What are the Canasta rules for beginners?
You do not need to memorize everything to start playing Canasta. Learn the deal, the turn, and what the threes do, and you will be able to play a full hand comfortably.
Setup and the deal
Classic Canasta uses two 52-card decks plus four jokers, 108 cards in all, and is usually played by four people in two partnerships. Each player is dealt eleven cards. The rest becomes the face-down stock, and the top card is turned up to start the discard pile. If a red three lands in your hand, you place it face up right away and draw a replacement.
What you do each turn
Take a turn in three steps. Draw one card from the stock (or take the discard pile if the rules allow). Meld if you can, which means laying down sets of matching ranks or adding to your side's melds. Then discard one card to end your turn. You cannot win until your partnership has built at least one canasta of seven cards.
The rules that trip up newcomers
Two rules surprise most beginners. First, wild cards (jokers and twos) can join a meld but never form a meld on their own, and a meld can hold at most three of them. Second, the threes are special: red threes are bonus cards worth 100 each that you never really play, while black threes are stop cards that block the discard pile and can only be melded on the turn you go out.
The surest way to make this stick is to play a few hands. Try Bolivia or Cuban Canasta against the computer, keep the Canasta rules and glossary handy for anything unfamiliar, and browse the rest of the Canasta FAQ for more answers. When you are ready, put it to the test on the daily deal.
Related questions
How do you play Canasta?
Canasta is a rummy-style partnership game played with two decks plus jokers. Each turn you draw a card or take the discard pile, lay down melds of matching ranks, and discard one card. Your side wins a hand by completing at least one canasta (a meld of seven cards) and then going out.
What are wild cards in Canasta?
Wild cards in Canasta are the jokers and the twos. A joker is worth 50 points and a two is worth 20. Each can stand in for any card inside a meld, but a meld must keep at least two natural cards and hold no more than three wild cards, and wilds can never form a meld on their own.
What do red threes do in Canasta?
Red threes are pure bonus cards. Each is worth 100 points, and holding all four is worth 800. Whenever you get a red three you place it face up immediately and draw a replacement from the stock. You never meld or discard them, but your side must have a canasta for them to count in your favor.
What is the minimum meld requirement in Canasta?
Before a partnership can lay down its first melds, those melds together must reach a minimum point value that depends on your current score. It is 15 when below zero, 50 from 0 to 1,495, 90 from 1,500 to 2,995, and 120 at 3,000 or more. After the initial meld, no minimum applies.