Canasta
How to Play Canasta
Canasta is a four-player melding game for two teams. You shuffle two 52-card decks plus four jokers — 108 cards, not one deck — deal 11 each, and build sets of a rank on the table. Seven of a rank is a canasta. Go out only after your side has one. First team to 5000 wins.
This page is kitchen-table US partnership Canasta. Short enough to deal tonight. Not a league encyclopedia. Not Hand and Foot (that game deals one deck per player and is a later catalog pick). Two-to-six-player variants exist; tonight's default is four. Pick it from tonight with 4 players.
What you need
- Four players. Partners sit across from each other, never side by side.
- Two standard 52-card decks plus four jokers. 108 cards. Not one deck.
- Paper with two running totals. Game is 5000.
Sit, pick a dealer, agree on the house
Partners sit across and play as a team. Melds are shared: once your side is on the table, either partner may add to those piles. Cut for the first deal, or point at someone. After each hand, the deal moves clockwise.
Say these out loud before the first card:
- Two decks plus four jokers. If you only brought one 52, this is not Canasta. Shuffle both packs together.
- Initial meld. Your team's first spread must meet a point minimum: 50 at 0–1495, 90 at 1500–2995, 120 at 3000+. Count card values, not canasta bonuses, for that first drop.
- One canasta to go out. Seven of a rank on the table before anyone empties their hand.
- Black 3s stop the next player. Wilds freeze the pile. Agree that before the first discard.
Deal 11
Shuffle the 108-card pack. Deal clockwise until each player has 11. The rest is the stock, face down. Turn the next card face up beside it — that upcard starts the discard pile. If the upcard is a red 3 or a wild, turn another card onto it. A wild upcard means the pile starts frozen.
If someone has 10 or 12, you misdealt. Throw it in and deal again.
Red 3s go down immediately
Red 3s are a bonus, not a rank you meld. If you are dealt one, or you draw one from the stock, lay it face up and draw a replacement. They sit with your team's score, not in a meld pile.
Each red 3 is 100 if your side has melded at least once this hand. All four is 200 each (800). If the hand ends and your team never melded, those red 3s count minus.
Melds of 3+, canasta of 7
A meld is three or more cards of the same rank. Kings with kings. Aces with aces. Suits do not matter. You do not make runs (7-8-9 is nothing).
Wilds are 2s and jokers. They stand in for a rank. A meld still needs at least two natural cards of that rank, and you never put more wilds in a meld than naturals. You cannot meld 3s with wilds.
A canasta is seven cards of one rank in one meld. Square it up so the table can see it. Natural (no wilds) is the better one. Mixed (has wilds) still counts. That is the thing you are building all hand.
Your turn: draw, meld, discard
Left of the dealer starts. Each turn has three parts.
- Draw the top of the stock, or take the discard pile if you can use the top card in a meld right now — with cards from your hand, or by adding it to a meld your team already has. You take the whole pile, not just the top card.
- Meld if you want. First spread for your team must hit the initial minimum. After that, either partner may add to your side's piles or start new ranks.
- Discard one card face up on the pile. That ends the turn unless you went out.
To take an unfrozen pile, the top card has to be playable immediately. A frozen pile is stricter: two natural cards of that top rank from your hand. Wilds do not make that pair.
Freeze the pile: black 3 or wild
Black 3 on the discard: the next player cannot take the pile. They draw from the stock, then discard as usual. A black 3 is a one-turn stop, not a freeze for the rest of the hand.
Wild (a 2 or a joker) on the discard: the pile is frozen until someone takes it. Frozen means two natural cards of the new top rank from hand. That is how you protect a fat pile.
Black 3s are not wilds. You only meld them as a set of black 3s, and only when you are going out.
Go out after a canasta
To go out, you empty your hand — meld the rest, with or without a final discard — and your team already has at least one canasta. No canasta, no going out. Play on.
Some tables ask partner "may I go out?" before the last meld. If that is your house, say so. Otherwise going out does not need permission.
If the stock runs out and nobody can take the pile, the hand is over. Nobody gets the going-out bonus. Count what is on the table and what is left in hand.
Scoring, in the amount you need tonight
After the hand, count each side. Add melded card values and bonuses. Subtract cards still in hand.
| What | Points |
|---|---|
| Joker | 50 |
| Ace or 2 | 20 |
| King through 8 | 10 |
| 7 through 4, black 3 | 5 |
| Red 3 (if your side melded) | 100 each; 200 each for all four |
| Natural canasta (7, no wilds) | 500 |
| Mixed canasta (7, with wilds) | 300 |
| Going out | 100 |
| Cards left in hand | Minus those card values |
| A side reaches 5000 | That side wins |
Example: your side has a mixed canasta of kings, a meld of three aces, and two red 3s. You go out. That is 300 for the canasta, aces 60, red 3s 200, going out 100, plus the other cards on the table, minus nothing in hand. Write the total on the pad and deal again.
Samba, Bolivia, and Hand and Foot are real games. They are not tonight. If someone wants seven decks or a Foot pile, stop and pick a different page. This one is two decks, four jokers, 11 each, 5000.
Night-one habits
- Count wilds. Four jokers and eight 2s in the pack. Know how many are out.
- Do not freeze the pile unless you can live without taking it back.
- The first canasta matters more than a pretty extra meld.
- Black 3s are for stopping the next player, not for filling a canasta.
- If you never get on the table, red 3s and the cards in your hand both hurt.
You know enough to deal. Keep this page beside the pad. Four people is a tonight pick. There is no Canasta trainer on CardPractice — this how-to is the product.