GGTables game

Canasta

Meld seven cards of a rank. Two decks, four jokers and a discard pile taken whole.

Goal and deal

Two players compete individually or four play in opposite partnerships. The game uses two full decks and four jokers. Each receives 15 cards with two players or 11 with four. Build equal-rank melds and canastas, which contain at least seven cards. Consecutive runs are not melds here.

Turn and melding

Draw one card from the stock or legally take the entire discard pile. Then make new melds or add to your side's existing melds before discarding. A meld needs at least three cards, including at least two natural cards of one rank. Twos and jokers are wild, with at most three wild cards per meld. Threes cannot form ordinary melds.

Opening your side

Your initial set of melds must meet a threshold based on your side's previous score: 15 below zero, 50 below 1500, 90 below 3000, then 120. A joker is worth 50, ace and two 20, eight through king 10, and other cards 5. Canasta bonuses do not replace the card values needed for opening.

Taking the pile

The top discard must immediately form a valid meld with hand cards or, when unfrozen, join an existing meld. Take the remaining pile into your hand. Discarding a two or joker freezes the pile until taken. A frozen pile requires at least two natural hand cards matching the top card's rank. A black three on top blocks pickup because it cannot be melded. Red threes are automatically set aside and replaced from the stock.

Going out and scoring

To empty your hand, your side must have the required one or two canastas. An empty hand ends the deal; stock exhaustion after a discard also ends it. Score melded card values minus cards left in hands. A natural canasta adds 500, a mixed one 300, and going out 100 — or 200 when you meld your whole hand at once, without earlier melds. Each red three adds 100 if your side has melded at least once, or subtracts 100 if it has not melded at all. Once the selected match target is reached, the highest total wins.

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