GOAL

Score 5,000+ points by melding sets of cards. Every card earns points when played to the table, but they subtract points if still in hand at the end of the round. There are bonus points for completing sets of 7 cards (called Canastas), drawing red 3s, being the first to empty your hand, and more.

Below are rules for classic 4-player Canasta (two 2-player teams with 2 decks). Be sure to explore the game options for even more fun!

CARDS

2 standard decks of playing cards are shuffled together, including the jokers. That means there are 4 jokers and 8 of every other card in the deck.

• 2s and Jokers are wild cards.

• The rest of the cards are referred to as “naturals.”

THE DEAL

Everyone is dealt 11 cards. A draw deck is formed with the remaining cards. The top card of the draw deck is turned up to form a discard pile.

If the upturned card is a joker, 2, or 3, turn another card up until you find a natural card of 4 or higher.

GAME PLAY

A turn consists of:

• • Drawing the top card of either the draw deck or the discard pile.
• • (optional) Melding sets of 3 or more cards onto the table.
• • (optional) Melding 1 or more cards to an existing meld.
• • Discarding one card.

DRAWING FROM THE DRAW DECK

Take the top card into your hand.

If you draw a red 3, the card is immediately added to the table, and you receive a 100-point bonus! Take another card from the draw deck, and add it to your hand.

Note: If your team have not melded any cards at the end of the round, this red 3 bonus turns into penalty!

DRAWING FROM THE DISCARD PILE

You must be able to meld the top card of the discard pile with 2+ cards in your hand (including at least one natural) OR one of your existing melds already on the table. If you can't make a meld, you cannot take the card.

A MELD is a matching set of 3 or more cards (such as 5-5-5, J-J-J-J-J-J, etc.). The meld can include wild cards, but there can be at most three wild cards in a single meld. You may not form a meld of just wild cards.

After you meld the top card of the discard pile, you take ALL cards in the discard pile into your hand. You may continue to meld as many cards as you like before discarding a card to signal the end of your turn.

Frozen Pile

Anytime a red 3 (this is possible only at the beginning of the round) or a wild card is added to the discard pile, that card is turned sideways to indicate that the pile is frozen. In order to take the top card of a frozen discard pile, you must be able to meld that card with at least 2 NATURALS in your hand. That “unfreezes” the discard pile so that normal rules apply again.

Black 3s

Black 3s can never be picked up from the top of the discard pile. The next player is, therefore, forced to take cards from the draw deck on their turn.

INITIAL MELD

The first time your team melds, the value of all the cards put on the table must add up to a minimum amount. You can make multiple melds to achieve the amount. The minimum increases as your score increases, as follows:

When making the initial meld, you may only pick up the discard pile if you can meld the top card with two naturals in your hand.

In other words, the discard pile is always frozen until your team makes the initial meld (see above).

CARD VALUES

END OF ROUND (“Going Out”)

The player who empties their hand first wins a 100-point bonus for their team! Emptying the hand is called “going out,” and has a few conditions:

Canastas

Your team must form at least 1 canasta in a 4-player 2-deck game. A canasta is a meld of 7 cards.

Final Card

The last card in hand may be either discarded or melded.

Black 3s

Black 3s may only be melded when you go out. The black 3 meld cannot include any wild cards, and it must be your final action, but the final discard after melding black 3s is permitted. Each black 3 is worth 5 points.

Asking to Go Out

On your turn, you may ask your teammate if it's okay to go out. If you do so, you must accept their decision for the team. The question may only be asked after you take a card from the draw deck.

Until you are able to go out, you must keep at least 1 card in your hand.

If you have only 1 card in hand, however, you cannot draw from/pick up the discard pile if the discard pile also has only 1 card!

Going Out With a Concealed Hand

If you haven't melded any cards to the table and then meld all the cards in your hand in a single turn, you earn bonus points for going out with a concealed hand. All of the above requirements for going out must still be met.

If you are playing a team game, adding cards to a partner's meld breaks the concealed hand condition.

Note: The initial meld requirement can be ignored only when the player manages to complete the required number of canastas and then goes out concealed, without picking up the discard pile.

Draw Deck Runs Out of Cards

The round could also end if the draw deck runs out of cards. If the final card in the deck is a red 3, play immediately ends – no melding or discarding. Otherwise, play continues as long as the discard pile can legally be taken.

Note: If the top card of the discard pile matches a meld of their team and the discard pile is not frozen, the turn player MUST take the discard pile.

Scoring

At the end of the round, each team receives points for all cards melded onto the table, red 3s, and the following bonuses:

Next, all players SUBTRACT the value of the cards in their hand.

Check whether a team has reached the target points (usually 5000 points). If so, the team with the highest score wins the game. If not, a new round begins: Cards are reshuffled, a new hand is dealt to all players, initial meld value is adjusted up or down, and start player rotates clockwise.