For this game you will need five standard decks of cards including Jokers. That's 270 cards total, if you feel like counting them all. Each card is assigned a point value. The values of the cards are used for two purposes, determining how many cards are necessary to meet the minimum initial meld value and in scoring a hand after some one has gone out. Both of these topics will be discussed later in the Game Play and Going Out/Scoring sections. Listed below are the point values of each card.
| Card(s) | Point Value |
|---|---|
| 4-7 | 5 |
| 8-K | 10 |
| A, 2 | 20 |
| Jokers | 50 |
| 3 | See Special Cards |
Special Cards
There are several cards that have a special purpose in Canasta. These cards are wild cards (Jokers and twos) and threes.
Wild cards can be used in place of any natural card in a meld, provided that there are more natural cards than wild cards. Therefore, it is not possible, and illegal, to make a meld of wild cards.
Red and black 3's serve little purpose in this game. They can't be melded and only count as negative points if a player is left with them in their hand at the end of the game. Red 3's are worth -300 points and black 3's are worth -100 points. Therefore it is usually a good idea to discard these cards as soon as possible.