(Exception - a player who has taken the discard pile may be "frozen in time" - see below.) MeldsĪ meld is a set of 3 or more cards of the same denomination, regardless of suit, that a player lays down face up in front of him to score points. Once a player has discarded a card to the discard pile, his/her turn is over and the player may not make any further plays until his or her next turn begins.
![american canasta rules for two players american canasta rules for two players](http://s3.amazonaws.com/storage.prizmshare.com/C992F89E-A567-495C-8DC2-8362DD49D2B1/0vxbrn8y/w13lv07a.jpg)
If a player draws two cards from the piles, that player may not pick up the discard pile (Deck) in that turn. Alternatively, he may be able to meld before discarding, to pick up the discard pile instead of drawing from the draw piles, to make Canastas, or to play the remaining cards in his "looking" hand and continue playing through to the cards in his "down" hand, according to the rules set out below. When it is a player’s turn, he can simply draw 2 cards from the draw piles and discard one card to the discard pile. The turn to play passes clockwise around the table. The Score Keeper never deals or begins play. When the player to the right of the Score Keeper deals the "down" hand, the player to the left of the Score Keeper will begin play for that round. When the player to the left of the person who dealt the "down" hands is ready, he or she draws two cards from the 4 draw piles and discards 1 card face up on top of the discard pile in the middle (or he has the option, as in later turns, to pick up the discard pile and to put down meld if able to). When all players have received both "looking" and "down" hands, they place the "down" hand to their right face down out of play, without looking at it, and look at their "looking" hand, sorting it into sets and melds. If the turned up card is a wild card, Black 3, or Red 3, a second card is turned face up and placed on top of it. Typically, the discard pile is placed with 2 draw piles on each side of it. After the hands have been distributed, the dealer of the "looking" hand turns over a card from one of the 4 face down draw piles and places it face up on the table to start the discard pile. Both dealers tell each player whether this is their "looking" hand or their "down" hand.
![american canasta rules for two players american canasta rules for two players](http://www.canastaleagueofamerica.com/uploads/2/2/7/8/22787394/s623832146944095072_p36_i3_w1537.jpeg)
Then the stacks of cards are passed, one at a time, clockwise to each player. The dealers deal the cards in front of them one at a time to form a stack for each player. If a dealer draws too many cards, the remaining cards are returned to the 4 piles if too few, extra cards are taken from the piles to complete the deal. A dealer who is successful in this receives a 100 point bonus. The dealers attempt to draw from the 4 piles of cards the precise number of cards needed to deal the hands - for example 66 if there are six players. The deal for both "looking" and "down" hands is 11 cards each. In other words, the dealer who dealt the "down" hands in a certain round will deal the "looking" hands in the next round, while there will be a new dealer for the new "down" hands. The turn to deal passes clockwise around the table, but skips the Score Keeper who plays, but never deals. One person deals all the "looking" hands and the person to the left of him deals all the "down" hands. All the cards are mixed together and divided into 4 face down piles to draw from for the deal. You will need one deck of cards per player and an additional deck as well.
American canasta rules for two players plus#
Several standard 54 card decks (52 cards plus 2 jokers) are used. The game is best played with 5 to 7 players.
![american canasta rules for two players american canasta rules for two players](http://www.searchamateur.com/pictures/canasta-card-game-from-special-k-1.gif)
![american canasta rules for two players american canasta rules for two players](http://www.searchamateur.com/pictures/novel-canasta.jpg)
The game is played in several rounds until a player reaches or exceeds 10,000 points. Many of the scoring conventions of classic Canasta apply to this version. There are no partnerships in New Canasta, the "Hand" is called your "looking" and the "Foot" is called your "down". In some parts of Oklahoma the game is simply called Canasta, though traditionally Canasta (whether classic or modern) is a partnership game in which each player has just one hand. This is a version of Hand and Foot Canasta played in parts of the USA: Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, and Arkansas. Nomber_key:000836This page is based on a contribution from Justin Eagle.