General Rules and Terminology
The Cards
Canasta is normally played with two standard 52 card packs plus four
jokers (two from each pack), making 108 cards in all. They have standard
point values as follows:
Jokers
. . . 50 points each
A, 2 . . . 20 points each
K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8 . . . 10 points each
7, 6, 5, 4 . . . 5 points each
The cards A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 are called
natural cards. All of the deuces (2s)
and jokers are wild cards. With some restrictions, wild cards can
be used during the game as substitutes for a natural card of any rank.
The threes (3s) have special functions and values.
The
Deal and Play
Each player is dealt a hand of cards, and in the centre of the table
is a face-down pile of cards called the stock and a face-up pile of
cards called the discard pile. The player to the left of the dealer
plays first, and then the turn to play passes clockwise. A basic turn
consists of drawing the top card of the stock, adding it to your hand
without showing it to the other players, and discarding one card from
your hand face up on top of the discard pile.
After drawing, but before discarding, you may sometimes be able to play
some cards from your hand face up on the table. To play cards to the
table in this way is known as melding, and the sets of cards so played
are melds. These melded cards remain face up on the table until the
end of the play.
The play ends when a player goes out, i.e. disposes of all the cards
in his or her hand. You are only allowed to go out after your team has
fulfilled certain conditions, which vary according to the type of canasta
played but always include completing at least one seven-card meld or
'canasta' (see below). Having achieved this, you can go out by melding
all but one of the cards in your hand and discarding this last card.
In many versions of Canasta you can also go out by melding your whole
hand, leaving no discard. The game can also end if the stock pile runs
out of cards: if a player who wishes to draw from the stock is unable
to do so, because there are no cards left there, the play ends immediately
and the hand is scored.
Under certain conditions, instead of drawing from the stock, you are
permitted to take the whole of the discard pile. In order to do this,
you must be able to meld the top discard, without needing any of the
other cards in the discard pile to make your meld valid. The procedure
in this case is:
1. Place the necessary cards from your hand face up on the table,
and add the top card of the discard pile to them to form a valid meld
or melds.
2. Take all the remaining cards of the discard pile and add them to
your hand.
3. If you wish, make further melds from the cards you now have in
your hand.
4. Discard one card face up on the discard pile to end your turn.
Melds
and Canastas
The object of the game is to score points by melding cards. A valid
meld consists of three or more cards of the same natural rank (any rank
from four up to ace), such as three kings, six fives, etc. When playing
with partners, melds belong to a partnership, not to an individual player.
They are kept face up in front of one of the partners. Typically, a
partnership will have several melds, each of a different rank. You can
add further cards of the appropriate rank to any of your side's melds,
whether begun by yourself or by your partner, but you can never add
cards to an opponent's meld.
Wild cards (jokers and twos) can normally be used in melds as subsititutes
for cards of the appropriate rank. For example Q-Q-Q-2 or 8-8-8-8-8-2-joker
would be valid melds. There are, however, restrictions on using wild
cards, which vary according to the type of Canasta being played.
Threes cannot be melded in the normal way.
A meld of seven cards is called a canasta. If all of the cards in it
are natural, it is called a natural or pure or clean or red canasta;
the cards are squared up and a red card is placed on top. If it includes
one or more wild cards it is called a mixed or dirty or black canasta;
it is squared up with a natural black card on top, or one of the wild
cards in it is placed at right-angles, to show that it is mixed.
For each partnership, the first turn during a hand when they put down
one or more melds is called their initial meld. When making the initial
meld for your partnership, you must meet a certain minimum count requirement,
in terms of the total value of cards that you put down. You are allowed
to count several separate melds laid down at the same time in order
to meet this requirement. You are allowed to use the top card of the
discard pile along with cards from your hand to satisfy the minimum
count, before picking up the remainder of the pile.
The initial meld requirement applies to a partnership, not to an individual
player. Therefore, after either you or your partner have made a meld
that meets the requirement, both of you can meld freely for the rest
of that hand. However, if the opponents have not yet melded, they must
still meet the requirement in order to begin melding.
Classic
Canasta
This game was standardised in the late 1940's and is still played in
many parts of the world.
There are four players in fixed partnerships, partners sitting opposite
each other. Two 52 card standard packs plus 4 jokers are shuffled together
to make a 108 card pack
The Deal
The first dealer is chosen at random, and thereafter the turn to deal
rotates clockwise after each hand. The dealer shuffles and the player
to dealer's right cuts. Each player is dealt 11 cards,(13 cards when
only two players) 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.
Melds in Classic Canasta
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 8-8-8) or two natural cards and a wild card (such as Q-Q-2).
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.
The Play in Classic Canasta
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:
1. you play two cards from your hand that make a
valid meld with the top discard: these could be either two natural
cards of the same rank as the top discard, or one such natural card
and one wild card, or
2. the top discard matches the rank of one of your
partnerships existing melds, and you add it to that meld.
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.
Frozen Discard Pile
There are three ways that the discard pile can be frozen against your
partnership.
1. The discard pile is frozen against all players
if it contains a wild card. To show that it is frozen, the wild card
is placed at right angles in the pile, so that it is still visible
after other cards are discarded on top of it.
2. In the unusual case where a red three is turned
up to start the discard pile after the deal, the discard pile is frozen
against all players, and the red three is placed at a right angle
to show this.
3. If your partnership has not yet melded, the discard
pile is frozen against you.
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 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 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.
Initial Meld Requirement in Classic Canasta
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:
Cumulative score Minimum count of initial meld
negative . . . . . 15 points (i.e. no minimum)
0 - 1495 . . . . . 50 points
1500 - 2995 . . . . . 90 points
3000 or more . . . . . 120 points
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 90: 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 indivdual cards does not meet your minimum count requirement.
There is just one exception to the minimum count requirement. If, having
drawn from the stock, you are able to meld your entire hand, including
a canasta, without having previously melded any cards, you may do so
(with or without a final discard) and go out without having to meet
any mimimum 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.
Threes in Classic Canasta
Red threes are bonus cards.
If you draw a red three, you must immediately be place it face-up on
the table with your partnership's melds (or where your melds will be,
if you have not melded yet). You then draw a replacement card from the
face-down stock. Although red threes score bonus points they do not
count as meld, and do not help you to satisfy the minimum count requirement
for your initial meld. Also they do not prevent you from subsequently
scoring the bonus for going out with a concealed hand.
Occasionally it happens that a red three is turned up at the end of
the deal as a start card for the discard pile. This freezes the discard
pile (see below). When the discard pile is eventually taken, the player
puts the red three face-up with the partnership's melds, but does not
draw a replacement card.
Black threes are stop cards.
By discarding a black three you prevent the next player from taking
the discard pile. However, black threes do not freeze the pile. After
the black three is covered by another card, it has no further effect,
and the pile can be taken in the usual way.
Black threes cannot be melded, except in one exceptional case. A player
who is going out may meld a group of three or four black threes as part
of that last turn. Such a meld of black threes cannot contain wild cards.
End of the hand: Going Out
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. and the answer is binding. 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.
Classic Canasta Scoring
When the play has ended the hand is scored. Each partnership's score
for the hand consists of:
• the total value of any bonuses they are entitled to - see the
table below,
• plus the total value of all the cards they have melded,
• minus the total value of any cards remaining in their hands,
The bonus scores are as follows:
For going out 100 points
*For going out concealed - that is, the player's whole hand is melded
in one turn, and includes at least one canasta. an extra 100 points,
making 200 for going out.
For each natural (red) canasta 500 points
For each mixed (black) canasta 300 points
**For each red three laid out, if the team has at least one meld 100
points
**For all four red threes an extra 400 points, making 800 for red threes
*Note. To score the bonus for going out concealed, the player must not
have previously melded, must not add any cards to partner's melds, and
must put down a complete canasta. The player going out concealed may
take the discard pile in their final turn and still score the concealed
bonus; if they take the discard pile and partner has not yet melded,
they must satisfy the relevant initial meld requirement.
**Note. If a partnership did not manage to meld at all, then each of
their red threes counts minus 100 points instead of plus 100. If they
are unlucky enough to have all four red threes and have not melded,
they score minus 800 points for these threes.
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 100 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 570 points altogether - 500 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 5,000 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. |
