When is the discard pile frozen in Canasta?
The freeze is Canasta's push-and-pull mechanic. Whoever controls whether the pile is open or frozen controls who gets to feast on those cards.
What freezes the pile
Two things freeze the discard pile for everyone. First, if any wild card (a joker or a two) is discarded into it, the pile is frozen; players often turn the wild sideways to mark the freeze. Second, a red three turned up as the initial upcard freezes it. The pile stays frozen until someone legally takes it.
The extra freeze for a new side
There is also a softer freeze that applies only to a partnership that has not yet melded. Even an open pile cannot be taken by a side that is still making its first meld unless it can meet its minimum-meld requirement using the top card plus cards from hand. In practice a side with no melds down must clear a higher bar to grab the pile.
Taking a frozen pile
To take a frozen pile you must hold two natural cards in your hand that match the rank of the top discard, then meld all three and take the rest. A meld already sitting on the table does not help you against a freeze. This is why a well-placed wild-card discard is a powerful way to lock a growing pile away from your opponents.
The surest way to make this stick is to play a few hands. Try Two-Handed Canasta or Bolivia 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 take the discard pile in Canasta?
You take the discard pile by immediately using its top card in a meld. Either add it to a meld your side already has, or combine it with two matching cards from your hand to start a new meld. When you take the pile you get every card in it, but a frozen pile requires two natural cards from your hand.
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 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.
What are the most common Canasta mistakes?
The most common Canasta mistakes are melding everything too early and giving away information, spending wild cards on small melds, carelessly feeding the discard pile cards opponents want, forgetting that you need a canasta before you can go out, and hoarding a heavy hand that gets caught when someone else goes out.