In the 1930s and ‘40s, Rummy was the second-most popular card game in the United States (after Bridge). In the 1950s, Rummy fell from favor and was overtaken by two of its offspring, the games of Gin Rummy (invented in Brooklyn, NY) and Canasta (invented in Uruguay).
Canasta is not one game, it is an umbrella term for a family of games. Most are team-based, although variations such as Two-Hand and Three-Hand Canasta, as well as Oklahoma Canasta, ditch team play for individual play. The “classic” version described here dates from the 1940s. It is still played, though nowadays it’s more likely you’ll encounter the Samba or Bolivia variations.
HOW TO DEAL Start with two fifty-two-card decks plus four jokers (108 cards total). There are no card rankings, since sequences have no value in Canasta. Jokers and all 2s are wild. Deal eleven cards to each player. Set the remaining cards face down in the center of the table (this is the stock), turn up a card from the stock, and place it face up on the table (this is the discard pile).
SCORING Going out is important, but it is not the game’s primary objective; the true goal is to score as many points as possible through melding. Cards have the following values in Canasta:
| CARDS | POINTS |
| Joker | 50 points each |
| A, 2 | 20 points each |
| K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8 | 10 points each |
| 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 of spades, 3 of clubs | 5 points each |
Once the game ends, teams calculate their scores like so: game bonuses plus the value of all cards melded, minus the value of all cards still in hands.
| GAME BONUSES | POINTS |
| Going Out | 100 |
| Going Out “Concealed” | 200 |
| Each Red 3 | 100 |
| All Four Red 3s | 800 |
| Each Mixed Canasta | 300 |
| Each Natural Canasta | 500 |
You also earn points for each red 3 played on the table (800 points total if you meld all four). If your team didn’t meld, then each of your red 3s scores -100 points (-800 points if you happen to hold all four).
Keep in mind that any points scored in a natural or mixed canasta are added to the card values; for example a natural canasta of seven 8s is worth 500 points for the canasta, plus 70 points for the seven 8s, for 570 total points.
Going out concealed means you go out in a single turn, including playing your mandatory canasta. In other words, to earn this bonus, you may not have melded or added any cards to your partner’s melds, and you must play a canasta in your final turn. Also keep in mind that if you go out concealed and your partner has not yet melded, you must also meet the initial melding requirements!
Games of Canasta are typically played to 5,000 points.
HOW TO PLAY The player to the left of the dealer starts by drawing a card (either from the stock or the top card in the discard pile); making melds; and then discarding one card from the hand, face up, on top of the discard pile. The turn then proceeds clockwise.
To create melds, players take cards from their hand and place them on the table, face up, in sets of three or more cards of equal rank (e.g., 5 of hearts-5 of diamonds-5 of spades or 9 of diamonds-9 of clubs-Joker). Keep in mind:
Melds must have at least two natural cards.
Each team may not meld more than one set of the same rank; instead, additional cards must be melded onto the original set.
Each team may build on their own existing melds, for example, adding 5 of clubs to an existing 5 of hearts-5 of diamonds-5 of spades set. They may never build on the opposing team’s melds.
A set of three of four black 3s (e.g., 3 of spades-3 of spades-3 of clubs) without wild cards may be melded on a player’s last turn, on which they go out. Otherwise, black 3s may not be melded. Moreover, if a player discards 3 of spades or 3 of clubs, the next player may draw only from the stock (he may not take the discarded black 3).
Red 3s are bonus cards; if you have one, place it face up on the table on your next turn and take a replacement card from the stock.
INITIAL MELD REQUIREMENTS The first meld made by either team must meet a minimum value, based on their score at the start of the hand:
Scores below 0 must meld at least 15 points
Scores from 0 to 1,495 must meld at least 50 points
Scores from 1,500 to 2,995 must meld at least 90 points
Scores of 3,000 or more must meld at least 120 points
Bonuses do not count toward initial meld requirements. So any points you may earn from a canasta or a red 3 does not count; even with a seven-card canasta in hand, you may not meld it if the value of the cards within the canasta do not meet or exceed your initial meld requirements.
DISCARD PILE You may not take the topmost discard without also taking the entire discard pile. In fact, to take a card from the discard pile, you must meld the pile’s topmost card in the very same hand, either to create a new set (containing at least one natural card, in addition to the discard) or to build on an existing set (again, the existing set must contain at least one natural card). As long as you meet these requirements, you may meld as many cards as you like from the discard pile. Any cards not melded go into your hand.
The discard pile is considered frozen against either team if they have not yet melded an initial set, or against both teams whenever the discard pile contains 3 of hearts, 3 of diamonds, or a wild card. When the pile is frozen, it may be taken only if the top card is immediately melded with a natural set of equal rank from your hand. For example, if the pile is frozen and the top card is 8 of clubs, you may take the discard pile only if you play a new set of natural eights including the 8 of clubs.
CANASTAS A canasta is a meld of seven or more cards of equal rank (e.g., 8 of hearts-8 of hearts-8 of clubs-8 of clubs-8 of diamonds-8 of diamonds-8 of spades). The canasta is natural when it contains no wild cards, otherwise it is considered mixed. A mixed canasta may contain no more than three wild cards. Teams are not allowed to go out until they meld one canasta.
When a canasta is played, place the cards in a pile, and put a red card on top if it’s natural, a black card on top if it’s mixed. Continue building natural cards onto the canasta; you may also build wild cards as long as you don’t exceed the three-wild-card maximum.
GOING OUT Once your team has at least one canasta, you may go out by melding all your cards or by melding all but one and discarding the last card. Remember that players going out are allowed to meld black 3s on that final turn. You may also complete the required canasta and go out on the same turn.
If you go out, all cards in your partner’s hand count against your total score—so it’s not always wise to go out too quickly. If you are able to go out but are unsure if it’s a good time (e.g., your partner may be holding high-point cards such as jokers and aces), you are allowed to ask your partner, “should I go out?” You may ask this question only immediately after drawing from the stock or taking the discard pile, and before making any melds (not including the required meld of the top discard, if applicable). Your partner answers “yes” or “no,” and the answer is binding. If your partner says “yes,” you must go out.
If the stock is exhausted and neither team has gone out, play continues as long as all players take the previous player’s discard and meld it. In other words, players must take the discard if the pile is not frozen and if the discard matches any previous meld of that player’s side. The game ends when a player is allowed to draw from the stock but cannot because the stock is empty.
IRREGULARITIES & DISPUTES You lose 100 points any time you are forced to retract a card from the table—for example, if you mistakenly meld an invalid card, or if you accidentally expose a card from your hand during melding. If you play a meld that does not meet the initial melding requirements, your minimum initial score is increased by 10 points as a penalty. If you fail to declare a red 3—assuming you had a valid chance to declare it—you lose 500 points.
Samba is team-based and closely follows the rules of the standard game. Start with three fifty-two-card decks, add six jokers (162 cards total), and deal each player fifteen cards. When drawing cards from the stock, players always take two cards and always discard only one.
In Samba, you may meld sequences of cards (8 of clubs-7 of clubs-6 of clubs). Aces are always high, and 4 is the lowest card you may legally meld in a sequence. A seven-card sequence is called a samba, and it may not contain any wild cards. When melding sets, no more than two wild cards are allowed.
You may add natural cards from your hand to an existing canasta, but you may not take the top discard for this purpose. You and your partner may, however, meld more than one set of equal rank and use these cards to create canastas. So you may also mix and meld two sequences of cards to create a samba, as long as no more than seven cards are involved (e.g., you may not create a samba from a sequence of four with another sequence of four).
You are only allowed to take the topmost card in the discard pile in two situations: you immediately meld it with two natural cards of equal rank from your hand, or you immediately meld it with an existing sequence of fewer than seven cards. In the former scenario, you take the entire pile into your hand; in the latter, you take only the top card and leave the remainder of the discard pile “as is.”
The initial melding requirements in Samba are:
Scores below 0 must meld at least 15 points
Scores from 0 to 1,495 must meld at least 50 points
Scores from 1,500 to 2,995 must meld at least 90 points
Scores from 3,000 to 6,995 must meld at least 120 points
Scores of 7,000 or more must meld at least 150 points
To go out, each team must meld a minimum of two canastas or sambas. The bonus for going out is 200 points. Sambas are worth 1,500 points. The bonus for declaring all six red 3s is 1,000 points. All other scoring is the same. Games of Samba are typically played to 10,000 points.
VARIATION 2: BOLIVIA CANASTA
This is exactly like Samba Canasta, except that three or more wild cards may be melded on their own. And if you meld seven wild cards, it’s called a bolivia and scores 2,500 points. The initial melding requirements are standardized at 150 points. When going out, a team must have at least one canasta and one samba. Games are played to 15,000 points.
VARIATION 3: BRAZILIAN CANASTA
Brazil meets Bolivia in this screwball Canasta variation. Follow the rules of Bolivia and score bonuses of 2,000 points for a bolivia and 1,500 points for a samba. However, if you have melds on the table that are incomplete versions of the bolivia or samba (for example, if you meld six wild cards but not the seventh), deduct 1,000 points each from your score if the other team goes out.
The discard pile may not be taken to make the initial meld, and the initial meld requirements are steep: below 6,995 points you must meld 150 points; from 7,000 to 7,995 you must meld a canasta; from 8,000 to 8,995 you must meld a canasta within a meld of at least 200 points; and above 9,000 you must meld a natural canasta. Games are played to 10,000 points.
This is another team-based variation. Deal thirteen cards to each player. The discard pile is always frozen and may be taken only with a natural pair (you must meld the top card immediately with two natural cards of equal rank from your hand). You may meld wild cards as canastas, and each team needs two canastas to go out. Canastas, though, may never contain more than seven cards total.
The initial meld requirements are 100 points for scores below 2,995 points; 130 points for scores between 3,000 and 4,995; 150 points for scores above 5,000.
Black 3s function exactly like red 3s but are scored separately. The first 3 you declare in either color is worth 100 points; 300 points for the second; 500 points for the third; and 1,000 points for the fourth. The score for 3s is automatically subtracted from your game score, unless your team melds at least one canasta. If you hold seven 2s, score your team 4,000 points. Four jokers and three 2s are worth 3,000 points. Games are played to 8,500 points.
Follow the basic Canasta rules with the following twists. Start with three fifty-two-card decks plus six jokers (162 cards total). Deal thirteen cards to each player. The first member of each team who melds draws thirteen cards from the stock and adds them to his hand. The discard pile may not be taken when the top card is a 7. A canasta of 7s is worth 1,000 points. To go out, a team must meld two canastas and declare as many red 3s as they have canastas.
VARIATION 6: HAND & FOOT CANASTA
Here’s another team-based variation, but unlike standard Canasta, this game only lasts for four deals (one by each player). Start with five fifty-two-card decks plus ten jokers (270 cards total), and deal each player two thirteen-card hands; the first is called the hand, the second is called the foot. The foot may not be played (or looked at) until the hand is played out. The remaining cards are the stock.
All players take two cards from the stock, and then discard only one. When picking up the discard pile, you may only take up to seven cards—and you may not take any cards at all if the top card is a 3. If you have not met your initial melding requirements, only the top discard counts against your minimum. And if the top discard is wild, you may pick up that card only with a matching set of wild cards from your hand.
Melds are known as either clean (no wild cards), dirty (up to two wild cards), or wild (nothing but wild cards). To go out, each team must have at least one wild meld. Seven-card melds are called piles—stack them in a neat pile, and top it with a red card (for a clean pile), a black card (for a dirty pile), or a joker (for a wild pile; use a 2 if it contains no joker).
In order to go out, a team must meld at least two dirty piles, two clean piles, and one wild pile with exactly seven cards in each. Each player also must have played at least one turn from his foot. If you meld all cards from your hand, immediately pick up your foot and continue play. Otherwise, meld all cards from your hand but one, discard it, then pick up the foot and use it on your next turn.
If you are going out, you must ask your partner’s permission and, if it’s given, meld all your remaining cards, or all but one and discard the last card. If your partner says “no,” you must wait until the next turn to go out.
Card values are the same as those in standard Canasta. Bonus points are as follows:
1,500 points for each “wild pile”
700 points for each “clean pile”
300 points for each “dirty pile”
100 points for each red 3
100 points for going out
The game lasts four rounds only, so each player deals once. The initial melding requirements are: 50 points in Round 1; 90 points in Round 2; 120 points in Round 3; 150 points in Round 4.
Rummy meets Canasta in this superb—and popular—Canasta variation. There are no teams here. Instead, two to five players compete as individuals. Two decks are used, plus one joker (105 cards total), and all players are dealt thirteen cards.
The standard rules of melding apply, but in Oklahoma Canasta you may also meld sequences of three or four cards. Aces are played high or low in sequences. Another key difference from standard Canasta is that melds may not grow to more than four cards.
The joker and all 2s are still wild. The only difference is that—as in Rummy—you must nominate a suit and rank when playing a wild card. Other players may subsequently take the joker into their hand (not the 2s, just the joker), as long as they swap it with the nominated card.
The Q of spades may be discarded only on your last turn (e.g., you may not discard Q of spades as long as you can discard any other card). Each player calculates score by adding the value of the cards melded and subtracting it from the value of the cards left in her hand. The player who goes out earns a 100-point bonus. Card values are:
| CARDS | POINTS |
| Joker Melded | 100 |
| Joker Left in Hand | 200 |
| 2 Melded as 8 through King | 10 |
| 2 Melded as 3 through 7 | 5 |
| 2 Left in Hand | 20 |
| Q of spades Melded | 50 |
| Q of spades Left in Hand | 100 |
| Ace | 20 |
| K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8 | 10 |
| 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 | 5 |
Games are typically played to 1,000 points, and the winner earns a 200-point bonus (used for multigame campaigns).
Follow the rules of the basic game, but obviously there is no team play—players compete head to head. Deal fifteen cards each, and always draw two cards from the stock (but still discard just one). Players may not go out until they have melded at least two canastas.
VARIATION 9: THREE-HAND CANASTA
In Three-Hand Canasta, everybody plays for themselves. However, in each round, two players form a temporary partnership against the lone hand. Deal thirteen cards each, and always draw two cards from the stock (but discard just one). Players may not go out until they have melded at least two canastas. The first player to take the discard pile becomes the lone hand. The others play in temporary partnership and may combine melds and work together. If a player goes out before the discard pile is taken up, that player is by default the lone hand.
The initial meld requirements are player specific, so each player is likely to have a different point requirement. The players each have a column on the score pad—the lone hand scores his own points, the opposition scores their total points. However, red 3s only score for the individual players and not for the ad hoc team.
Once the stock is exhausted, the round ends once the player who drew the last card of the stock discards. If the stock is empty and the discard pile was never taken, there is no lone hand, and each player earns his individual score. Games are played to 7,500 points.