Canasta rules

What it is

Canasta is a four-player partnership melding game played with two decks shuffled together. You collect cards of the same rank and lay them down in melds, and the goal is the canasta itself — a meld of seven or more cards, worth a large bonus. The heart of the game is the discard pile: it is not a graveyard but a prize, and taking the whole thing at the right moment can win a hand outright. It swept the world from Uruguay in the 1940s. This page describes the game as it is played at jpgames.app, which is Classic partnership Canasta.

The deck

Two full decks plus their four jokers — 108 cards. Partners sit opposite each other.

Every card has a point value, and the same value is used both when you meld it and when it is caught in your hand at the end:

Jokers and 2s are wild. They can stand in for any rank inside a meld.

Red 3s are not played at all. If you are dealt one, or draw one, you put it face up on the table immediately and draw a replacement. Each is worth 100 points at the end of the hand — but only if your side has melded anything. All four are worth 800. If your side never gets a meld down, they count against you instead.

Black 3s block. They cannot be melded during normal play, and discarding one stops the next player taking the pile.

The deal

Eleven cards to each of the four players. The rest becomes the stock, and one card is turned up to start the discard pile.

Melds

A meld is three or more cards of the same rank, laid face up in front of your partnership. Melds belong to the team, not the player, so you and your partner build the same melds together.

Two rules constrain them:

1. At least two natural cards. You may never have more wild cards than natural ones, and never more than three wilds in one meld.
2. Twos and 3s are never the rank of a meld — 2s are wild, and 3s are special.

A meld of seven or more cards is a canasta, and canastas are the point of the game:

Getting your first meld down

Your side's first meld of each hand must meet a minimum card value, and the minimum rises as your score does:

The count is of the card values themselves; bonuses do not help you over the line. Until you are down, you cannot take the discard pile either, which is what makes the opening of a hand feel slow and then suddenly fast.

Play

On your turn you draw and then discard. The draw is the interesting part, because you may take either the top of the stock or the entire discard pile.

Taking the pile is the central mechanic. You may do it when you can immediately use the top card — either by melding it with two matching cards from your hand, or by adding it to a meld your side already has down. You then take every card in the pile into your hand, which is often twenty or more cards.

The pile is frozen against you — meaning you can only take it with two natural matching cards from your hand — when a wild card or a red 3 has been discarded into it. And you can never take it at all when the top card is a wild or a red 3.

Discarding a black 3 stops the next player taking the pile, whatever they hold.

Going out

A side goes out when one player melds or discards their last card. Before you may go out, your side must have at least one canasta. Without one you must keep at least one card and play on.

You may ask your partner for permission to go out, and their answer binds you.

When somebody goes out, the hand ends immediately and everyone counts.

Scoring

Each side totals:

1. the card values of everything they have melded, plus
2. 500 for each natural canasta and 300 for each mixed one, plus
3. 100 for each red 3, or 800 for all four, plus
4. 100 or 200 for going out, if it was them, minus
5. the card values of everything still in their hands.

That last line is the sting. Being caught holding a joker and two aces when the other side goes out is 90 points straight off your total, and it is why a hand can swing hard at the end.

Ending the game

Hands are played until a side reaches the target. The default is 5,000 points, with 7,500 and 10,000 offered for longer games. Scores accumulate across hands and can go negative.

Variants we implement

1. Classic four-player partnership Canasta, which is what this page describes.
2. Target score — 5,000, 7,500 or 10,000.

Where we differ from the common rules

1. Four players only, in fixed partnerships. Two- and three-handed Canasta are not implemented. Bots fill any empty seat.
2. No Samba, Bolivia, or Hand and Foot. These are separate games in the family and are not implemented.
3. No wild-card canastas. A meld of seven wild cards is not a legal meld here, since every meld needs at least two natural cards.
4. Black 3s cannot be melded when going out. Some tables allow a final meld of black 3s; we do not.
5. No bonus for a natural canasta of Aces or 7s beyond the ordinary 500.

Ready to play? Start a Canasta table — bots fill the empty seats, so a four-handed game starts whenever you do.

For the wider game, including the family variants above that we do not implement, see Canasta on Wikipedia.

Common questions

What is a canasta?

A meld of seven or more cards of the same rank. A natural canasta, with no wild cards in it, is worth 500 points; a mixed canasta, containing at least one wild, is worth 300.

What are the wild cards in Canasta?

Jokers and 2s. They can stand in for any rank inside a meld, but a meld must always contain at least two natural cards and never more than three wilds.

What do red 3s do in Canasta?

They are never played as cards. You put one face up as soon as you get it and draw a replacement. Each is worth 100 points at the end, and all four are worth 800 — but they count against you if your side never melds anything.

How do you take the discard pile in Canasta?

You must be able to use the top card immediately, either by melding it with two matching cards from your hand or by adding it to a meld your side already has down. You then take the entire pile. A frozen pile requires two natural matching cards, and a pile topped by a wild card or red 3 cannot be taken at all.

Can you go out without a canasta in Canasta?

No. Your side must have completed at least one canasta before anyone may go out.