A complete guide to the rules - from basics to scoring.
1 What you need
Canasta is played with two standard decks including jokers (108 cards total). The game is for 2-4 players, and with 4 players you usually play in teams of two.
2 Card values
All cards have point values that are tallied at the end of each round:
| Card | Points | Type |
|---|
| Joker | 50 | Wild card |
| 2s (deuces) | 20 | Wild card |
| Ace | 20 | Natural card |
| K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8 | 10 | Natural card |
| 7, 6, 5, 4 | 5 | Natural card |
| Black 3 | 5 | Block card |
| Red 3 | 100 | Bonus card |
3 Starting the game
Each player receives 11 cards (with 2 players: 15 cards). The remaining cards form the draw pile. The top card is turned face up to start the discard pile.
- Red 3s in your hand are placed on the table immediately - draw a replacement card for each.
- If the turned-up card is a red 3 or wild card, place another card on top until a natural card is shown.
4 How a turn works
On your turn you do three things:
- Draw: Take the top card from the draw pile, OR take the entire discard pile (requires that you can immediately use the top card in a meld).
- Meld (optional): Lay down groups of at least 3 cards of the same rank. You can also add cards to existing melds.
- Discard: Place one card on the discard pile.
5 Melds & Canasta
A meld requires at least 3 cards of the same rank, of which at least 2 must be natural cards. Maximum 3 wild cards per meld.
- Canasta = a meld with 7 or more cards.
- Natural canasta (no wild cards) = 500 bonus points.
- Mixed canasta (with wild cards) = 300 bonus points.
6 Going out & scoring
The round ends when a player plays all cards from their hand (after having laid down at least one canasta). Points are calculated:
- Melded cards = their point value
- Natural canasta = +500
- Mixed canasta = +300
- Going out = +100
- Red 3s = +100 each (or +800 for all four)
- Cards left in hand = minus their point value
The game continues until a team/player reaches 5,000 points.
