Hand and Foot is a Rummy type game which appears to be a somewhat newer derivative of the Canasta type games. Hand and Foot was developed in North America, and has many similarities to Canasta, but also has a number of distinct differences. Like Canasta the most common version Hand and Foot is designed for play by four players in two partnerships, however in the variations section, variations for additional players will be described. The game uses six standard decks and a total of 12 Jokers all shuffled together to make one very large pack. The ranking of the cards, as used in Hand and Foot are as follows, from high to low; Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. All twos and marked Jokers are considered wild cards and may be used to represent any other card of the player's choice in a meld.
If partnerships have not been predetermined, the first order of business will be to determine the fixed partnerships to be used for the game as well as seating positions and the player who will have the role as the first dealer. One common method for determining such partnerships is for each player to draw a card from the shuffled and face-down deck. The two players drawing the highest cards from one partnership and the remaining two players, drawing the two lowest cards will form the second partnership. If multiple players draw cards of the same denomination, they should discard those cards and draw again. If these cards are again of the same denomination as that drawn by another player they should discard these and continue drawing until they draw a card of a unique denomination. The player drawing the highest card has first choice of seat at the table and his partner should sit directly across from him at the table. The opponents should then take the remaining two seats at the table, which should also be arranged directly across from each other at the table. The player drawing the highest card of all is set as the first dealer for the hand. Thereafter, the role of dealer rotates around the table in a clockwise direction after each hand.
After the preliminaries (determination of partnerships and first the dealer), the dealer pulls a portion of cards from the top of the deck for dealing. He then deals four face down stacks of 13 cards each. He then passes them around the table so that each player gets one such stack. This stack is called the
hand. At the same time the dealer is dealing out the hand stacks, the partner of the dealer performs a similar procedure. He also deals four stacks of 13 cards each and also passes them around the table in a clockwise direction. This second stack each player receives is called the
foot. The remainder of the stock is then set in the center of the table as the stock and the top card of the stock is placed face up next to the stock to start the discard pile. If this first card is a two, Joker or red three (card of denomination three in the suit of hearts or diamonds) it is added back somewhere in the middle of the stock and another card is turned over to replace it. If this newly exposed card is also a two, Joker or red three, he again replaces this card with another from the top of the stock, continuing until he gets any card which is not a two, Joker or red three.
The players then begin by picking up their hand piles. Each player may not yet review the cards in his foot pile until he has played the last of his hand pile and thus he sets his foot pile aside until he has completed play of his hand pile. A player may thus only pick up the foot pile when they have played every card in their hand pile (either through melds or a last discard). They player to the immediate left of the dealer has the first turn and play continues around the table in a clockwise direction.
After the initial deal, each player examines his hand to determine if it contains any red threes (cards of denomination three in the suit of hearts or diamonds). These cards should be placed face-up in front of the player and may entitle that player to bonus points at the end of the game. Each player should then draw a replacement card for each red-three from his hand that he places on the table in front of himself. Similarly, any red-threes drawn on a player's turn should immediately be played face-up on the table in front of himself and a replacement drawn for that card from the stock.
Each player's turn begins with a draw. This can be either from the face-down stock pile or the discard pile. If the player opts to draw from the stock pile, he must thus draw two cards from this pile into his hand. Alternatively, he may also opt to take the top seven cards from the discard pile, however there are certain restrictions on a player's ability to draw from this pile. If there are fewer than seven cards currently found in the discard pile he should take the entire pile into his hand. As mentioned, however, there are several restrictions on whether a player can draw from the discard pile on his turn. In order to so draw from the discard pile, the following criteria must all be met:
- The top card of the discard pile may not be any card of denomination three.
- The player must use the top card of the discard pile, along with two other cards of the exact same rank which are already found in his hand, in a meld on that same turn.
After the draw the player may then optionally meld if able (if the player drew cards from the discard pile, he must meld that top card). Melding consists of creating an entirely new meld or adding to any melds previously played by this player or his partner on the table. All melds made by either player in a partnership are considered communal property of that partnership and either player may add to those melds if able. However, before either player from a partnership may make any melds, at least one member of that partnership must have made a meld fulfilling the initial meld requirements. This meld requirement is a minimum point value that meld must contain it. This initial meld may consist of multiple individual melds made by that player, and must have a minimum point value based on whether the current hand in progress is the first, second, third or four hand of the game. The following chart shows the required point value for this initial meld:
| Game Round | Initial Meld Requirement |
|---|
| 1 | 50 Points |
| 2 | 90 Points |
| 3 | 120 Points |
| 4 | 150 Points |
In order to thus fulfill this initial meld point requirement, each card in the deck has a specific point value. This value is also used at the end of play in determining scoring for the hand (both for cards legally melded and also for cards remaining in the hand). The following chart shows the point value for each card in the deck:
| Card Denomination | Point Value |
|---|
| 4, 5, 6, 7 | 5 Points |
| Black Three (card of rank three in the suit of spades or clubs) | 5 Points |
| 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King | 10 Points |
| Ace | 20 Points |
| Two (Wild Card) | 20 Points |
| Joker (Wild Card) | 50 Points |
Note that black threes can never be melded so will only count as a potential penalty at the end of the hand if found remaining in a player's hand.
If the discard pile was picked up by a player, before making this meld, only the top card of the discard pile may be used to fulfill this initial scoring requirement on this initial meld. Once either member of a partnership, on his turn, has made a meld fulfilling this point requirement, either player can make any legal melds or add cards to melds previously played to the table by himself or his partner on his turn as able.
There are a few other general restrictions on melds in this game. A meld may never contain greater than seven cards or fewer than three. A meld may never consist of cards in the rank of three. The following are the legal meld types used in Canasta:
- Clean Meld:
This is a meld consisting of three or more cards, all of the exact same rank and which includes no wild cards.
- Dirty Meld:
This is a meld consisting of three or more cards all of the same rank, but which may include one or two wild cards. A dirty meld may contain one wild card if that meld consists of five or fewer cards or two wild cards if the meld contains six or seven total cards. Note that a clean meld is converted to a dirty meld if any wild cards are added to that meld.
- Wild Meld:
This is a meld consisting of all wild cards (twos and
Jokers).
A partnership may only have one meld, of fewer than seven cards, of the same rank in progress at any time. Thus, a partnership may not have two individual three card melds of fives, for example. However, once that meld has been completed to seven cards (called a pile), they may then begin a new meld of that same rank. Thus, once any meld is completed to the maximum of seven cards allowed in the meld, this is called a "pile". Once a meld has been completed into such a pile, it should be squared up with a specific card from the meld placed on top to represent that meld. To represent a clean meld a red card should be placed on top, for a dirty meld a black card placed on top and for a wild meld a wild card (Joker or two).
After a player, on his turn, makes any melds as able and willing, he then discards one card to the top of the discard pile and the turn rotates to the next player in a clockwise direction at the table.
As indicated previously, a player may never take cards from the discard pile if the top card is a black three, thus these cards are often used as a blocker to prevent the next player from taking cards from the discard pile. If a wild card (two or Joker) is discarded, the next player may take the discard pile, but only if that player is able to meld it to the table, using two other wild cards from the hand to form a wild meld.
The game continues in this manner until one player manages to play the last card from his "hand" pile. This can happen if the player manages to meld all the remaining cards from his "hand" pile, at which point he immediately picks up his "Foot" pile and resumes play from that pile. The hand pile can also be depleted by a player discard that last card to end his turn. In that situation, the player's turn is over, but he may pick up the foot pile to be used on his next turn.
Thus, the hand will end once one player manages to first play all cards from his hand and then similarly meld (or discard) the last card from his foot pile. However, before a player may so play that last card, there are several requirements that must be fulfilled:
- The player who is able to end the hand "go out" must, on his turn, verbally ask permission from his partner. If his partner answers in the affirmative, he must then, on that turn, play or discard the remainder of his foot pile to end the hand. If his partner answers in the negative, the player is not allowed to thus play his last card, (being required to keep at least one card in the hand, or two cards if playing from the foot pile) on that turn but may ask permission again on his next turn.
- The player's partner must have, on some previous turn picked up his foot pile and played a minimum of one turn using that foot.
- The partnership must have made the following required melds during the hand:
- Two clean piles (melds of exactly seven cards, with no wild cards)
- Two dirty piles (melds of exactly seven cards containing one or two wild cards)
- One wild pile (melds of exactly seven wild cards)
If all these criteria have been fulfilled, the player is then allowed to end the hand and go out by depleting his foot pile. This immediately ends the hand, after which scoring will
immediately occur. The hand can also end if the stock pile becomes depleted. If the stock pile becomes depleted, and a player, on his turn, intends to draw from it. This also immediately ends the hand, after which scores for the partnerships will then be calculated.
Scoring: Upon conclusion of the hand, the partnerships are then calculated. One score is calculated for each partnership based on the following scoring opportunities:
- Each partnership earns a number of points equal to the total card points in melds played to the table. This is calculated using the card point values as detailed in the chart previously.
- In addition, complete "piles" are entitled to bonus points as follows:
| Pile Type | Bonus Scoring Value |
|---|
| Dirty | 300 |
| Clean | 500 |
| Wild | 1500 |
- Each Red three played to the table by a partnership earns that partnership 100 points.
- The team that first managed to "go out" on the hand earns a bonus of 100 points.
After calculating these points, each team must also subtract a number of points from the current score for that partnership based on several factors (Note that it can occur that a team may have a negative point total.):
- Each card remaining in a player's hands after the end hands, subtracts it's equivalent point value from the total, accumulated score for his partnership. This includes any and all cards in the "foot" pile if this has not yet been picked up by the player.
- Each red three that is still remaining in a player's hand, for any reason, subtracts 100 points from that player's accumulated total. This also includes any red threes that might be found in a player's foot pile for which he did not yet have the opportunity to pick up.
The game continues for exactly four such hands, and after the completion of these four hands, the partnership who has the highest (positive) score is declared the game winner.
Hand, Knee, and Foot:
Hand, Knee, and Foot is a card game played somewhat similarly to
standard Hand and Foot, but is designed for play by eight total
participants, arranged into four teams of two players each. The game can
also be played by four or six players (see below). Hand, Knee, and
Foot is also often played under the name Triple Play, which is the
original created name for this game by the game's author. This game was first conceived by Sue Henberger of Huntley, Illinois
on New Years Eve, 2005.
Hand, Knee, and Foot uses a huge deck consisting of six normal 52 card decks all shuffled together, including twelve total Jokers (two Jokers per deck). Determination of partnerships and the first dealer, seating positions, and first dealer can be performed in a variety of ways, with a draw for high cards (as in standard Hand and Foot) one of the more common methods. The players should each be seated at the table such that a member of one opposing team is to his immediate left and a member of a different opposing team is to his immediate right. This should generally be an arrangement such that each player is sitting directly opposite his partner at the table.
The dealer determined for the hand should then thoroughly shuffle the large deck and offer it to the player at his right to cut. After this he begins dealing the cards around the table, one-by-one and face-down, starting with the player at his left. He deals in a clockwise rotation around the table, continuing until each player has a hand consisting of exactly 15 cards (this is called the "hand"). In a similar manner, the dealer then deals two additional piles to each player, first a 13 card "knee" pile and then an 11 card "foot" pile. These piles should be set aside near each player, but the player may not look at these piles until entitled to do so during gameplay. Each player's knee pile should be placed on top of,
and at a right angle to, that player's foot pile. The dealer then completes the deal by placing the deck face-down in the center of the table, as the stock pile, and then taking the top card of the stock and placing it face-up beside the stock pile to
start the discard pile. If this exposed card is a red three, any five, any seven, any Joker, or any two, the player replaces this randomly into the middle of the deck and draws another card to start the discard pile. If this card is also one of those denominations, he places that also back in the deck continuing until the drawn card is anything but a card of those denominations. Once the dealer has completed the initial deal, each player may then pick up his "hand" pile for examination. If a player has any red threes (cards of denomination three in the suit of diamonds or hearts) he must remove this card from his hand, placing it on the table in front of himself and replace it with a card from the stock. Likewise, during initial play, while the player is playing from his "hand" pile, if a player draws a red-three during his turn, he must immediately play this card to the center and draw a replacement card.
The player to the immediate left of the dealer has the first turn, and the turns rotate in a clockwise direction around the table from player to player. The object of the game, as in the related games Canasta and Hand and Foot, is to score points by creating melds (also called books) of cards of the same denomination. He does this through play of the game from turn to turn.
A player begins his turn with a draw. He may either draw the top two face-down cards from the stock pile, adding these cards to his hand, or he may take the entire discard pile into his hand. He may also thus take this discard pile, however, if the player has two other cards of that same rank already in his hand which he can immediately legally meld to the table. In this case he takes the entire discard pile into his hand but must also, on that same turn, meld the top card of the discard pile with two cards of that same denomination. There are also a few other restrictions on the taking of the discard pile. If the top card of the discard pile is a black three (card of denomination three in the suit of spades or clubs) he may never take the discard pile. Similarly, if the top card is a two or Joker, the player may only take this top card (and the rest of the discard pile), if he has two other cards of the exact same rank (i.e. two Jokers from the hand to take the top card of a Joker) and these must be melded to the table.
After drawing a player may then optionally make any legal melds to the table. As in the parent game Hand and Foot, before players from a specific partnership may meld any cards, one of the members of that partnership must have made an initial meld that is equal to greater than a specific point total (based on the cards forming that meld). The following chart shows the point requirements for each hand in the game for this initial meld requirement:
| Round | Initial Meld Requirement |
|---|
| 1 | 50 Points |
| 2 | 90 Points |
| 3 | 120 Points |
| 4 | 150 Points |
To determine the value of a meld, each card in the deck has a specific numeric point value as per the following table:
| Card Denomination | Point Value |
|---|
| 4, 5, 6, 7 | 5 Points |
| Black Three (card of rank three in the suit of spades or clubs) | 5 Points |
| 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King | 10 Points |
| Ace | 20 Points |
| Two (Wild Card) | 20 Points |
| Joker (Wild Card) | 50 Points |
Once either member of a partnership, on a round has made this initial meld, there are no longer any point restrictions on melds for players in that partnership. For easier scoring and organization, the melds (and red threes) for a specific team are usually kept in front of one of the members of each partnership. The following are the legal meld types in Hand, Knee, and Foot:
- Natural Meld:
This is a meld of three or more cards, all of the exact same rank and which includes no wild cards.
- Mixed Meld:
This is a meld of three or more cards all of the same rank which also includes one or two wild cards. A mixed meld may contain one wild card if that meld consists of five or fewer cards or two wild cards if the meld contains six or seven total cards. Note that a natural meld is converted to a mixed meld if any wild cards are added to that meld.
- Wild Card Meld:
This is a meld consisting of all wild cards (twos and Jokers).
In addition to creating new melds, a player may also on his turn, add cards to existing melds on the table made by himself or his partner (extending a meld). A partnership may never had multiple active melds of the same denomination on the table at the same time. If they want to play cards of a denomination that is already found in an existing meld made by that partnership, they must simply add to that meld. A meld may contain, at a maximum of seven cards, after which that meld is closed and no additional cards may be added. This meld is called a Canasta. Once a Canasta has been created, that partnership may then start new a meld of that denomination of card.
After a player makes any optional melds, he then completes his turn by either discarding one card from his hand to the top of the discard pile or knocking on the table. If the player drew from the discard pile, they must discard one card from the hand. However, if the player picked up the discard pile, the player does not discard and ends his turn, signifying this by knocking on the table. Discards should be played in such a way that all cards below the top card can also be seen (the cards overlapped). Either of these actions ends the player's turn, and play passes to the next player in a clockwise rotation.
Once either player in a partnership forms that partnership's first Canasta of that hand, they immediately pick up their Knee pile, adding it to their hand of cards. The player may make
additional melds from these new, additional cards if able and willing. That player's partnership is also entitled to pick up his Knee pile, adding it to his hand, but must wait until the beginning of his own turn (after his draw) in order to do this. If that player, for any reason, fails to so pick up the pile, his partnership takes a -1,000 point penalty. No other player may so remind the player to add the cards to his hand.
After a player has taken his Knee pile into the hand, if he depletes his hand, melding his last card during his turn, immediately then takes his "foot" pile into the hand. He may continue play using the cards from this foot pile. If, however the player depletes that hand with a normal discard, he may still pick up his foot pile, but must wait until the start of his next turn to do this. Once a player has picked up his Knee pile, he no longer draws replacement cards for red threes. He should still play them to the table (which will earn his team bonus points at the end of the hand), but does not draw a replacement card from the stock after playing them to the table.
The game continues in this manner until one player is able to "Go Out". This is
the action of completely depleting his hand of cards. However, before
any player is entitled to "Go Out" his partnership must have fulfilled a
specific contract of Canastas (called the "basic book"). The following
is the full list of these required melds which must be made by a
partnership before that team can thus "Go Out" and end the hand.
- One natural Canasta of fives. This consists of a meld of exactly seven cards (none wild) all of the denomination 5.
- One natural Canasta of sevens. This consists of a meld of exactly seven cards (none wild) all of the denomination 7.
- One wild card Canasta. This is a meld consisting of exactly seven wild cards.
- One natural Canasta. This is a meld consisting of exactly seven cards, all of the same denomination. This Canasta may contain no wild cards.
- One mixed Canasta. This is a meld consisting of exactly seven cards all of the same denomination, however the Canasta must contain one or two wild cards.
Once a partnership has managed to create each of these five melds they are then entitled to end the hand by thus going out by either playing his last card as part of a legal meld or discarding his last card at the end of his turn. However, before a player is entitled to end the hand in this way, he must first ask his partner for permission. He does this simply by asking his partner "May I?". If the partner answers in the affirmative, the player must thus end the hand. However, if the partner answers "No", the player must retain at least one card in the hand and may ask again, if he wants, on his next turn.
The hand also ends if the stock pile becomes depleted, and a player on his turn wants (or must) draw from the stock pile. At that point, the game immediately ends and scoring occurs.
Once the hand is thus ended, scoring for the hand then occurs. The following are all the
positive scores accumulated during the hand for each partnership:
- Each meld earns the player a number of points based on the cards within that meld as given in the card point chart above.
- Each red three played to the table earns that team 100 points.
- If one partnership manages to play seven or more red threes to the table that team earns 300 additional points.
- The team that manages to "Go Out" on that hand earns 200 points.
- A natural Canasta of all sevens earns that team 5,000 points for each such Canasta.
- Each natural Canasta of all fives earns that team 3,000 points.
- Each Canasta which is completely composed of wild cards earns 2,500 bonus points.
- Each natural Canasta formed by a team earns that partnership 500 points.
- Each mixed Canasta created by a team earns 300 points.
After adding any positive points, each team must also subtract a number of penalty points from their ongoing accumulated score based on certain circumstances, as follows:
- Each card remaining in the hand of each player is subtracted from his team's ongoing score. The point values of these cards is shown in the chart above. Black threes found in the hand have a score of -100 for this purpose. If a player has not had the opportunity to pick up his Knee or Foot pile, the cards found in these piles are also added to this
negative point total.
- Each red three found in a players hand (or in an unpicked up Knee or Foot pile) have a penalty point value of -500 points each.
- If a player does not pick up his Knee pile on the next turn after his partner has picked up that pile, that partnership earns -1000 points.
- If a player asks for Permission to "go out" but is not able to, his partnership earns -100 points.
- If a player ignores his partner's answer in asking if he can "Go out" on the current turn, his partnership suffers a -100 point penalty.
- If a player attempts to take the discard pile when he does not fulfill the requirements, his team earns a -50 point penalty.
After exactly four deals have been completed, the game ends and the partnership with the highest overall (positive) score is declared the game winner.
Hand, Knee, and Foot (Four and Six Player): Hand, Knee, and Foot can also be easily played by four or six players. The only difference being that there are fewer participants in the game, and the players are split into either two partnerships of two players each (four player variant) or three teams of two players each (six player variant). Each players should arrange themselves at the table such that they are seated directly across from their partner, as able.
Ponytail Canasta: Ponytail Canasta is another Canasta variant which is played similarly to Hand and Foot. Like Hand and Foot, Ponytail Canasta is primarily designed for play by four participants in two partnerships of two players each. The game uses six standard 52 card decks and a total of twelve Jokers (two Jokers per deck) all shuffled into one large pack. All the twos and Jokers in this large pack are considered wild cards and can be used as a replacement, in melds of any other card.
Determination of partnerships and first dealer can be performed using the same methods as in standard Hand and Foot. Each player should sit directly across the table from his partner. In addition to the main dealer in each hand, the player to the immediate left of the dealer also has a role in the deal of the cards. The designated dealer first takes a stack of cards from the top of the large deck and begins distributing the cards. This dealer then begins dealing the cards in a clockwise direction around the table starting with the player at his immediate left. He continues dealing in a clockwise direction around the table until each player has exactly 15 face-down cards. These are called the "hands". He then deals one more card, face-up next to the remainder of the pack to start the discard pile. If discovered that player was able to pull a stack of cards of
exactly the number of cards needed to deal each player 15 total cards and the top card of the discard pile (61 total cards) that player earns a bonus of 100 points for his partnership. At the same time that the main dealer is dealing, the player to his immediate right also takes a stack of cards from the top of the stock pile and begins dealing each player a second hand of cards, continuing around the table until each player has a second hand which consists of 13 cards. This second hand of cards is called the pony hands (or ponies). If the card exposed to start the discard pile is any wild card or a red three, another card from the stock is placed on top of it, dealing yet another card if this top card is another wild card or red three, continuing until this top card is any card but a red three or wild card. When the discard pile does contain a wild card or red three, this card should be placed in the pile at a 90
degree angle to the rest of the discard pile to indicate that this pile is frozen (see below). After each hand the roles of these dealers rotates around the table in a clockwise direction.
To start the game each player then picks up his hand, but leaves the pony hand on the table in front of himself. These pony hands may be picked up later during play as certain conditions are met. The player to the immediate left of the dealer has the first turn.
Each turn consists of several actions, starting with a draw. On his turn a player may either draw two cards from the top of the stock pile or may take the entire discard pile. While a player may always, at the beginning of his turn, take the cards from the draw pile, he may only take the discard pile in certain circumstances as follows:
- If the discard pile is not currently frozen, the player can take this discard pile if he can use the top card of that discard pile, along with two cards from his hand to make a valid meld to the table, which he must immediately do. Alternatively, if the player's partnership already has a meld of cards on the table of the same denomination as the top card of the discard pile, he may take the entire discard
pile into his hand, and meld that top card as appropriate.
- If the discard pile is frozen, the discard pile can only be taken if the player has two natural (non-wild) cards of the exact same denomination as the top
card on the discard pile. If the player so elects to take this card, he must make this meld to the table immediately after taking the discard pile.
A player taking the top card of the discard pile also takes the entire pile into his hand, and can use these cards during this turn or later turns to make new or add to existing melds from his team.
As mentioned, the discard pile can sometimes be frozen, which thus makes it more difficult to take this discard pile. The following are the circumstances in which the discard pile would be frozen to one or both partnerships:
- The discard pile contains a red three. This can only occur if the initial card (or cards) exposed to start the discard pile was thusly a red three. In this event the discard pile is frozen to both partnerships.
- The discard pile contains any wild card (a two or Joker). This can be a discard from a player or due to the initial card (or cards) exposed at the start of the game to start the discard pile. In this event the discard pile is frozen to both partnerships.
- A partnership has not yet made their initial meld of the hand. If a partnership has not yet made their first meld of that hand to the table, the discard pile is considered frozen for that team.
If the top card of the discard pile is a black three or any wild card, that card, and the discard pile
itself cannot be picked up on that turn.
After the draw, the player then makes any melds they are able and willing to make to the table. To play a new meld to the table, this meld must consist of three or more cards of the exact same
denomination. These melds may also contain wild cards, but any meld may never contain more wild cards than natural cards, and, in any event, may never contain more than three total wild cards. A meld that contains one or more wild cards is called a clean meld and a meld which contains all natural cards is referred to as a dirty meld. In addition to creating new melds a player can also add to melds created by himself or his partner that are found on the table.
Before a team is entitled to make melds, they must first make their first meld of the hand. This first meld may consist of one or more other individual legal melds, all made at the same time by the player, which must have a total point count total. This total is based on that partnerships current amalgamated scored in the game, as follows:
| Team's Current Game Score | Team's Initial Meld Requirement |
|---|
| 0 to 14,999 | 50 Points |
| 15,000 to 29,999 | 90 Points |
| 30,000 and higher | 120 Points |
|
|
 |
This initial meld must be made all at the same time by the player, and once made, both players can create new melds or add to existing melds during their turn with no point value restrictions. This initial meld must be made completely from cards in the players hand, although they can also count the top card of the discard pile, if the discard pile was drawn immediately prior to making that initial meld. The following shows the point value for each card in the deck, for purposes of this initial meld as well as contributing to a team's score at the end of each hand:
| Card Denomination | Point Value |
|---|
| 4, 5, 6, 7 | 5 Points |
| Black Three (card of rank three in the suit of spades or clubs) | 5 Points or -100 points if found remaining in the hand |
| 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King | 10 Points |
| Ace | 20 Points |
| Two (Wild Card) | 20 Points |
| Joker (Wild Card) | 50 Points |
Note that black threes can only be melded by a player as the last meld of the hand by a player, in going out. A red three may never be melded by a player at any time in an actual meld. However, at any time a player draws a red three (or finds such a card in his hand), he must immediately play it to the table (which may score bonus points at the end of the hand) and draw a replacement card from the stock.
A meld consisting of exactly seven cards is called a Canasta, and each Canasta will usually entitle the team making that meld to bonus points at the end of the hand. A Canasta consisting of seven equally ranked cards, and containing no wild cards is called a natural Canasta or
a "red" Canasta, while a Canasta consisting of one to three wild cards is called a dirty, or "black" Canasta. A Canasta may never contain more than seven total cards, although once a Canasta in a certain
denomination has been created, that partnership can then start a new meld of that same denomination cards. Once a meld reaches a total of seven cards, it should be squared up, with a red card on top for a natural Canasta or a black card on top to signify a dirty Canasta.
Once a player on one particular partnership has made his first meld, both players on that partnership may then pick up their pony hands, adding them to their current hand.
To complete his turn, a player then discards one card to the top of the current discard pile. This can be any card of that players choice, but he can never discard a red three.
The game continues in this manner until one player manages to "go out", which is for a player to either play his last card in melds during his turn, or to discard his last card at the end of his turn. However, before any player is permitted to go out, there are several conditions required of his team. In order for a player to thus go out, his team must have at least one of each of the following meld types:
- At least one natural Canasta.
- One or more dirty Canastas.
- One or more natural Canastas of sevens
- One or more Canastas of wild cards. This is a seven card meld which is composed completely of twos and Jokers.
Once one player managers to go out, the hand immediately ends and scoring for that hand occurs. Each partnership then earns or loses points based on the following
criteria from the hand:
- A number of positive points equal to the total point value of all cards melded during the hand (as per the chart above showing the point value for each card in the deck).
- A number of negative points (points subtracted from that team's ongoing score) equal to the point value of all cards left in both partners' hands upon termination of that hand.
- The team managing to go out earns a 200 point bonus.
- Each red three played to the table by a member of that partnership earns that partnership 100 points.
- Each Canasta (complete meld of seven cards) made by a partnership during the hand earns that partnership a number of points based on the meld type made, as follows:
- Each natural Canasta - 500 points each
- Each dirty Canasta - 300 points each
- Each Canasta consisting solely of wild cards - 2500 each
- Each natural Canasta of Sevens - 5000 points each
A hand can also end if the entire stock pile has been depleted, before any player has had the opportunity to go out that hand.
A game of Ponytail Canasta can complete in one of two ways; either
exactly four total hands have been played or one or both partnerships, at the end of any hand, manages to score 50,000 points. Once the game ends, from either condition, the team with the higher accumulated total is declared the game winner.
"New" Canasta: New Canasta is a Hand and Foot Canasta variant that is played in areas of the Midwest of the United States. One of the features that make New Canasta unique is that, each player plays completely for himself (no partnerships). Because of this, the game can be played by 3 to 7 players.
The game uses a number of 52 card decks (and two Jokers
for each of these decks) all shuffled together
into one very large deck for play. The number of such decks should be equal to the number of participants in the game plus one more such deck
(thus for 5 players six decks would be used and with a total of ten
Jokers). All twos and Jokers are considered wild cards and can be used to represent any card of rank four to Ace as used in forming valid melds during the game.
Determination of first dealers (there are two dealers in each hand) and seating positions can be performed using a
variety of methods, with
draw for high card such a method which is commonly used. There are
actually two dealers featured in every hand, and the role of these
dealers rotates around the table in a clockwise direction after each
complete hand. One player should also be designated the scorekeeper for
the hand, but that player never deals during the game. In addition, before play of the game, one player is designated as the scorekeeper for the game. This player will thus record all scores for every player during the game. This designated scorekeeper never deals during the game, and thus during the rotation of the dealers from hand to hand, this player is thus skipped for that role. Similarly, this scorekeeper should never have the first play of the hand, so in the event that the scorekeeper would have the first play, this role rotates to the next player in rotation after the scorekeeper.
Once the players are seated and the first dealers have been chosen, the
deck is then cut into four roughly equal piles. The main designated
dealer for that hand attempts to cut a pile from the top of one of these
stacks exactly equal to the number of cards which he will need to deal
out to the current players in the game. If he manages to do this, he
earns a bonus of 100 points. This dealer distributes cards in a
clockwise rotation around the table, continuing until each player has a
hand of 11 total cards. These hands are called the "looking" hands.
Meanwhile, the player to the immediate left of the dealer also attempts
to cut a number of cards from the deck which would be the exact number
needed to distribute to each player an 11 card hand. If he manages to
cut exactly this many cards he earns a 100 point bonus. This player
deals out a hand of 11 cards to each player (called the "down" hands).
Each player should set his down hand to the side, face-down without
looking at it. This "down" hand will be used by that player later in the hand.
The main dealer then places the remainder of the deck face-down on the
table to form four different face-down stock piles and exposes the top
card of one of these stock piles, usually placing that card in the
middle of the four stock piles, face-up, with this card thus starting the discard pile. If this card is a wild card or any three, another card is dealt from one of the stock piles on top of that card. If this card is also a wild card or three, additional cards are turned until the top, exposed card is any card other than a wild card or three.
The player to the immediate left of the dealer of the "down" hand has the first play (unless this player is the designated scorekeeper for the game). Each turn consists of several actions which are taken by the player, a draw, optional melding, and
lastly a discard.
To begin each turn, a player will thus draw a card. He may either draw from the stock piles or the discard pile. If the player draws from the stock, he must draw two total cards from the stock piles adding these cards to his hand. If the player draws the discard pile, he takes the entire discard pile into his hand. However, in order to be able to take this discard pile, there are several stipulations which must be fulfilled. First, he must have two cards already in his hand which are of the same denomination as the top card of the discard pile. These cards need not be immediately melded, however the player must show the two cards from the hand of that same denomination that entitle him to so take he discard pile. A second requirement for taking the discard pile is that a player must have already made his initial meld for the hand. If that player has not yet already made at least one meld during the current hand, he is not entitled to take the discard pile unless he is using that top card of the discard pile, along with appropriate cards from his hand, to make his initial meld on that same turn. One final stipulation is that a player may not take the discard pile on two consecutive turns. A player may never take the discard pile if the top card is a wild card or any three.
After the draw, the turn next consists of possible melding by that player. A meld is a collection of three or more cards all of the same denomination (suit is irrelevant). These collections of cards should be set in an overlapping column in an area of the able directly in front of the player.
The first meld made by a player during each hand must fulfill a specific scoring criteria before it can be made. This initial meld may consist of multiple smaller melds (with each smaller meld consisting of three or more cards) to fulfill the scoring criteria. The following chart shows this initial melding requirement, which is directly based on that player's current ongoing game score:
| Player's Current Game Score | Initial Meld Requirement |
|---|
| Less than 0 (negative score) | 15 Points |
| 0 to 1,500 | 50 Points |
| 1,501 to 3,000 | 90 Points |
| 3,001 to 5,000 | 120 Points |
| 5,001 to 7,000 | 150 Points |
| 7,001 to 10,000 | 210 Points |
In order to calculate the value of a meld, each card in the deck has a corresponding score value which is used to calculate that card's value in a meld or if left remaining in a player's hand after another player manages to deplete his hand. The values of each card as found in the deck are shown in the following chart:
| Card Denomination | Point Value |
|---|
| 4, 5, 6, 7 | 5 Points |
| Black Three (card of rank three in the suit of spades or clubs) | 0 |
| 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King | 10 Points |
| Ace | 20 Points |
| Two (Wild Card) | 20 Points |
| Joker | 50 Points |
It should be noted that any specific individual meld may contain a number of wild cards, but the number of wild cards in a meld may never exceed the number of natural cards in that same meld. A player may not use a Canasta (a meld of seven cards of the same denomination) as part of his initial meld of the hand, although he may make two different legal melds of cards of the same denomination. In addition to creating new melds, a player may also add to melds already on the table that he has already created, providing that meld contains less than
seven total cards. A meld of seven cards of the same denomination (which may or may not include one or more wild cards) is called a Canasta. This is a completed meld and can not have any
additional cards added to it, although a new meld of that same denomination may be made by that player. A Canasta meld is usually set to the side, and will normally earn bonus points at the end of the hand. To aid in scorekeeping, the cards in that
Canasta are usually piled together and topped by either a red card or a black card to indicate the type of Canasta it represents. A Canasta which contains no wild cards (called a "Red Canasta") is topped with a red card and a Canasta containing one to three wild cards (called a "Black Canasta") is topped with a black card.
Threes: As in most forms of Canasta, threes have a special function in New Canasta. Black threes may only be melded in one circumstance. A player going out, can create a Canasta consisting of exactly seven black threes, on his last turn, playing these to the table
in front of himself on the turn he goes out. This Canasta has no point scoring value, however,
but would be used by a player to help him go out to end the hand.
Any threes left in a player's hand at termination of that hand also have no penalty point value
for the player. Dissimilar to other forms of Canastas, red threes can only be used in certain circumstances. The only time in which a red three can be played is
that it can be played on top of a "Red Canasta" that player may already have made. Playing a red three on top of an existing Red Canasta will score bonus points for that Canasta. Any Red Canasta can only contain one such red three, and a red three cannot be so played on a Black Canasta. A red three added to such a Canasta has no individual scoring value other than increasing the score for that Canasta. This is the only time a red three can be legally played, however a player can discard a red three at the end of his turn, if he prefers.
Once a player has played or discarded (at the end of a turn) the last card from his "looking" hand, that player may then pick up his "down" hand which will then become his active hand. If the player was able to play the last card from his "looking" hand, his turn may continue with the new hand. However, if the player used the last card from his "looking" hand as a discard, he must wait until his next turn to perform any melding or other activities with the new cards.
There are two methods by which a hand can end, either one player manages to go out or the stock piles all become depleted. A player can go out if he manages to play or discard the last card from both his looking hand and his down hand, leaving the player with no remaining cards in the hand. However, a player may never reduce his hand to no cards at the end of his hand if that player has not melded at least two Canastas (of any type). Thus, that player must retain at least one card in his hand at all times until he has fulfilled this criteria of two Canastas. Once a player does manage to go out, the game immediately ends and scoring occurs for the hand. The following are the scores which are calculated for the hand:
- Red Canasta - 500 points each.
- Red Canasta topped with a red three - 1,000 points each.
- Black Canasta - 300 points each.
- Bonus for going out - 100 points.
- Melded Cards - Each card melded to the table by that player earns a number of points equal to the scoring value for that card as per the card point chart above.
- Unmelded standard Cards - Each card found remaining in a player's hand after another player goes out is subtracted from that players current total score, based on the point value
as shown in the chart above for each individual card.
- Red Threes remaining in hand - Each red three found remaining in a player's hand when another player goes out has a 500 point penalty which must be subtracted from that players overall, ongoing score.
The game can similarly end if all of the draw piles become exhausted. In that case, once each of the draw piles contain no more cards, each player has one additional turn. On this turn, the player would not make his initial draw (unless able and willing to take the discard pile), make any melds as able, and end the turn with a discard. After each player has thus had one additional turn, and if no player is able to go out (which would immediately end the hand) the hand ends and scoring occurs using the same scoring categories as described above.
Frozen in Time: An optional feature that is sometimes used by players of New Canasta to save time is for a player to be "frozen in time". This option is sometimes used by a player who will discard immediately after drawing, and, to make efficient use of game time, perform his melding while the game continues around the table
starting with the next player in turn. This would be particularly
relevant after a player has taken the discard pile on that turn. Thus, while the player is creating and forming his melds on the table, since he has already discard for that turn, the other players may thus continue play. Thus, the game may continue with the other players, however if the turn rotates back around to the player who is thusly said to be "frozen in time", the game must pause while that player finishes his previous melding and then draws to begin his next turn.
At the end of each hand, the scorekeeper should then tally each player's score, announcing the score of each player and informing that player of his initial meld requirement on the next hand. If one or more players manage to reach or exceed 10,000 accumulated points at the end of a hand, the player with the
highest total score is declared the game winner.
Pennies From Heaven: This is another great variation of the base game Canasta and which plays similarly to Hand and Foot.
This variant is usually played by six players in two partnerships of three players each using four decks and eight Jokers. The players should be seated in such a way that the play alternates between players from each partnership.
The rules are the same as for standard Canasta with several exceptions:
The dealer first distributes out the cards one at a time in a clockwise rotation until each player has a hand of 13 cards. The dealer then distributes a separate, additional 11 card hand to each player (called the foot) which is set face down in front of each player and is not seen by the player until later in the game. The remainder of the cards are placed in the center of the table as a stock, as in standard Canasta and the top card turned face up beside the pile.
When drawing from the stock pile, a player must draw two cards from the stock pile and discard just one at the end of each turn.
After a player has played his first Canasta, he then picks up the 11 card foot pile and adds it to his current hand as he continues play.
A player may never discard any seven until both partnerships have melded a canasta of sevens. This must be a natural canasta and include no wild cards. A canasta of sevens containing wild cards is still a valid meld, but it does not count as the requisite meld of sevens. In addition, a seven may never be discarded as a players last discard before going out. No canasta may contain more than seven cards. However, a partnership may meld multiple melds or canastas of the same denomination.
In order to go out, a player's partnership must have melded at least one of each type of Canasta allowed in this game; Mixed, Natural, All Wild Cards, Sevens. The wild card canasta consists of all wild cards (deuces and Jokers). The required canasta of sevens must consist of all natural cards (no wild cards). These canastas can be played all at once or can be smaller melds that are added to by a side to create the canasta. A player may never add cards to the opponent partnerships melds. As in most other variants of Canasta, any mixed meld may never contain more than 3 wild cards.
Red threes earn a bonus for the side that obtained them of 100 each. If a side obtains all eight red threes, however, the bonus is 1000 in total. However, if a side has not made any melds at the completion of the hand, they count negative for that side. Wild cards (Jokers and twos) may be discarded, however the discard pile may never be taken when the top card is a wild card. A player may ask permission from one of his partners if he can go out on the next turn, and he must abide by the answer given by that player. However, he is never obligated to ask this permission. If the stock runs out play may continue with a player allowed to take the discard pile using the normal requirements for taking the discard pile. If a player on his turn elects not to take the discard pile (however many cards the pile may contain), the hand immediately ends and the players hands are totaled.
The individual card scoring is as in normal Canasta, however the following Canastas earn the following additional bonus points:
| Canasta Meld | Bonus Scoring Value |
|---|
| Mixed | 300 |
| Natural | 500 |
| Wild Cards | 1000 |
| Natural Sevens | 1500 |
|
|
|
Note that a meld of sevens containing wild cards is considered to be a regular mixed canasta scoring 300 and may not be considered as the requisite canasta of sevens needed
by a team to go out.
A partnership who goes out during a hand earns a 100 point bonus for doing so.
As in all other variations of Canasta there is also an initial meld requirement for a partnership dependent on their current score. This initial meld requirement must be from the raw cards making up the melds (not red three and canasta bonuses).
The original rules printed for this game in a number of publications detailed a list of the initial meld requirements. However, those listed were somewhat inconsistent with the initial meld progression used in most other versions of Canasta. Thus, a second, revised version is also included here which is recommended for more consistency
in this scoring as with other forms of Canasta:
| Original Initial Meld Requirements | | Revised Initial Meld Requirements (Recommended) |
| Current score for Partnership | Initial Meld Requirement |
|---|
| Under 0 | 15 |
| 0 to 499 | 50 |
| 500 to 999 | 90 |
| 1000 to 1499 | 120 |
| 1500 or more | 150 |
|
|
| Current score for Partnership | Initial Meld Requirement |
|---|
| Under 0 | 15 |
| 0 to 4999 | 50 |
| 5000 to 9999 | 90 |
| 10000 to 14999 | 120 |
| 15000 or more | 150 |
|
The first partnership to score 20,000 at the end of a hand is declared the winner of the game. If more than one partnership reaches or exceeds this total at the end of a hand, the partnership with the highest total is declared the game winner.
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