The Canasta Basics
Canasta is a matching card game in which the object is to create melds of cards of the same rank and then go out by playing or discarding all the cards in your hand.
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 picks up the entire pile, as opposed to only the top card in most other Rummy games.
These differences in rules produce differences in play. Whereas in ordinary Rummy, the goal is to go out fast, and having cards in your hand is generally bad, the goal in Canasta is to build canastas, which requires many cards, and thus picking up the pile is advantageous to the player.
Canasta uses a pack made of two complete decks of 52 cards plus four Jokers (108 cards total). All the deuces (twos) and jokers are wild cards.
Point values for cards in Canasta:
- Red 3's are special
- Black 3's and all cards 4 to 7 are worth 5 points.
- All cards 8 to K are worth 10 points
- Aces and 2's are woth 20 points
- Jokers are worth 50 points
Eleven cards are dealt to each player. The remaining cards are left in a stock in the center of the table. The top card from the stock is turned over to form the discard pile. If this first card is a red three or a wild card, the discard pile is frozen (explained below).
Additional cards from the stock are turned over to the top of the discard pile until the top card of the discard pile is neither a three nor a wild card.
Any player who receives a red three in their initial hand adds it to the table for their team and draws a new card to their hand.
The Play
Play then proceeds clockwise from the dealer. A turn begins either by drawing the first card from the stock into the player's hand or by picking up the entire discard pile. However, there are restrictions on when you can pick up the discard pile. If a red three is drawn from the stock, player must play it immediately and draw another card.
The player may then make as many legal melds as they wish from the cards in their hand. A turn ends when the player discards one card from their hand to the top of the discard pile.
Melds and Canastas
- Each team keeps separate melds of the various ranks of cards. A player may never play to an opponent's meld. Suits are irrelevant except that black threes are treated differently from red threes.
Wild cards can be used as any rank except for threes. Red threes may never be melded. Black threes may only be melded as a player's last meld before going out. - A legal meld consists of at least three cards of the same rank, or two cards of the same rank and a wild card (Deuce or Joker).Eg:5-5-2 and 8-8-8-2-2-Joker are legal melds. 4-2-2 is not a legal meld as it contains only one natural card. 9-9-2-2-2 is a legal meld, but can not be made into a completed canasta unless two additional natural cards (9s) are added to it since every canasta must contain at least 4 natural cards of the rank.
- A canasta is a meld of at least seven cards, whether natural or wild. A natural canasta is one which comprises only natural cards. A mixed canasta is one which comprises both natural and wild cards. Natural canastas score more points than mixed canastas.
- Initial melds When a player's team has not yet made any melds in a hand, that player must meet an additional point score requirement to make their first meld(s). The sum of the values of the cards played in the player's turn must exceed the minimum initial meld requirement according to the team's total score:
Team score |
Minimum initial meld |
Less than 0 |
15 |
0 - 1495 |
50 |
1500 - 2995 |
90 |
3000 and above |
120 |
Example: If a player's team has a score of 1600 and has not yet made any melds in a hand, an initial meld of 5-5-5, Q-Q-Q-2 cannot be made as it scores only 65 points and the requirement is 90. A meld of 5-5-5, A-A-A-2 would score 95 points and can be played. Note that both initial melds can be played if the team's total score is below 1500, and that neither can be played if the team's total score is 3000 or higher.
Picking up the discard pile
- At the beginning of their turn, a player may pick up the entire discard pile instead of drawing a card from the stock. They may only pick up the discard pile if they can use the top card either in an existing meld or by making a new meld along with two of the same number cards from their hand.
If a wild card has previously been discarded to the pile, the discard pile is frozen. When the discard pile is frozen, it may only be picked up if the player can meld the top card with two natural cards of the same rank in the player's hand.
If the player's team has not yet made any melds, the discard pile is frozen for that team. In addition, the player must meet the initial meld requirement using the top card of the discard pile in order to pick up the pile. Only the top card is relevant for the player to pick up the rest of the discard pile.
If a wild card or a black three is on top of the discard pile, it may not be picked up.
Going out
A player may go out by using all the cards in their hand only if that player's team has made one or more canastas. The player may go out either by melding all cards in their hand or by melding all cards but one and discarding the final card. If the player's team has not yet made any canastas, the player may not make a play which would leave them with no cards in their hand at the end of their turn.
Black threes may be melded only as the last play before a player goes out, and wild cards may not be used in a meld of black threes. The hand ends immediately when a player goes out.
The Scoring
At the end of each hand, the score for each team is calculated as follows:
The total value of all cards melded by that team, including cards in canastas minus the total value of all cards remaining in the team's hands plus any bonuses:
Bonus scores |
|
Going out |
100 |
Going out concealed |
additional 100 |
Concealed canasta (see Miscellaneous Variants) |
additional 100 |
Each mixed canasta |
300 |
Each natural canasta |
500 |
Each red three, up to three |
100 |
The fourth red three |
500 (total of 800 for all four red threes) |
A player goes out concealed when the player makes their team's initial meld and goes out legally in the same turn.
The bonuses for red threes are subtracted from a team's score rather than added if the hand ends without that team having made any melds. That is, 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.
The game ends when a team's total score reaches 5000 or above. The team with the highest total score at this point wins.
Source: Wikipedia
Where to play cards
Free to Play
- Canasta Online
- Canasis Free Games:
- Game Colony:
- Hoyle Games -Sierra.com:
- IPlay Games:
- Live Canasta
- Play Java online games:
- PlayOK Online Games (previously known as Kurnik)
- Rubl online games:
- Yahoo! Games:
Pay to Play
- Pogo: Pogo Club Membership required
- http://www.canasta.net/online.php
- http://www.bufton.org/meggiesoft/canasta.htm