Buzz
Canasta, derived from the Spanish term for basket, is a card game that originated in Uruguay and gained widespread popularity throughout Latin America during the 1940s. By 1950, it had captivated the United States and continues to be a favorite today.
This article delves into the rules of Canasta and explores its variations, including Italian Canasta, Pennies from Heaven, and Samba. We cover all aspects, from dealing and scoring to advanced strategies like handling treys, capturing the pack, freezing the pack, and calculating points. Practical tips are also provided to enhance your gameplay.
Let’s begin by exploring the fundamentals of standard Canasta.
Number of players: Four, playing in teams of two. Partners sit opposite each other.
Initial Melds and Bonus Points The first player to meld for a side must table at least 50 points of meld. Each card in a meld has a point value.Joker: 50 pointsDeuce: 20 pointsAce: 20 pointsKing through 8: 10 points7 through 4: 5 pointsBlack 3s: 5 pointsTo calculate the value of a meld, add up the point of each card in the meld. Note that a three-card (or longer) meld must have at least two natural cards. The initial melding requirement increases along the way as detailed below:Score of less than 0: 15 pointsScore of 0 to 1,495: 50 pointsScore of 1,500 to 2,995: 90 pointsScore of 3,000 or more: 120 points Each red 3: 100 pointsGoing out: 100 pointsGoing out on a concealed hand: 200 pointsEach mixed canasta: 300 pointsEach natural canasta: 500 points |
Objective: Achieve a score of 5,000 points or higher by creating melds and forming canastas (a set of seven cards that earns bonus points).
The cards: Combine two standard 52-card decks with four jokers, resulting in 108 cards. Ensure the decks have identical back designs. Jokers and deuces (2s) act as wild cards and can only be melded with natural cards (4 or higher). A three-card meld is limited to one wild card.
Dealing:draws
7. When multiple cards share the same rank but differ in suits, the ranking order is spades (highest), hearts, diamonds, and clubs (lowest). The player drawing the second-highest card sits to the dealer's right, and the deal proceeds clockwise.While anyone can shuffle, the dealer holds the privilege of shuffling last. The player seated to the dealer's left may choose to cut the deck.
The dealer distributes 11 cards to each player, one by one, moving clockwise and beginning with the player to the dealer's left. The following card is flipped over to start the discard pile. The rest of the cards are placed facedown in the center of the table, forming the stock.
Should the initial upcard be a joker, deuce, or red 3, the top card from the stock is revealed and placed atop the upcard. This process repeats until a natural card (4 or higher) is drawn.
Playing: The player to the dealer's left leads, and gameplay proceeds clockwise until the hand concludes. A player may draw from the stock or the discard pile. Choosing the discard pile requires taking all its cards and using the top discard to create a meld (see "Taking the pack").
After drawing a card and forming a meld, you must discard (unless you are ending the round). All cards in the discard pile must remain neatly stacked, with exceptions noted later.
Since neither you nor your partner have melded yet, and this is the first hand, even if you picked up the
6 to create a meld of three 6s alongside your existing meld of a
2-
4-
4, you still wouldn’t meet the required 45 points to lay down your initial melds, meaning you must draw from the stock.Melding: Melds are displayed faceup on the table as they are formed. Partners collaborate to combine their melds, aiming to create canastas (seven-card melds). Wild cards (jokers and 2s) can substitute for any rank except 3s but cannot form a meld independently. Canastas must include at least four natural cards. The first meld for a team must meet a specific point threshold, which fluctuates during the game (refer to the "Initial Melds" sidebar for details).
Partners can create a meld matching the rank of an opponent’s meld but are prohibited from forming multiple melds of the same rank for themselves (e.g., your team cannot have two melds of 6s). Adding cards to an opponent’s meld is not allowed.
The treys: Red 3s are excluded from gameplay. They serve as bonus cards, worth 100 points each if melded, but incur a penalty of minus-100 points each if not melded by the end of the hand.
Upon receiving a red 3, immediately place it faceup on the table. If dealt a red 3, you must display it during your turn and draw a replacement card from the stock. Drawing a red 3 also requires placing it on the table and drawing another card.
If you draw a red 3 from the discard pile, you must place it on the table but are not allowed to draw another card from the stock. Should your team manage to lay down all four red 3s by the end of the hand, the bonus increases to 800 points.
Black 3s are playable but cannot be melded unless you are ending the round, and they cannot be combined with wild cards (jokers and 2s). Black 3s also function as blocker cards if you decide to "freeze the pack" (explained below).
Taking the pack: You can "take the pack" or collect the entire discard pile if you can meld the top card and meet these conditions: If your team hasn’t melded yet, you must use two natural cards from your hand to meld with the top discard; you must also meet the minimum point requirement for your initial meld using only cards from your hand and the top discard (see "Initial Melds" sidebar). If your team has already melded, you can use a natural card and a wild card from your hand along with the top discard.
You can also take the top discard when using it to extend an existing meld. After your team’s first meld, you can form new melds or expand existing ones to build canastas. Any remaining cards from the discard pile after melding are added to your hand.
Partners can contribute cards to each other’s melds once they are on the table. This is how smaller melds grow into canastas, which consist of seven or more cards.
Once a canasta is completed, it is neatly stacked into a pile. A red card from the meld is placed on top to indicate a natural canasta (containing no wild cards), while a black card signifies the inclusion of wild cards. Since partners can continue to expand canastas, if wild cards are added to a natural canasta, the signal card must be changed to a black suit. This distinction is crucial as natural and wild canastas are scored differently.
Tip: When claiming the pack, avoid melding all its cards immediately. Retaining some cards ensures you have natural pairs available to claim a frozen pack (explained below).
Freezing the pack: This tactical maneuver makes it challenging for opponents to pick up cards from the discard pile, though it carries some risk.
Whenever a black 3 or a wild card is discarded, the pack becomes frozen. As long as either type of card remains in the discard pile and is positioned sideways, no player can take cards from it.
You cannot claim the pack if the top discard is a wild card or a 3. To unfreeze the pack, you must reveal a natural pair from your hand that matches the rank of the top discard.
Going out: To go out, your team must have at least one canasta, either created earlier or formed during the process of going out. Your hand must be completely empty, and discarding is optional at this stage. However, if you don’t go out, you must always retain at least one card in your hand. A player holding only one card cannot claim the pack if the discard pile contains just one card.
During your turn, before drawing from the discard pile, melding, or adding to a meld, you may ask, "Partner, may I go out?" Your partner can only respond with "Yes" or "No." A "Yes" obligates you to go out, while a "No" means the game continues.
A hand also concludes when the stock runs out. If the final card is a red 3, it is revealed, and play ends immediately without further discarding or melding.
If the last stock card isn’t a red 3, play continues as long as the discard pile can be legally claimed. Note: If you have only one card in your hand, you cannot take the discard pile if it contains just one card. However, you can claim the pile if you meld or add the top card to a meld, provided the pack isn’t frozen.
A concealed hand: If you manage to meld your entire hand in a single turn and go out, you achieve "a concealed hand."
You earn double the bonus points for going out, totaling 200 points. A concealed hand requires that no melds or additions to your partner’s melds were made in prior turns.
If you draw from the discard pile, you must have already met the minimum point requirement, excluding the canasta if your partner hasn’t melded. Drawing from the stock doesn’t require meeting this condition. At any point, you may ask another player to disclose the number of cards remaining in their hand.
Scoring: Maintain score in columns labeled We and They. First, calculate the total value of all melded cards and add bonus points. Then, subtract the value of any cards left in players’ hands (even if they form a meld) from the team’s total to determine the hand’s score. Now that you’ve mastered the basics and advanced strategies of standard Canasta, the next section introduces a high-scoring variant: Italian Canasta.Italian Canasta
Number of players: Four players, divided into two partnerships. Partners sit opposite each other.
Melds: A meld is a set of at least three cards of the same rank.
Objective: Accumulate 12,000 points by creating melds and forming canastas (bonus melds of seven cards).
The cards: Three standard 52-card decks are combined with six jokers, resulting in 162 cards. Ensure all decks have identical backs.
Dealing:draws
7. When multiple cards share the same rank but differ in suits, the ranking order is spades (highest), hearts, diamonds, and clubs (lowest). The player drawing the second-highest card sits to the dealer's right, and the deal proceeds clockwise.Bonus Points Red 3s: three or less equals 100 points Going out: 300 points Five canastas, one mixed: 1,000 points Five natural canastas: 2,000 points Any 10 canastas: 2,000 points Seven 2s: 3,000 points |
The dealer distributes 15 cards to each player, one at a time, moving clockwise and starting with the player to the dealer's left. The upcard on the stock is revealed only after all players have discarded any red 3s they were dealt.
Once the upcard is revealed, a number of cards equal to the upcard's point value are drawn from the stock and placed facedown beneath it to form the discard pile (pack). The pack below this upcard remains permanently frozen.
Playing:During each round, pick two cards and remove one. Combining all deuces is permissible, though deuces cannot be included in other combinations unless forming adeucecanasta (for instance,
2-
2-
2-
2-
2-
2-
2). Wild card canastas cannot be used to go out. Additionally, the first meld must be made without including any wild cards. The minimum meld requirements increase with higher scores: starting a new deal requires the base meld; scores between 5,000 and 7,495 need 160 points; 7,500 to 9,995 demand 180 points; and scores above 10,000 require 200 points.
Scoring:Wild-card bonuses are only applicable if your team successfully goes out. Otherwise, wild cards are valued at their face amount. Opponents with deuce melds score only the card values. The game ends at 12,000 points.
For those seeking a more thrilling Canasta variant, the following section introduces Pennies from Heaven, where the goal is to reach 20,000 points to win.Pennies From Heaven
Pennies from Heaven is a Canasta variant where the number 7 cards hold special significance, adding a unique twist to the gameplay.tableSufficient space is required. Here's a guide to playing:Number of players: Six participants, divided into two teams of three each.Melds: A meld refers to a set of at least three cards of the same rank.Objective: Achieve a score of 20,000 points or higher by forming canastas (seven-card bonus melds).The cards: Four standard 52-card decks are combined with eight jokers, resulting in 216 cards. Ensure all decks have identical backs. In this version of Canasta, the number 7 cards hold special significance.Dealing: Partners are seated in an A, B, C, A, B, C arrangement around the table. The dealer, determined by drawing the highest card,deals13 cards to each player and creates a reserve pile of 11 cards, placed facedown on the table before each player. Playing: The player to the dealer's left starts the game. The reserve cards can be picked up and added to your hand after completing your first canasta. On each turn,drawtwo cards and remove one. Discarding a 7 is prohibited until you or your teammate has formed a natural or mixed canasta of 7s. You are not allowed togo outby discarding a 7. Awild cardplacing it on top of the pack freezes it. To unfreeze, you must show a natural pair from your hand to combine with the top discard of matching rank.Melding: The minimum score required for melding aligns with the standard game (refer to the sidebar on initial melds in the first section of this article), with the exception that 150 points are needed if your score at the start of the deal is 1,500 or higher. A canasta is limited to seven cards and cannot be expanded. Wild-card canastas are permitted. Otherwise, adhere to the standard game rules. To go out, you must have completed at least one 7s canasta, one wild canasta, one natural canasta, and one mixed canasta.Scoring: A 7s canasta is worth 1,500 points. A wild-card canasta scores 1,000 points. Red 3s are valued at 100 points each, and all 8s count for 1,000 points. Any red 3s in ahandare deducted from your score if your team fails to complete a 7s canasta. No canasta can exceed seven cards.For those seeking a Canasta variant with a lower point requirement and the ability to create sequential suit melds, the next section outlines the rules for Samba.Samba
Samba is a thrilling variation of Canasta where players receive 15 cards each, andsequentialsuit melds are permitted. Here's a guide to playing:Number of players: Four, divided into teamsObjective: To achievegameby accumulating 10,000 points or more.The cards: Three standard 52-card decks are combined with six jokers, resulting in 162 cards. Ensure all decks have identical backs.Melding:A meld is a set of at least three cards of the same rank.In addition to traditional melds (refer to the melds sidebar in the first section of this article), sequential melds are allowed, which must consist of at least three cards in the same suit. Nowild cardscan be included in sequential melds. Seven-card sequential melds are known as Sambas, which also qualify as Canastas. For scores between 3,000 and 6,995, an initial meld of 120 points is required; scores of 7,000 or more need 160 points.Tip: The lowest card in a samba is a 4, and every samba must include the 8-9-10 sequence of a suit, making it challenging to complete two sambas in the same suit.Playing: The gameplay resembles standard Canasta, but each player receives 15 cards. The player to the dealer's left starts. On each turn, two cards aredrawnand one is discarded. Wild cards cannot be melded without natural cards, and a maximum of two wild cards can be added to any mixed canasta. You cannot pick up the upcard to add to a canasta, but you can use cards from yourhand. Additionally, you cannot pick up the upcard to create a sequential meld or to pair it with a card from your hand to expand a sequential meld. Togo outand have your red 3s counted, you must complete either two canastas, two sambas, or one of each.
This is a Samba Canasta.Scoring: A 200-point bonus is given for going out. Sambas provide a 1,500-point bonus. If your team holds all the red 3s, an additional 1,000-point bonus is awarded. Penalty points equal to the bonus value of red 3s are deducted if two canastas are not completed by the game's end. No bonus is granted for a concealed hand.Now that you’ve learned standard Canasta and three of its variations, you have a wider selection for your next card game session with family or friends.
