Canasta - A quicker game than bridge

History

In 1939, Canasta was invented by Segundo Santos and Alberto Serrato who wanted to create a quicker game than bridge. Canasta in Spanish means “basket” and refers to the basket Santos and Serrato normally put their cards in. The game was an instant success in their local card clubs but, became a global sensation in the 1950’s. Countless books were written on the game then, specialty decks were sold and Canasta overtook Bridge as the popular pastime.

Set Up

Picking Partners

Canasta has an interesting approach to forming partnerships. Partnerships are formed by drawing cards from the deck. The player that draws the highest card gets to choose their seat and goes first. The person with the second highest card becomes the partner of the player that drew the highest card. If player draws an equal card or joker, they must draw again. Partners sit across from one another.

Before the game begins an initial dealer must be chosen. To do so, every player is given a card from a shuffled deck and whoever receives the highest card becomes the first dealer. Ties are broken by a repeated deal. The initial dealer shuffles the deck and the player to their right cuts it. The dealer then passes 11 cards one by one clockwise to each of the four players. The remaining cards are placed faced down to form the stock. The top card of the stock is turned upright and placed to the side to form the discard pile. The dealer position rotates clockwise at the end of each round.

Objective

The objective of the game is to form as many melds as possible. A meld consists of three of more cards of the same rank, and jokers can be used as wild cards to help form melds.

Number of Players

Four (4)

Number of Cards

Double 52-card decks plus four jokers (108 cards in total) / Specialty Canasta Deck

Rank of Cards

Joker, 2, A,K,Q,J,10,9,8,7,6,5,4 (highest to lowest)

Type of Game

Rummy

Point Values

4 - 7 = 5 points

8 - K = 10 points

Ace & 2 = 20 points

Joker = 50 points

Black 3 = 5 points

Red 3 = 100 or 200 points

Red Threes

If a player is dealt a red three, the player must place it face up on the table and replace it with another card. If a player draws a red three from the stock pile they must also place the card face up on the table in front of them and draw another card. Lastly, if a player picks up the red three from the discard pile the player must table the card as well but is not required to pick up a replacement for the card.

Red threes are valued at 100 points a piece but if one team collects all four red threes then the value of the card raises to 200 points a piece. A team can only receive the value of the red threes if they have made a successful meld, if game pay ends and the team has made no meld, then the red threes are debited against their score.

Begin Play

A player begins by drawing a card from the stockpile or picking up from the discard pile. The player then has the opportunity to lay down a meld if applicable and then discard one card to the discard pile to end their turn.

If the player chooses to take the the top card of the discard pile to form a meld, then the player is required to pick up the entirety of the discard pile.

Melds

A meld is valid if it contains at least two natural cards of the same rank — aces down to fours inclusive — and not more than three wild cards. Jokers and deuces may never be melded apart from natural cards. A set of three or four black threes (without wild cards) may be melded only when a player goes out.

To count plus, a meld must be laid on the table face up during a person's turn to play. All cards that are left in the hand when play ends, even though they form melds, count minus.

A player may meld as many cards as they please, of one rank or different ranks, forming new melds or adding cards to previous melds. (But see restrictions on Going Out.) All the melds of a partnership are placed in front of either partner. A partnership may meld in a rank already melded by the opponents, but may not make two different melds of the same rank.

A player may add additional cards to a meld by their side, provided that the melds remain valid (having no more than three wild cards). The player may not add cards to the opponents' melds.

Melding rules

• Melds that do not include sevens or aces work as in "classic" canasta, except that such melds can include at most two wild cards rather than three.
• Melds of more than seven cards are strictly forbidden, as are duplicate melds of the same rank by the same team. This has a few strategic implications; for example, it is impossible to pick up the pile on the strength of a pair of (say) jacks in your hand if your team already has a meld of five jacks, natural or otherwise.
• One common exception, is to allow melds of 8 or more cards when going out. Skilled players will play a wild card on an existing canasta for the win.
• Sequences (such as those that define Samba, described below) are not legal melds and play no role in the normal play of American Canasta. The closest thing to a sequence that is normally allowed is one of the Special Hands, described below.
• Melds of sevens cannot include wild cards. A canasta of sevens is worth 2,500 points rather than the usual 500. However, if the hand ends without your team completing this canasta, your team loses 2,500 points. Retaining three or more sevens in your hand is nearly as bad, carrying a penalty of 1,500.
• Aces are treated the same way as sevens, with one exception. If your team's initial meld includes aces, wild cards may be added at that time; if this is done, the aces are treated like any other meld rather than being treated in the special way sevens are. Otherwise, all the same rules, including the potential penalties, apply to aces as to sevens.
• Melds consisting entirely of wild cards are legal, much like in the aforementioned[clarification needed] Bolivia variant. A canasta consisting of wild cards is worth 3,000 points if it consists entirely of twos, 2,500 points if it contains all four jokers, or 2,000 points for any other combination. However, failing to complete a canasta once such a meld is made carries a 2,000 point penalty.
• It is legal to meld certain special hands as your team's first and only meld. These are hands of exactly 14 cards which you can conceivably have after drawing your card for the turn. If a team plays a special hand, the play ends immediately; the team scores only the points for the special hand (there are no penalties for the cards in the other partner's hand). This is also the only time a player is allowed to not discard a card; even when going out, a player must otherwise have something to discard. There is considerable variation in what special hands are allowed and how they are scored. Among the most commonly accepted special hands are the following (these are the ones that were legal in the tournament version):
  • Straight - one card of every rank, including a three (the reason you are allowed to retain threes in your hand), plus a joker. This is worth 3,000.
  • Pairs - seven pairs, which either do not include wild cards (worth 2,500), or include twos, sevens and aces (all three must be present - this combination is worth 2,000).
  • Garbage - Two sets of four of a kind and two sets of three of a kind, which do not include any wild cards or threes. For example, 4-4-4-4-7-7-7-9-9-9-9-J-J-J would be considered a Garbage hand. This is worth 2,000.

Canastas

A canasta is a run of 7 cards of the same rank. There are two types of canastas, a natural and an unnatural canasta. To make a natural canasta a player must obtain 7 cards of the same rank with out the use of wildcards. A natural canasta is signified when the player lays the seven cards on the table, in a stack, and showing the value of the top card in red. For example, to display a natural canasta of 5’s a player would stack the cards and place either the heart or diamond of 5’s on the top. A natural canasta earns 500 points in addition to the point values of the cards in the canasta.

An unnatural canasta is made when a run of 7 cards of the same rank is created with the use of wildcards (jokers, deuces). This canasta is displayed by stacking the card and placing the black rank of the card on top of the pile. An unnatural canasta earns 300 points in addition to its regular base value points.

After the first round of play, and before the start of each round thereafter, players are to look at their current score and their score at that time will dictate how many points are needed for their first meld of the coming round. The values are as follows:

Accumulated Score (at beginning of the deal) Minimum Count

• Minus Score = Meld must equal 15 points
• 0 to 1,495 score = Meld must equal 50 points
• 1,500 to 2,995 score = Meld must equal 90 points
• 3,000 or more = Meld must equal 120 points

The count of a meld is the total point value of the cards in it. To meet the minimum, a player may make two or more different melds. If the player takes the discard pile, the top card but no other may count toward the requirement. Bonuses for red threes and canastas do not count toward the minimum.

The minimum count is only required for the first meld, every meld thereafter is acceptable regardless of its value.

Discard Pile

Teams are not allowed to pick up from the discard pile until they have created their first meld. Once the initial meld is created, the discard pile is open to both partners.

Freezing the discard pile:

• If a red three, black three, or wildcard is placed atop the discard pile, the pile is effectively frozen. To indicated the state of the frozen pile, the freezing card is placed at a perpendicular angle on the discard pile.
• To unfreeze the pile, a natural card must be discarded atop the frozen pile and the pile must then be taken. Only by taking the pile will the pile unfreeze.

A player may take the discard pile only when:

1. The pile as been topped with a natural card
2. The player has a NATURAL pair already in hand that matches the top card of the discard pile
3. The player shows the board that pair of natural cards in their hand before picking up the pile

If the discard pile is a frozen a player may take the discard pile as long as:

1. The player has a pair of natural cards in their hand that match the top card
   
   OR
2. The player has one natural card and one wild card in their hand to accompany the top card
   
   OR
3. The player can add the top card to a meld the player already has on the table

Going Out

A player cannot go out until the team has made at least one canasta. Once a canasta is a made a player may go out by either discarding their final card or adding it to an existing meld. A player is not required to discard when going out, and a player is not allowed to pick up the discard pile when the player only has one card in hand and the discard pile has only one card in it.

A player can go out in a concealed hand, which means the player melded the entirety of their hand in one turn. If a player goes out in this way and their partner has yet to meet the initial meld requirement, they are required to meet that initial requirement themselves.

Keeping Score

• For each natural canasta 500
• For each mixed canasta 300
• For each red three 100 (All four red threes count 800)
• For going out 100
• For going out concealed (extra) 100

Players must add up their score and minus the value of any cards left in their hand at the time of going out. Score is traditionally kept on a sheet of paper with two columns titled we and they.

It is important to keep proper score as it determines the amount needed for the initial meld each round.

The team that is the first to reach 5,000 points is the winner!