One reason for Canasta’s widespread popularity is its
use of wild cards, which make the game high scoring
and unpredictable. Canasta is also one of the few
partnership games (other than Bridge and Euchre)
where the players can work in unison, although it
also functions perfectly well as a two- or three-
handed game.
The rules to Canasta may seem a little cockeyed, but
after you acquaint yourself with a couple of unique
ideas, you’ll have a great way to pass the time with a
few competitive friends.
To play Canasta, you need the following:
Four players: You can also play Canasta with
five players (two against three, with one player
sitting out each hand) or with six players (three
against three, with one of each trio sitting out
in rotation).
Two decks of 52 cards, including the jokers in
each deck (108 cards total): The backs of the
cards don’t have to be the same, but identical
backs do look better.
Paper and pencil for scoring: Unless you have a
math whiz in the bunch.
Picking partners
You can pick partners however you want, but serious
players will draw cards, with the two highest cards
playing together against the two lowest cards. If two
players draw cards of the same rank (two kings, for
example), the rank of the suits decides which card is
higher — the spade is the highest-ranking suit,
followed by hearts, diamonds, and clubs. Partners sit
opposite each other.
Dealing and creating a discard pile
After forming your partnerships, each player draws
again. The person who draws the highest card plays
first, and the dealer is the player to his right.
The dealer shuffles, offers a cut to an opponent, and
then doles out 11 cards to each player, one by one,
in a clockwise rotation. At the end of each hand, the
deal moves clockwise one place.
Then, the dealer turns up one card to the side of the
stock (the remaining cards) to start the discard pile.
If the card he turns is a red 3 or a wild card (a joker
or a 2), the dealer turns up another card, placing
them on top of the discard pile, until he comes to
one that is neither a red 3 nor a wild card.
Moving around the table
Next, the game starts. The player to the dealer’s left
(who drew the highest card at the start) picks up a
card from the stock or the whole of the discard pile
(you can’t pick up from the discard pile at all until
the move on which you make your first meld). She
can either put down a meld (combinations of three
or more cards of the same rank) or hold on to her
cards. She finishes her turn by placing a card face-
up on the discard pile, covering all the other cards
so that her discard is the only card visible.
The play moves in a clockwise rotation, with each
player picking up a card, making a meld or holding on
to his or her cards, and then discarding, until a
player goes out by getting rid of all his cards but
one, and then discarding the last card, which finishes
the hand.
Drawing more than one card from the stock carries
no penalty. However, you must show the card to all
other players, and the next player has the option of
taking the returned card or shuffling it into the stock.
Discarding is a critical part of Canasta; if the discard
pile grows to a significant size, one false discard can
be disastrous. Err on the side of caution by throwing
out what you’re sure your opponents don’t want. And
make the dangerous discards early — the cost of an
error is much cheaper then. How do you know what
discards are dangerous? You can discover what your
opponents don’t want by what they throw away and
by what they don’t pick up from the discard pile.
Building a Canasta
A Canasta is a meld of seven or more cards. Your
partnership must make a Canasta before either of
you can go out; only one Canasta per team is
necessary. A Canasta can start as a meld of three
cards that either you or your partner can build up to
the required seven.
A Canasta can include wild cards. A natural or clean
Canasta has no wild cards, and is worth more than a
mixed or dirty Canasta, which includes wild cards.
When you make a Canasta, square up the pile so
that only the top card is visible — a red card if it’s a
natural Canasta, a black card if it’s mixed. Set the
pile off to the side. You can still add more cards to
it, of course, but it helps your team’s strategy to
know whether the Canasta is already mixed.
When you start a meld with natural cards only, try
not to let it get dirty by adding wild cards, even if so
doing can make a Canasta. You have two reasons for
doing this; it scores more points, and it prevents your
opponents from discarding this card — for fear of
letting you make a clean Canasta.
On your turn, you can add cards at any point to your
team’s melds, but not to your opponents’ melds,
after drawing your card, but before discarding.
The partnership’s assets are joint; you add to your
partner’s meld. The player who makes the first meld
gets to herd the partnership’s stable of melds.
use of wild cards, which make the game high scoring
and unpredictable. Canasta is also one of the few
partnership games (other than Bridge and Euchre)
where the players can work in unison, although it
also functions perfectly well as a two- or three-
handed game.
The rules to Canasta may seem a little cockeyed, but
after you acquaint yourself with a couple of unique
ideas, you’ll have a great way to pass the time with a
few competitive friends.
To play Canasta, you need the following:
Four players: You can also play Canasta with
five players (two against three, with one player
sitting out each hand) or with six players (three
against three, with one of each trio sitting out
in rotation).
Two decks of 52 cards, including the jokers in
each deck (108 cards total): The backs of the
cards don’t have to be the same, but identical
backs do look better.
Paper and pencil for scoring: Unless you have a
math whiz in the bunch.
Picking partners
You can pick partners however you want, but serious
players will draw cards, with the two highest cards
playing together against the two lowest cards. If two
players draw cards of the same rank (two kings, for
example), the rank of the suits decides which card is
higher — the spade is the highest-ranking suit,
followed by hearts, diamonds, and clubs. Partners sit
opposite each other.
Dealing and creating a discard pile
After forming your partnerships, each player draws
again. The person who draws the highest card plays
first, and the dealer is the player to his right.
The dealer shuffles, offers a cut to an opponent, and
then doles out 11 cards to each player, one by one,
in a clockwise rotation. At the end of each hand, the
deal moves clockwise one place.
Then, the dealer turns up one card to the side of the
stock (the remaining cards) to start the discard pile.
If the card he turns is a red 3 or a wild card (a joker
or a 2), the dealer turns up another card, placing
them on top of the discard pile, until he comes to
one that is neither a red 3 nor a wild card.
Moving around the table
Next, the game starts. The player to the dealer’s left
(who drew the highest card at the start) picks up a
card from the stock or the whole of the discard pile
(you can’t pick up from the discard pile at all until
the move on which you make your first meld). She
can either put down a meld (combinations of three
or more cards of the same rank) or hold on to her
cards. She finishes her turn by placing a card face-
up on the discard pile, covering all the other cards
so that her discard is the only card visible.
The play moves in a clockwise rotation, with each
player picking up a card, making a meld or holding on
to his or her cards, and then discarding, until a
player goes out by getting rid of all his cards but
one, and then discarding the last card, which finishes
the hand.
Drawing more than one card from the stock carries
no penalty. However, you must show the card to all
other players, and the next player has the option of
taking the returned card or shuffling it into the stock.
Discarding is a critical part of Canasta; if the discard
pile grows to a significant size, one false discard can
be disastrous. Err on the side of caution by throwing
out what you’re sure your opponents don’t want. And
make the dangerous discards early — the cost of an
error is much cheaper then. How do you know what
discards are dangerous? You can discover what your
opponents don’t want by what they throw away and
by what they don’t pick up from the discard pile.
Building a Canasta
A Canasta is a meld of seven or more cards. Your
partnership must make a Canasta before either of
you can go out; only one Canasta per team is
necessary. A Canasta can start as a meld of three
cards that either you or your partner can build up to
the required seven.
A Canasta can include wild cards. A natural or clean
Canasta has no wild cards, and is worth more than a
mixed or dirty Canasta, which includes wild cards.
When you make a Canasta, square up the pile so
that only the top card is visible — a red card if it’s a
natural Canasta, a black card if it’s mixed. Set the
pile off to the side. You can still add more cards to
it, of course, but it helps your team’s strategy to
know whether the Canasta is already mixed.
When you start a meld with natural cards only, try
not to let it get dirty by adding wild cards, even if so
doing can make a Canasta. You have two reasons for
doing this; it scores more points, and it prevents your
opponents from discarding this card — for fear of
letting you make a clean Canasta.
On your turn, you can add cards at any point to your
team’s melds, but not to your opponents’ melds,
after drawing your card, but before discarding.
The partnership’s assets are joint; you add to your
partner’s meld. The player who makes the first meld
gets to herd the partnership’s stable of melds.
Source: dummies
