How to Play Canasta

Canasta is a competitive game that uses 4-6 decks of playing cards (including the jokers), and is played by 4 players, divided into two teams. The object of the game is to obtain the highest score with your partner by creating canastas, also known as "books". This team game is played by two partners who work together against their opponents to create the most canastas before someone at the table plays his or her last card. There are many variations to this game, which is similar to another card game called hand and foot.

Canasta is a card game with special terminology and a lot of rules. Mastering this game can be compared to mastering the rules of Monopoly or some similar board game. It is an excellent game for teaching strategy, math (addition), and teamwork. I recommend it for playing ages 10 and up. Once you have mastered the rules of the game, you will begin to understand the strategies as well.

The Object of the Game

The object of the game is to make the most "books" of canastas with your partner before someone uses the last card in each of their hands. 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.

Canasta Terms

• front hand and back hands—At the beginning of the game, each player is dealt two piles of 13 cards each. The first pile is the front hand, and the second pile is called the back hand. Play begins with the front hand and progresses through the back hand, until any player at the table plays the last card in their back hand.
• canastas—Sets of seven cards of a kind (may include cards from any suit), for example, 7 fours, or 7 kings. Canastas are also sometimes called "books".
• clean canasta/red canasta/pure canasta—These three terms all mean the same thing. They refer to a canasta, or seven cards of a kind, such as seven kings or seven aces, which does not include any wild cards. Clean canastas are worth more points than dirty canastas.
• dirty canasta/black canasta—A canasta that was created using wild cards. Using wild cards to make canastas reduces the point value of the canasta, but helps you to create more canastas from the cards in your hand and play through your cards faster.
• wild cards—wild cards are 2's and jokers. You can play your wild cards to make black/dirty canastas. How you play your wild cards can significantly add to the strategy of the game.
• face value—each card in the deck has a designated face value. When the two teams finish a hand, you count your score first by totalling the point value of your canastas, then by adding up the face value of all the cards in play. Scoring gets quite involved, so wait to worry about that until we get to the section on scoring.
• the pile—the discard pile. Each player takes a turn by picking up two cards from the center stack, and ends play by discarding one card into "the pile". It is important to discard cards that your opponents cannot play.
• picking up the pile—if a player discards a card that the next player can play, AND if the next player has two of that card in their hand, they may pick up the entire discard pile to play on their canastas. This can be devastating to the team who DIDN'T pick up the pile, but it can also slow down play and make it difficult for the player who picked up the pile to play all of their high-point cards before the end of the hand.
• melding—Before a team can begin building canastas, they have to lay down cards containing a certain point value on the table. The game of canasta is played through 2 or three hands, with each hand adding to a team's score. The number of face-value points needed to meld varies depending on a team's score. It becomes more difficult for teams of players to begin play or meld as the game progresses.
• safe discard—certain cards are safe discards. If your opponent team has 5 cards in a canasta of 5s, then the five is a "safe" discard, because your opponent may not pick up the pile, even if they have two 5's in their hand.
• red threes—A red three is worth 100 points. It is a safe discard, because it may not be used to pick up the pile. You may not want to throw these cards away during the first half of play, because you can add one red three to each clean canasta your team makes. Holding a red three at the end of a round is dangerous because if your opponents go out first, your red three's 100 points will be deducted from your team's score.
• black threes—Black threes are the ultimate safe discard. These cards cannot be played on any canastas. They are not wild cards, either. The only thing to do with a black three is to discard it. If you discard a black three your opponent cannot pick up the pile.
• closing a canasta/closing a book—Once you have added your seventh card to a canasta, you may close it. The canasta is only complete with seven cards. You must ask your partner permission to close a canasta. This is an important part of the game because you cannont see your partner's cards, and they may need to play a card on that canasta to move into their back hand. When a canasta is closed, the teammate who is not keeping the canastas open for play holds the canastas until the end of the round. If the canasta is clean, you may add a red three to the closed canasta to increase its point value by 100 points.

Setting up Play

One player from each team shuffles half of the cards. This takes some time, as there are 4-6 decks in play.

Next, each player tries to pick up exactly 52 cards, the number needed to deal out four hands of 13 cards. Each designated dealer counts out 4 piles of 13 cards each. One person deals the front hand (which you can indicate with a red card at the top of the pile), and the person from the opposing team deals the back hand. If a dealer picks up exactly 52 cards, then that dealer's team scores a bonus of 100 points. The back hand is indicated by placing a blue card at the top of each pile.

Each player has a front hand and a back hand on the table in front of them. Place the remaining cards in one large pile in the center of the table, and turn over the top card to create a discard pile next to it.

The players may now pick up the cards in their front hand, and position them for play. The players' back hands remain on the table. Each player may pick up his/her back hand only after s/he has played through the cards in his/her front hand.

Players sit across the table from their teammate. Players are not allowed to see the cards in their teammate's hand. The person to the front-hand dealer's left begins play.

Each time it is your turn, pick up two cards from the pile. You can play these cards with the other cards in your hand.

If you are the first person on your team to play, or if your team has not begun to form any canastas, you will want to meld for your team. During the first round of play, to meld, you have to have 60 points-worth of cards to put down on the table.

You need to have three cards of a kind (for example, 3 kings or 2 kings and a wild card) to start a canasta. The face value of the cards in your beginning canastas must total 60 points or more (see the scoring sheet for guidelines) to meld. If you cannot meld, you can wait for your partner's turn. Your team only has to meld once. As soon as canastas are on the table, your partner may begin playing on them. Each partner does not meld separately. You can put as many cards down on your team's set of canastas as you can. The idea is to put down as many cards as you can and move through your first pile of cards (front hand) and into your second pile of cards (back hand). When your turn is over and you have played as many cards as you can, you must discard one card into the discard pile.

All of your cards have a point value. See the point values section.

Canasta is often played in two to three rounds of play, until one team accumulates a set number of points, such as 10,000. Yes! 10,000!

Melding occurs at the beginning of each round, and is determined by the team's current score. A team must meld at a higher point value (more about scoring at the end of the hub) if they have a higher score.

Here is my suggestion for melding points:

1-2500 points Meld at 60 points

2501-5000 points Meld at 90 points

5001-7500 points Meld at 120 points

7501-8500 points Meld at 150 points

8501-9999 points Meld at 180 points

Once a team has melded (placed cards on the table), the teammate of player one plays on the cards that are already on the table. Play occurs on one side of the table only, per team, usually on the side of the melding player.

During her turn, the teammate first draws two cards, then adds any cards to the existing canastas, and begins any new canastas that she can. When her turn is over, she discards one card into the "pile".

Play continues around the table in clockwise fashion as players attempt to play or discard all of the cards in their front hand. When the cards in the front hand are played, a player may pick up her back hand and play those cards.

Players and their teammates must build complete canastas (7 cards in a canasta) to earn points for their canastas. The player who didn't meld cards for the team holds onto that team's canastas until the end of the round.

The following cards are not canasta suits: 3's, 2's, and jokers. Jokers and 2's are wild cards. They may be played with other cards to make low-point canastas. Threes have a different function in the game.

The red three may be added to each clean canasta for a bonus of 100 points. Only one red three per clean canasta may be played.

Black threes are "junk cards" because they serve no purpose in the game, except as a safe discard. However, they are useful to have, and an important part of a team's strategy. More about safe discards in the next section.

Clean/pure canastas are worth 500 points, dirty canastas are worth 300 points. When you add the 7th card to a canasta, you can close it, by stacking the cards together, and giving to the teammate who is not managing the melded canastas. To easily keep track of which canastas are clean and which are dirty, put a red card on top of each clean canasta, and a black card on top of the dirty canastas. Once you have closed a clean canasta, either teammate may add one red three per clean canasta, for a bonus of 100 points. Any red threes that are not played on clean canastas and found in a player's hand at the end of the round will count 100 points per red three against that team's score.

Picking up the pile is an exciting and strategic way to score significantly higher points than the opposing team. Picking up the pile is an alternative to drawing two cards at the beginning of a player's turn, and may occur anytime during the round, though picking up the pile may be strategically advantageous when players are in their back hands.

To pick up the pile, the player must first meet the following conditions:

A player may pick up all of the cards in the discard pile if and only if they are holding two of that card in their hands, and that card has not been deemed a 'safe discard'.

If a team is buildinga canasta with 5 or more cards in it, then the number of that canasta is a safe discard. For example, if your team is building a canasta of kings, and 5 kings have already been laid on the table, then a king is a safe discard for the opponent team until the canasta is closed.

Red threes and black threes are also safe discards. In fact, threes are non-playable as a canasta-building suit. So the only function of a black three is as a safe discard.

Once you and your teammate has gotten into your back hands, you want to get rid of your cards, build lots of canastas, and go out before the other team. Part of the strategy of the game is going out before the other team with as few cards in your team's collective hands as possible. So if one player has only one or two cards left in her back hand, and the other player on the team hasn't even picked up her back hand, the first player will want to stay in play for as long as possible. The next section on scoring explains why.

A few requirements must be met before a team goes out:

The team must have at least one clean and one dirty canasta each, and the player going out must ask her teammate's permission to do so.

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.

When totalling your points for a round, you must first count all of the points you earned by building canastas, plus bonus points.

Next you count up all of the points of the face cards you played (even if the canastas are still on the table, and unfinished), MINUS the remaining cards in your hand. As a rule, you only count the point value of your red threes once.

Every card in the deck has a face value:

• Black 3s: 5 points
• 4-7: 5 points
• 8-king: 10 points
• Aces: 20 points
• 2's (wild): 20 points
• Jokers (wild): 50 points
• Red 3s: 100 points. Played on a clean canasta, they add 100 points to your score. If found in your hand at the end of play, 100 points per red three is deducted from your score.

Canasta Points

• 500 points clean canasta: no wild cards,
• Add red 3 to make extra 100 points.
• 300 points dirty canasta: has wild cards (2 or jokers are wild). You may not add red threes to a dirty canasta.

A Quick and Easy Method to Calculate Your Score:

1. Take all of the cards in your team's hand and count out the points. Remove cards from the table (where you are building canastas) with the same point value. These cards cancel each other out. Place both sets of cards on the discard pile.
2. Count up your canasta points. If you have arranged your canastas in stacks, and if you have been playing strategically, you probably already know what your canastas are worth.
3. Now take all of your cards and arrange them into 100-point piles. Add all of your scores together on a sheet of paper.