Canasta Rules 

At least 2 packs of cards are needed, with all jokers. Jokers and 2’s are wild cards. 

Object:

To form melds ( all the same number) of three or more cards, with or without wild cards. Canastas are formed with 7 or more cards in one meld. There must be a natural and a mixed canasta down for a team to go out, with permission from a teammate. Highest score after four rounds wins.

Play:

Players form partners. Each player is dealt 11 cards. The rest of the cards are put in a pile. The top card is placed face-up as the discard pile. If it is wild or a red 3, put another card on top of it. A play consists of a player drawing a card from the pile, making a meld (optional), and discarding. A team must meet the initial meld point amount for their first meld in a round. One or more melds played all at once must total the initial amount based on their current score. Amounts are shown on the board.

Red 3’s are bonus cards. When a red 3 is drawn, the card is put down on the player’s side, and the player draws a replacement card. If a red 3 is taken from a discard pile, it is not replaced. Red 3 points can only be scored if a meld was completed.

Drawing:

A player takes the top card of the pile. They also may take the entire discard pile, provided they can make a meld with the top card only and either 2 natural or one natural and one wild card from their hand, or by using it alone in an existing meld. By discarding a Black 3 you prevent the next player from taking the discard pile. However, Black 3s do not freeze the pile. After the Black 3 has been covered by another card, it has no further effect. Freezing the deck occurs if a team has not made a meld or if there is a wild or red three in the deck, turned sideways to view it. When the deck is frozen a player may take the pile only if the top card can be used in a meld with 2 natural cards from their hand.

The points are as follows: Jokers = 50 points each, Aces and 2s = 20 points each, 

K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8 = 10 points each,  7, 6, 5, 4, and black 3 = 5 points each. 

After drawing, a player may put down any meld once the initial meld is down for their team. Once a team has a natural canasta with no wilds and a mixed canasta with no more than 3 wilds, players may go out with team permission. Players can go out by melding all their cards, or by melding all but one, and then discarding it. If your team does not have the two canastas, you are not allowed to leave yourself without any cards at the end of your turn. Once a player goes out, the round is scored. 

. 

Scoring:

The partners points are added together. 100 points for being the one to go out, 100 for each red 3 you have if team made at least one meld otherwise minus 100, 800 points for all 4 red 3s or minus 800 with no meld. 500 points for each natural canasta, 300 points for each mixed canasta. The players that didn’t go out count the number of points they had in their hands and subtract it from their team score. Then all players count how many points they laid down and add it to their score.