Canasta

Card game of the Rummy family

Canasta

Origin	Uruguay
Alternative names
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Named variants
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Canasta is a card game of the Rummy family of games believed to be a variant of 500 Rum. It is most commonly played by four in two partnerships with two standard decks of cards. The game was devised in Uruguay in 1939 and quickly spread in popularity to the United States in the 1950s.

Objective

The main objective of Canasta is to form melds of seven cards of the same rank and "go out" by playing all cards in one's hand. The game is typically played to a score of 5,000 points.

Setup

Canasta is played with two standard decks of 52 cards plus four jokers, making a total of 108 cards. Jokers and deuces (2s) are wild cards. Each player is dealt 11 cards in a four-player game, and the remaining cards form the stockpile.

Gameplay

The game proceeds in a clockwise direction. Players draw a card from the stockpile or the discard pile and then discard one card. The goal is to form melds, which are sets of three or more cards of the same rank. A meld of seven cards is called a "canasta."

Melds

Melds can be either natural or mixed. A natural meld contains no wild cards, while a mixed meld includes one or more wild cards. A canasta can also be natural or mixed, with natural canastas scoring higher points.

Going Out

A player "goes out" when they have played all the cards in their hand. This ends the round, and points are tallied based on the melds and canastas formed.

Scoring

Points are awarded for each meld and canasta, with additional points for going out. The first team to reach 5,000 points wins the game.

Variations

There are several variations of Canasta, including Hand and Foot, Samba, and Bolivia. Each variation has its own unique rules and scoring systems.

Strategy

Successful Canasta players employ a mix of strategy and tactics, including card counting, managing wild cards, and timing when to go out.

Related Pages

• Rummy
• Gin Rummy
• 500 Rum
• Hand and Foot
• Samba (card game)
• Bolivia (card game)