have adopted it enjoy its stricter rules and find the classic version too easy in comparison.
I am not sure how widespread this version of Canasta is, but there are significant and growing numbers of players in New York, New Jersey and Florida. It would be interesting to know whether it has taken root in other regions as well. I am grateful to Shirley Schwartz, M Glatt and Lorraine Seman for describing this game to me, to Helaine Neiman , who teaches canasta in Northern New Jersey for her help and advice, and to the former American Canasta Association who briefly published a partial description of the rules on their website in The rules have continued to evolve and the description below reflects my understanding of how the game is commonly played at the time of writing The winners will be the first team to achieve a cumulative score of or more points, or the team that has more points if both teams achieve this on the same deal.
Sometimes a special tray is used to hold the draw and discard piles but this is not essential. The dealer shuffles, the player to dealer's right cuts. The undealt cards are placed face down in the centre to form a draw pile. No card is turned face up to start a discard pile - the play begins with the discard pile empty.
The ninth card from the bottom of the draw pile is turned at right angles to the pile. This is known as the turn card. During the game, a player who draws the turn card must announce it so that all players know that there are just 8 cards remaining in the draw pile - the "bottom 8". One procedure for dealing is as follows: when performing the cut, the player to the dealer's right lifts the top part of the deck, deals 8 cards from the bottom of this section into the draw tray, places the ninth card sideways in the draw tray as the turn card, and finally places the rest of the section on the draw pile.
Meanwhile the dealer takes the cards that were left by the cutter and deals 13 cards to each player, one at a time, placing any remaining cards on top of the draw pile, or taking cards from the top of the draw pile to complete the deal if needed.
The turn to deal passes to the left after each hand. Normally the player to dealer's right also acts as scorekeeper for the hand. In this game, twos and jokers are wild, and threes are special. The remaining cards, from 4 up to ace, are called natural cards. Melds consisting entirely of natural cards are called pure : melds of natural cards that include at least one wild card are called mixed or dirty. Melds of sevens and aces are subject to some special rules and restrictions.
Melds consisting entirely of wild cards are also allowed. Many players refer to all the melds as 'canastas'.
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