Canasta is a variation of the card game of Rummy. It developed and evolved in Uruguay and landed in the United States in the mid 20th century. Even though Canasta does not have a long history like other card games, it has gained in popularity year after year.

Canasta is a Spanish word which means ‘basket’ and as a term, it probably represents the tray like container centred on the playing table which holds the cards and the discards.

The distinctive feature of Canasta, as opposed to other Rummy games, is that making a seven-card meld, called a canasta, gives the player a huge bonus, and the number of canastas made usually decides the game. Another distinctive feature is that in Canasta, when a player picks up cards from the discard pile, the player can pick up the entire pile as opposed to only the top card in most other Rummy games.

These differences in rules produce differences in play. That is, in ordinary Rummy, the goal is to go out fast and having cards in your hand is generally bad. The goal in Canasta, however, is to build canastas, which requires many cards, and therefore picking up the discard pile is usually advantageous to the player.

Object of the Game

The object of Canasta is to work together as a team to beat your opponents by scoring more points and creating the most canastas before someone at the table plays his or her last card. These points are scored by melding cards and making as many canastas as possible. Ideally, you or your partner will also end play with the fewest high-point cards in your hands, because these cards are deducted from your score.

Play Requirements

Canasta normally involves two standard playing card decks of 52 cards each. Four additional jokers are added to make a complete Canasta deck of 108 cards. It is recommended to use decks that look the same on the back. A Canasta tray is also required which is used to hold the decks and the discards. You will also need a pad of paper and a writing utensil to keep score. Four people are required to play and these participants will form partnered teams of two members each. Pairs face each other.

There are variations of the game that are meant for two or three players. These may not be as popular as the four player game, but when there are not enough participants, you may have to rely on one of these variations.

Dealing

The first dealer is the player who sits to the right of the player who draws the highest card from the deck. Cards must be redrawn if the card is a joker or if two players draw the exact card. If more than one card is of the same rank but different suits, then suits are ranked from spades (high), hearts, diamonds, to clubs (low). The player who draws the second highest card sits to the right of the dealer. The deal then rotates clockwise.

Any person can shuffle the cards, but the dealer has the option to shuffle last. The player to the dealer’s left has the option to cut the deck.

Each player receives eleven cards – the dealer deals one card at a time clockwise face down to each player starting with the player to the dealer’s left. The remaining cards, called the stock, are placed face down with a top card face up in the Canasta tray and this is referred to as the discard pile. If the first up card is a joker, deuce, or a red 3 (3, 3), then the top card from the stock is turned up and placed on top of the up card. You continue to turn up the top card from the stock until a natural card appears (4 or higher).

The first player left of the dealer starts by drawing a card from the top of the stock pile or the discard pile. That player continues their turn by melding if they are able to or want to at the time. They must end their turn with the discard of a single card face up. Play continues to the left.

Canastas

A canasta is a set or meld of seven cards of a kind and may include cards from any suit. For example, 7 threes – 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3; or 7 Queens – Q, Q, Q, Q, Q, Q, Q. Canastas are also sometimes called ‘books’. A canasta is awarded extra points.

A canasta can either be a clean canasta or a dirty canasta.

• Clean canasta / Pure canasta / Red canasta – These three terms all mean the same thing and they refer to a canasta, or seven cards of a kind, such as seven Jacks or seven Aces, which do not include any wild cards (jokers and 2′s). Clean canastas are worth more points than dirty canastas.
• Dirty canasta / Black canasta – This refers to a canasta that was created using wild cards (jokers and 2′s). Using wild cards to make canastas reduces the point value of the canasta, but it helps you to create more canastas from the cards in your hand and play through your cards faster.

Playing

The player to the dealer’s left leads and play continues clockwise until the hand is over. Each player will attempt to form combinations with their cards which are called ‘melds’. This term must be thoroughly defined before the start of play.

A meld is a grouping of three or more cards of the same kind – that is, a combination of cards that must consist of a minimum of three cards, all of the same rank. A meld may not include over three wild cards and so must always include two or more natural cards. Jokers and Two’s (deuces) are wild and can be melded only with cards that are 4 or higher (called ‘natural’ cards). For example, three natural sevens (7, 7, 7) would constitute an example of an acceptable meld while three jokers would not. Two sevens and a wild card would be an acceptable meld where one five and two wild cards would not be and so essentially, a three-card meld can only have one wild card.

Melds are placed face up on the table as they are made where they remain face-up in front of one of the partners until the game ends. Partners combine their melds to try together to make canastas (seven-card melds). When playing with partners, melds belong to a partnership, not to an individual player. Canastas have to contain a minimum of four natural cards. Each mixed canasta or dirty canasta is worth 300 points and each natural canasta or clean canasta is worth 500 points. You may lay cards down on the appropriate meld for your team anytime it is your turn. You may not lay cards on the other team’s melds. A team cannot have more than one meld of the same card and additional cards played must be laid on the existing meld of that card rank/value. Partners can make a meld of the same rank of opponents’ meld.

A player’s turn ends by discarding a card onto the discard pile. Certain cards are safe discards. For example, if your opponent team has 5 cards in a canasta of 4′s, then the four is a "safe" discard, because your opponent may not pick up the pile, even if they have two 4′s in their hand as a team cannot have more than one meld of the same card .

Initial Melding

In order for the first player to meld for a side, a minimum score is required. That is, he/ she must table at least 50 points of meld. Each card in a meld has a point value as above and to calculate the value of a meld, you need to add up the point value of each card in the meld.

The initial melding requirement increases or decreases along the way as detailed below:
If the score in the previous deal was “minus”, then the minimum points are 15 to meld. If the team had 0 (as in the first hand) to 1495, then they must score 50 points to form the first meld. If the score was from 1500 up to 2995, they must score 90 points for their first meld of the current deal. If they scored 3000 plus, then they have to get 120 points in their very first meld of the deal in order to meld at all. The first team to meld all cards and have a final discard wins that deal.

Special Cards

Red threes (3, 3) are the player’s bonus cards and are not used in play. Bonus cards are worth 100 points each if you have melded, but they are penalty points (minus-100 points each) if you have not melded by the end of the hand. If a player is dealt a red three in their original hand of cards, it is placed face up and an extra card is chosen on the player’s first turn.

If a red three is drawn during play, this also calls for a replacement. A red card from the discards is not replaced but must be laid down and if you obtain a red 3 from the discard pile, you must place it on the table but cannot draw another card from the stock. If your team lays down all four red 3′s by the end of the hand, the bonus is doubled to 800 points. The red threes are not meldable as a set.

All black threes (3, 3) are also called stop cards. In all but one circumstance, black threes may not meld together. The exception to melding is when the party playing the meld of black threes is going out. If a black three hits the discard pile, it cannot be selected and also, black 3′s cannot be melded with wild cards (jokers and 2′s).

Taking the Pack

You can take the pack or pick up the entire pile of discards if you can meld the top card on the pack and you meet the following conditions; (a) if your team has not made a meld, you will have to use two natural cards in your hand to meld with the top discard; (b) you must score a minimum number of points in your initial meld made from only cards in your hand and the top discard; and (c) if your team has previously made a meld, then you can use a natural card and a wild card from your hand, as well as the top discard from the pack.

You also can take the top discard when you use it to add on a meld. After your team makes your first meld, you can create new melds or you can add to melds to build canastas. Whatever cards remain from the discard pile after melding, these are added to your hand.
Partners may add cards to each other’s melds once they are on the table. This is how smaller melds are built into canastas, which comprise seven or more cards.

Once a canasta is made, it is squared into a pile, with a red card from the meld placed on top to signal a natural canasta (no wild cards in the meld) or a black card to signal any wild cards. Since partners can continue to build on canastas, if wild cards are added to a natural canasta, the signal card must be switched to a black suit. This is important to follow since natural and wild canastas are scored differently.

Freezing the Pack

There are three ways that the discard pile may be frozen.

The discard pile is frozen against all players if it contains a wild card (jokers and 2′s). To show that the discard pile 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.

In the very rare 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 also show this.

If your partnership has not yet melded, the discard pile is also frozen against you.
Anytime a black 3 (3, 3) or a wild card is placed on the discard pile, the pack is frozen. As long as either type of card is on the pack and placed sideways in the stack, no player can take cards from the discard pile.

This strategic move makes it difficult for opponents to take the cards from the discard pile, or pack, but it can be a risky choice. You can never take the pack if the top discard is a wild card or a black 3. In order to break the freeze, you must display a natural pair from your hand to meld with the top discard of the same rank. Therefore, as a tip, when taking the pack, do not meld everything in it immediately. It is wise to keep some cards so that you will have natural pairs to take a frozen pack.

Going Out

In order to go out, your team must have one or more canastas either previously made or made when you go out and you cannot have any cards left in your hand. At this point, discarding is optional. Unless you go out, however, you must always have at least one card in your hand.

A player with only one card cannot take the pack if only one discard is in the pile. You can, however, take the pile if you meld or add the top card to a meld and the pack is not frozen. During his/her turn, before they take from the discard pile, meld, or add to a meld, they can ask, "Partner, may I go out?" Partner can say only "Yes" or "No." If the answer is "Yes," you are required to go out. If the answer is "No," the game must continue.

A hand also ends when the stock is exhausted. If the last card is a red 3 (3, 3), this card is turned up and play immediately ends with no discarding or melding. If the last stock card is not a red 3, play continues as long as the discard pile can be legally taken.

A Concealed Hand

If you are able to meld your entire hand in one turn, and go out, you have a concealed hand. The player of a concealed hand cannot have made any melds or add to the partner’s meld during any previous turns. You receive twice the bonus points for going out. That is, 200 points instead of 100 points.

If you take from the discard pile, you must have already met the required minimum points, not counting the canasta if your partner has not melded. If you take from the stock, you do not need to meet that requirement. At any time, you can ask another player to reveal how many cards are left in his or her hand.

Scoring

Each card has a point value and scoring is generally calculated as follows:

CARDS	SCORE	EXAMPLE ONE	EXAMPLE TWO
8, 9, 10, J, Q, K	10 POINTS EACH	K is worth 10 points	9 is worth 10 points
ACES	20 POINTS EACH	A is worth 20 points	A is worth 20 points
4, 5, 6, 7	5 POINTS EACH	5 is worth 5 points	6 is worth 5 points
Black 3′s	5 POINTS EACH	3 is worth 5 points	3 is worth 5 points
2	20 POINTS EACH	2s is worth 20 points	22 is worth 20 points
JOKERS	50 POINTS EACH

Scores are usually kept in columns titled ‘We’ and ‘They’. When totalling your points for a round, you must first count all of the points you earned by building canastas. The value of all melded cards is added up and then the bonus points are added. Next, the tally of all cards left in each player’s hands (even if they make a meld) is subtracted from the team’s total for the score of the hand. That is, if you have cards in your hand when someone goes out (including your teammate), the point value of those cards are subtracted from your team’s point total for that round.

As a rule, you only count the point value of your red threes once. Played on a clean canasta, they add 100 points to your score. If found in your hand at the end of play, 100 points is deducted from your score per red three. For example, if a team has three red threes but has not made any melds at the end of a hand, the team will suffer a penalty of 300 points rather than gaining a 300 point bonus.

Bonus Scores

Going Out – 100 Points
Going out Concealed – Additional 100 Points (200 points)
Each mixed canasta (has wild cards – 2′s or jokers) – 300 Points
Each natural canasta (no wild cards) – 500 Points
Each red three, up to three – 100 Points each
The fourth red three – 500 Points (A total of 800 points for all four red threes)

The game ends when a team’s total score reaches 5000 or above. The team with the highest total score at this point wins.

Scoring Variations

Games can be extended beyond 5000 points, with higher initial meld requirements after reaching certain point totals, such as 150 points or even an initial canasta.

The third red three can be made worth 200 points and the fourth worth 400 to create cumulative totals of 100, 200, 400, and 800.

A meld of all four black threes can be made to be worth 100 points, but the cards are not counted for 5 points each in the total count. Black threes may or may not retain their ability to block the discard pile if this variant is used. A black three left in a player’s hand when another player goes out may incur a -100 point penalty (rather than -5 points).

Canasta Game Variations

Many variants of Canasta were created in the latter half of the twentieth century. These variations may include; increasing the number of cards used, allowing players draw two cards each turn, adding special melds to the game and/or require more than one canasta to go out.

Currently, there are four major variants which include:

1. Classic Canasta – the traditional game described by the proposed Regency Club standard.
2. Samba Canasta – features sequences and sets when one melds.
3. Hand and Foot Canasta – features "a foot" which is a second hand for each player which is picked up when the cards of the first one has been depleted.
4. Modern American Canasta – gives huge bonuses for canastas of sevens and aces.

Within each of these four variants there are minor rule variations and there is some overlap between the major variants listed above.