Classic Canasta

Classic Canasta is a single hand version of Canasta. It is the version that most of the variants are based off of. Classic Canasta is most often played with 4 people in two partnerships, but can really be played with any number of players between 2 and 6 with a few minor changes to the rules. Since I have never played Classic Canasta myself (I am more of a Hand and Foot Player) I used the rules found on the US Playing Card website as my frame of reference. I have however, relaxed the tone and some of the rules a bit as they give the "official" strict rules, which most everyone doesn't follow to the strict letter. If you are interest in seeing the US Playing Card full version, please visit the External Links page, where I have given all of the sources used on this site or just other Canasta sites that I thought might be of interest.

The object of Canasta is to form melds, sets of three or more cards of the same rank. Canasta can be played with between two and six players. However, the most common form of Canasta is four players in two partnerships. The rules given in the following pages are the standard rules for four players, with variations for different number of players given at the end.

For this game you will need two standard decks of cards including Jokers. That's 108 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.

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 3's can also not be melded. If a player is dealt a red three, draws one from the stock, or finds one in the discard pile after taking it, the card is to be placed face up near the player's melds, if any, and a replacement card drawn. For each red three a player has laid down they score 100 points at the end of the hand or 800 points if they have all four.

Black 3's are worth 5 points each, but can't be melded unless it is the last meld a player makes before going out. In this case, 3 or 4 black 3's may be melded, but wildcards can't be used. Therefore, the point value is usually used to subtract points when a player has a black 3 left in their hand when another player goes out. Black 3's do have their uses though. When discarded, a black 3 prevents the next player from picking up the discard pile for that turn. This will be discussed more in the Discard Pile section.

When I usually play Canasta, we usually just sit down at the table, and the person you are sitting across from becomes your partner. I think this is usually the simplest method. The Canasta rules from the US Playing Card website suggest drawing card to determine partners. In this case, A is high, 2 is low and Jokers require the player to draw a new card. If two players end up with the same value, you can either go based on suit or have the players redraw. If you go based on suit, spades are high then hearts, diamond, and clubs are low. If a higher card still can't be determined the players should redraw. The players with the highest and second highest cards become partners. As mentioned before, partners always sit across from each other.

Anyone and everyone may help to shuffle the cards. For this game, with only two decks of cards, this isn't a hard task, but in Hand and Foot Canasta there are five decks of cards, so it is usually a good idea to have everyone shuffle.

There are several ways to choose who will deal first. When I usually play Canasta, the player who is keeping score deals first. This makes the rounds, especially when there are a limited amount of them as in Hand and Foot Canastas, easier to keep track of. You can also just randomly decide who goes first, or have the player to the right of the player who drew the highest card deal first. After every hand, the deal rotates clockwise. The dealer deals 11 cards, one at a time, to each player and places the remainder of the cards in the center of the table. These cards become the stock, from which each player must draw. The top card of the stock is placed face up next to the stock and becomes the discard pile. If the card turned over is a wild card (2 or Joker) or a 3, cards should be added to the discard pile from the stock until a natural card is showing.

The basic turn consists of drawing cards, making melds, and discarding cards. A player's turn starts by drawing the top card from the stock or taking the discard pile, subject to certain restrictions (see Taking the Discard Pile). Melds can be made or added to, at the player's discretion provided that they have already met the initial meld requirements. This is discussed more in the Melds section on the next page. At the end of every turn a player must discard one card but also keep at least one card in their hand if they are not able to go out (see Going Out).

A meld consists of at least 3 cards of the same rank (i.e. three 4's), and must include more natural cards than wild cards. The first meld laid down by either partner must meet a minimum requirement for the number of points it contains. The number of points melds are worth is determined by adding up the point values of all of the cards to be laid down in the initial meld. Any number of melds can be counted towards the minimum, but bonuses for canastas and red 3's don't count. The minimum count for the initial meld depends on the partnership's total score from the previous rounds as seen in the table below.

Since the minimum count varies according to the partnership's score, it is possible that the two partnerships will need a different minimum count. After either partner makes the initial meld, melds may be made without worrying about the count of the card being laid down.