GAME is played in five rounds and OBJECT is to get the highest core and WIN.  For (4) four players, five decks are used.  Played in partners with two on each side.  For (6) six players, seven decks are used. Played with partners with three on each side.  For (3) three players, seven decks are used. Played individually.

THE DEAL:  Player to the LEFT of the Dealer cuts and that portion of the cards is set aside.  From the remaining cards, the dealer takes the top portion and deals out 15 cards for each player. These cards are called the HAND. The Player to the RIGHT of the dealer takes the remaining cards and deals out 11 cards for each player and this is called the FOOT. The left over cards from the FOOT are then placed in the card tray and then the leftover cards from the HAND. All cards are then distributed in a clockwise rotation from left to right.

BEFORE THE INITIAL PLAY:  All players pick up their hand and look for RED THREES. If they have any, place them face up in front immediately. Then in a clockwise rotation, the player to the left of the dealer starts by picking from the pack that number of cards to replace that number of red threes and so forth. The dealer is the last to pick for red threes.

THE PLAY BEGINS with the dealer turning over the first top card of the deck in the rack. The dealer goes first. The dealer, as any player, may pick two from the pack or from the discard pile.  Note: When picking from the discard pile, card cannot count towards meld. You must have two in your hand to pick up or it must be part of legal meld. Player must pick five cards or whatever is there if it is less than five.  Cannot discard, if picking from the discard pile.

Teams advance equally in each round and each team must make the initial meld, which is as follows:

            Round 1 – 50 points

            Round 2-90 points

            Round 3-120 Points

            Round 4- 150 points

            Round 5 – Complete Canasta (Book) in your hand. (Can be Red, Black Wild Cards or Natural 7’s)

Card Point Value:  

            Jokers-50 points

            Deuces-20 points

            Aces-20 points

4-7 – 5 points

            8-King-10 points

SCORING: 

Wild Card Canasta = 1500 points (1^st book only, additional books count 500  points)

Natural 7’s = 1000 points (1^st book only, additional books count 500 or 300 depending on if it is red or black canasta)

Red Canasta = 500 points

Black Canasta = 300 points

After the Canastas (Books) are counted for the BASE score, the players then count all the cards except the red threes for individual point count in piles of 100.  Do not throw the cards into the left over for shuffling till all cards are counted and score given to score keeper.

Red threes and black threes:  Red Threes are a BONUS card and valued at 100 points each. You get to replace a red three with another card.  You DO NOT get extra cards.  You replace them if they are in your hand as described above before the play begins.  Or you replace them in your foot when you get into it.  If you do not get into your foot and you have red threes, they count as minus 500 points.  If you pick a Red Three during the play, you immediately put it down on the table and then you pick to REPLACE it.  E.g.: It is your turn and you pick TWO cards, one is a red three, you put the red three down and pick ONE card.  If your team gets a total of (7) seven red threes, you will receive a BONUS of 1000 points. Any additional red threes are counted as 100 points each.

Red threes do not get recounted in the individual card count.  Red Threes freeze the discard pile when turned over. They stay there and another card gets turned over on top of it. If you pick up the discard pile at some point and get that red three, it does count as 100 bonus points but you do not REPLACE it as otherwise indicated.

Black Threes are (5) five points and are used only as a discard card.  They cannot be picked up from the discard pile.  They must always be played as throw away cards. You never count them as more than (5) five points.  You may meld them in groups of three or more upon going out only.

The Play:

1. You always pick first from either the pack (2) two cards or from the discard pile the top (5) five cards. You must have two in your hand, which you will lay down to pick up this pile.  Exception:  When opening with your meld, if it is a legal meld (correct amount or greater consisting of three or more in each row) you may pick up the discard pile. Example: You need to meld 50 points. You meld three tens and three Kings.  This equals 60 and so you have a legal meld.  The top card on the discard pile is a ten. You may pick up the pack because you have two or more tens and the top card was not added to your meld.  The top card can never count towards your meld.  What if you had three Kings and two tens?  Then you may not pick up the discard pile because two tens are not a legal meld.  When picking up fro the pack, you discard one after you complete your turn.  When picking up from the discard pile, you do not get to discard but you do tell the next player when you are finished with your play so they may then play.
2. Play as many cards down as you can. In order to go out, you will need ONE WILD CARD CANASTA plus ONE NATURAL CANASTA OF 7’S and a minimum of THREE RED CANASTAS and TWO BLACK CANASTAS.  Also in order to go out, all partners on a team must be in their foot and have played their foot.
3. You may make more than one Canasta of any card but not at the same time.
4. You may use extra cards of any kind as count towards any closed Canasta. (Tuckers)
5. You may use extra wild cards as count, if you have a wild card Canasta but that is rarely done.
   1. You cannot add wild cards to Black Canastas as count or tuckers.
6. If a wild card is turned up on the discard pile or discarded by another player, you may pick it up as with any card if you have two in your hand. But they must be two identical to what has been discarded. So if a person throws a joker, you must have two jokers in order to pick up.
7. You may play up to three wild cards on Black Canastas but Wild cards can never exceed the regular card at any time.
8. You cannot meld two wild cards with one regular card.
9. You must keep your FOOT ON THE TABLE SO IT IS VISIBLE TO THE OTHER PLAYERS AND YOU SHOULD NOT THROW YOUR CARDS INTO THE SHUFFLING DECK UNTIL ALL OF YOUR COUNT IS COMPLETED.
10. You must as your partner for permission before going out. The team that goes out first gets 100 extra BONUS points. You cannot have a discard when going out.

This game is not as complicated as the rules appear.  It is a GAME of strategy, so in a close game, every point counts. You must figure out the way to achieve the most points in the end. While you need several types of Canastas, no record of that is kept. Ultimately it is the point values that will WIN the game.