What is a canasta (natural vs mixed)?
The word canasta is Spanish for basket, and it names both the game and its signature meld. Understanding the two kinds of canasta is the key to scoring well.
Natural (clean) canastas
A natural canasta is seven or more cards of one rank with no wild cards mixed in, for example seven kings. It earns a 500-point bonus on top of the card values, so it is the most valuable single achievement in a normal hand. A completed clean canasta is usually squared up with a red card on top so everyone can see it is natural.
Mixed (dirty) canastas
A mixed canasta also has seven or more cards, but at least one is a wild card (a joker or a two). It still needs the usual minimum of two natural cards and no more than three wilds. A mixed canasta earns a 300-point bonus. Players often mark it with a black card on top to signal that it contains wilds.
Why the distinction matters
The 200-point gap between a clean and a dirty canasta shapes strategy. Once a meld reaches seven cards it is closed as a canasta, so players decide carefully whether to spend a wild card and lock in 300, or hold out for the natural 500. Some variants, such as Bolivia and Uruguay, even reward all-wild canastas, but in the classic game clean beats mixed.
The surest way to make this stick is to play a few hands. Try Brazilian Canasta or Italian 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.
How is Canasta scored?
At the end of each hand you add the point values of the cards your side melded, plus bonuses: 500 for each natural canasta, 300 for each mixed one, 100 for going out, 200 for going out concealed, and 100 per red three. You then subtract the value of cards still in hand. Games run to 5,000 points.
What are the card point values in Canasta?
Each card carries a fixed value. Jokers are 50 points. Aces and twos are 20. Kings, queens, jacks, tens, nines and eights are 10 each. Sevens, sixes, fives, fours and black threes are 5 each. Red threes are bonus cards worth 100. These values count both in melds and against cards left in hand.