Games - Canasta

	Games - Canasta

Canasta is a matching card game in which the object is to create melds of cards of the same rank called canastas and then go out by playing or discarding all the cards in your hand.

It is believed that Canasta was invented in Montevideo, Uruguay in the early twentieth century. It then spread to the United States and the rest of the world. There are variations of the game for two to six players, but the original version is played by four.

The game is named after the Spanish word for "basket".

Rules for Canasta

The Cards and Deal

For Two, Three or Five Player games, it is each player for themselves. For Four or Six player games, players must choose a partner. Partners sit opposite each other. Canasta uses a pack made of two complete decks of 52 cards plus four Jokers (108 cards total). All the deuces (twos) and jokers are wild cards.

Point values for cards in Canasta
Card	Value
3♦, 3♥	Special
3♣, 3♠, 4, 5, 6, 7	5
8, 9, 10, J, Q, K	10
A, 2	20
Joker	50

The initial dealer is chosen at random, and the deal then rotates clockwise after every hand. The dealer shuffles the pack, the player to the dealer's right cuts, and the dealer deals out 11 cards to each player.

The remaining cards are left in a stock in the center of the table. The top card from the stock is turned over to form the discard pile. If this first card is a red three or a wild card, the discard pile is frozen (explained in Picking up the discard pile, below). Additional cards from the stock are turned over to the top of the discard pile until the top card of the discard pile is neither a red three nor a wild card.

Any player who received a red three in their initial hand must immediately play it to the table for their team and draw a new card to their hand.

The Play

The player to the dealer's left has the first turn, and play then proceeds clockwise. A turn begins either by drawing the first card from the stock into the player's hand or by picking up the entire discard pile. However, there are restrictions on when you can pick up the discard pile. (See Picking up the discard pile, below.) If the card drawn from the stock is a red three, the player must play it immediately and draw another card.

The player may then make as many legal melds as they wish from the cards in their hand. A turn ends when the player discards one card from their hand to the top of the discard pile.

Melds and Canastas

Each team keeps separate melds of the various ranks of cards. A player may never play to an opponent's meld. A legal meld consists of at least three cards of the same rank. Suits are not considered except that black threes are treated differently than red threes. Wild cards can be used as any rank except for threes. Red threes may never be melded. Black threes may only be melded as a player's last meld before going out.

A meld must consist of at least two natural cards, and can never have more than three wild cards. Examples: 5-5-2 and 9-9-9-2-2-Joker are legal melds. 5-2-2 is not a legal meld as it contains only one natural card. 9-9-2-2-2-Joker is not legal as it contains more than three wild cards.

A canasta is a meld of at least seven cards, whether natural or wild. A natural canasta (or clean canasta or red canasta) is one which comprises only natural cards. In many regions, such a canasta is gathered into a single face-up pile and set aside, with a red card on top, thus the red canasta terminology. A mixed canasta (or dirty canasta or black canasta) is one which comprises both natural and wild cards. Again, it is common practice to set such a meld aside in a single face-up pile, with a natural black card on top (if possible - note that it is mathematically possible, though rare, to have a black canasta with no natural black cards). Natural canastas score more points than mixed canastas.

Initial melds

When a player's team has not yet made any melds in a hand, that player must meet an additional point score requirement to make their first meld(s). The sum of the values of the cards played in the player's turn must exceed the minimum initial meld requirement according to the team's total score:

Team score	Minimum initial meld
Less than 0	15
0 - 1499	50
1500 - 2999	90
3000 and above	120

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