Card Game Guide
Canasta
Canasta is a rummy-family card game about building melds of equal ranks. This online version uses two full decks plus four jokers, wild twos and jokers, canasta bonuses, and a race to 5,000 points.
How to Play Canasta
Each player receives eleven cards. On your turn, draw from the stock or take the discard pile when the top discard can immediately join two natural cards in your hand or one of your existing melds. After drawing, you may meld cards, then you must discard one card.
A meld needs at least three cards of the same natural rank. Twos and jokers are wild, but a meld must keep at least two natural cards and cannot use more than three wild cards. Red threes and black threes are handled as special blockers and cannot form normal melds here.
Canasta Scoring
A canasta is a meld of seven or more cards. Natural canastas score a 500-point bonus, mixed canastas score a 300-point bonus, and going out adds 100 points. Cards left in hand count against your round score.
Canasta Strategy
- Save wild cards for melds that already have enough natural cards.
- Watch the top discard: taking the pile can swing a round if it completes a long meld.
- Do not empty your hand until you have at least one canasta.
- Discard black threes defensively when you want to block the opponent from taking the pile.