CANASTA English rules
Components
Playing cards: 108 (58mm x 89mm)
Summary cards: 4 (58mm x 89mm)
Rulebooks: 2
Playing Card Overview
There are thirteen numbers from 2 to A (just like French-suited playing cards) and two types of symbols: red raspberry and black blueberry.
There are four cards of the same number and symbol each. For example, there are eight Js: four red raspberry cards and four black blueberry cards.
The numbers in the four corners of each card indicate the number of points you get when you play that card.
In addition, there are four joker cards that have neither numbers nor symbols.
2s and jokers are called wild cards and are marked with WILD.
Setup
➀ The four players sit at a table in a circle. The player sitting across from you (not next to you) becomes your partner. You and your partner play as a team. The players also decide who will be the first dealer (the person who deals the cards) in an appropriate way.
➁ The dealer shuffles all the cards well and deals everyone eleven cards face down. The remaining cards are placed face down in the center of the table to form the stock pile.
➂ The dealt cards are taken in the player's hand. The face side of the cards should not be visible to other players.
➃ If a player has a red 3 in their hand, they must reveal it face up in front of them. they then draw the same number of cards from the stock pile and add them to their hand. If the player draws a red 3, they reveal it and draws again in the same way.
➄ The dealer reveals one card from the top of the stock pile and places it face up next to the stock pile (the face up cards form the discard pile). However, if the card drawn is one of the following, additional action is required.
Wild Card (2 or joker) or Red 3.
A new card is revealed from the top of the stock pile and placed face up on the top of the discard pile. However, the first card of the revealed wild or red 3 is turned 90 degrees to the other cards in the discard pile.
Black 3
A new card is revealed from the top of the stock pile and placed face up on the top of the discard pile.
If the newly revealed card is either a wild or a 3, repeat the above process.
When a card that is neither a wild nor a 3 is placed on the top of the discard pile, the game begins!
Game Overview
Canasta is a game in which you and your partner work together as a team to try to get to 5,000 points before the other team does. Three important concepts are introduced here.
Playing Area
In Canasta, each player plays a card in front of them, and scores points by reducing the number of cards in their hand. The area where you and your partner play cards is called your team's playing area.
As a general rule, the cards you play are placed in front of you, but the score of the cards played is shared with your partner.
Meld
A valid meld consists of three or more cards of the same number.
example) Both groups of three 4s and groups of six Js are one meld each.
As a general rule, cards are to be put into the playing area as a meld.
Canasta
A meld consisting of seven or more cards of the same number is specially called a canasta. Creating a canasta is one of the main goals of the game. Since canastas are a type of melds, all the rules of melds apply to canastas as well.
Game Flow
The game is played in units called deals. A deal lasts until someone runs out of cards in hand or the stock pile runs out. During the deal, each player takes a turn, starting with the player to the left of the dealer, in clockwise order. On your turn, perform the following steps in this order
Step ➀: Draw a card (required)
Step ➁: Play cards (optional)
Step ➂: Discard a card (mandatory)
Step ➀: Draw a card
The player must do only one of the following two options at a time.
[Option A] Draw a card from the top of the stock pile.
Draw a card from the top of the stock pile and add it to your hand without showing the face side to the other players. However, if the card drawn is a red 3, take it to your hand and draw another card from the top of the stock pile. This is repeated until a card is drawn that is not a red 3.
[Option B] Take all the cards in the discard pile
Note: This option contains several concepts that are difficult to understand if you do not understand Step ➁: Play cards. If you are reading this rulebook for the first time, it is strongly recommended that you skip over the explanation of this option and come back to it after you understand Step ➁.
All cards in the discard pile are added to your hand. In order to do so, the following precondition must be satisfied before you perform the special action.
[Precondition] The top card of the discard pile is neither a wild nor a black 3.
You must perform only one of the following special actions.
[Special Action 1] Play a meld with the top discarded card and two cards in your hand (no more than one of which may be a wild).
[Special Action 2] Lay off the top discarded card to an existing meld of your team.
After completing the special action, take all cards from the discard pile and add them to your hand.
Special Case: Frozen Discard File
The discard pile is considered frozen if one or both of the following conditions are met.
[Condition 1] Your team has not yet made its first meld.
[Condition 2] The discard pile contains one or more wilds or red 3s (they should be identifiable because they are placed at 90 degrees to the other cards).
When taking cards from the frozen discard pile, the precondition remains the same, but the special actions become more difficult than normal.
[Precondition] same
[Special Action 1] Play a meld with the top discarded card and two cards in your hand (wild cards are not allowed to use).
[Special Action 2] not available
If the team has not yet made its first meld (Condition 1), the team can make additional melds to meet the minimum count.
[Additional Action for Condition 1] In addition to the first meld created by the special action 1, additional melds can be created or laid off from the hand.
- Any additional cards may contain wilds.
- Only the top card of the discard pile may be used for the additional melds. The remaining cards in the discard pile is moved to the active player's hand when the minimum count is met.
Step ➁: Play cards
You may perform the following two types of actions in any order and as many times as you wish. If you cannot or do not want to play a card, you do not have to play any card.
[Action 1] Make a meld.
Take three or more cards of the same number from your hand and put them face up in front of you as a meld.
[Action 2] Layoff.
Add any number of cards of the same number to a meld in your team's playing area. In all cases, the following rules and restrictions apply
- The cards in a meld must be placed slightly apart so that all the cards are visible.
- A canasta (a meld of seven or more cards) is placed with all of its cards stacked on top of each other. If the canasta contains wild cards, only the wild cards are tilted 90 degrees to show the number of cards.
- Wild cards can be used as any numbered card to make a meld with other numbered cards.
example) "black 4, black 4, red 2" is a meld. - Cards that are not wild cards are called natural cards. Each meld must contain at least two natural cards.
example) "black 4, red 2, red 2" cannot be played because they do not qualify as a meld. - Up to 3 wild cards can be used in a meld.
example) You cannot lay off a joker card in a meld of "black 4, black 4, red 2, red 2, red 2". - A 2 or a joker must be used as a wild, and cannot be used to create a meld of 2s or jokers.
example) "black 2, red 2, joker” cannot be used to make a meld of 2. - Since red 3s never stay in the hand, a meld of 3 can only be made with black 3 cards. This meld of Black 3 can only be made when you play the last cards from your hand. The Black 3 meld cannot have any wilds.
- Only one meld of the same number can exist on your team's playing area However, under special circumstances, this rule may be temporarily broken (see Special Case: Two melds with the same number).
example) Your partner has a 4 canasta. Neither you nor your partner can make another 4 meld (since a canasta is considered as a meld). - Once cards are played in a meld, they cannot be returned to the hand, discarded, or moved to another meld.
Special Case: First Meld and Minimum Count
When the first meld of either team is played in each deal, the number of points of the meld must be equal to or greater than a predetermined number. This number is called the minimum count. When two or more melds are played together, the total sum of the points is checked to see if the minimum count is met. The minimum count is determined by the team's score.
The points of each meld is the sum of the points shown on each of the included cards.
example) "black K, black K, black K, red 2" is a meld of 50 points (10+10+10+20).
Red 3 points and the canasta bonus (see Scoring) cannot be included to check the minimum count.
If the minimum count cannot be met, no meld can be played.
Once one of the players of a team has successfully played the first meld, both players of that team can play cards from now on without checking the minimum count.
Special Case: Two Melds with the Same Number
Only one meld of the same number can exist on your team's playing area (see Step ➁: Play cards). However, if all of the following conditions are met in Step ➀ of your turn, you may temporarily have two melds of the same number on your team's playing area.
- At the beginning of Step ➀, you have meld of the top number of the discard pile on your team's playing area.
- The discard pile is frozen since it contains a wild or a red 3 (you cannot lay off the top card of the discard pile to your team's playing area for Step ➀: Special Action 2)
- You have two or more cards that have the same number as the top card of the discard pile in your hand.
The two melds of the same number on your playing area are merged into one immediately after the special action is completed.
If a team merges two melds with the special action, the merged meld may be kept in either player's playing area. The team lose the right to achieve Going Out Concealed (See End of the Deal) in the deal.
example) Your partner has a meld of 8. Normally, neither you nor your partner can make another 8 meld. At the beginning of Step ➀ of your turn, the discard pile is frozen and the top card is a red 8. You have two 8s in your hand. In this case, you can make a meld of 8 with the top discarded red 8 and the two 8s in your hand in order to take all the discarded cards. The new 8 meld is immediately merged with the partner's one.
Step ➂: Discard a card
Choose a card from your hand and put it face down on top of the discard pile.
Your turn is now over, and it is the turn of the player to your left (the player on the other team).
Discarded cards should be kept in a single pile, so that only the top card is visible. As a general rule, you cannot see any cards other than the top card of the discard pile.
However, if you discard a wild card, turn it 90 degrees to the other cards. This shows that the discard pile is frozen for all players. The frozen discard pile rules apply from then on. The discarded cards are stacked in the original orientation even if they are wild.
Red 3s are not discarded in this step, as they must be played immediately after being drawn from the stock pile.
End of the Deal
The deal comes to an end when one player runs out of cards in their hand or when the stock pile runs out of cards.
Going Out
A player goes out when they reduce their hand to zero by either Step ➁: Play a card or Step ➂: Discard a card. The deal ends immediately.
However, in order to go out, a player must have at least one canasta on their team's playing area. If there is no canasta, the player cannot take any action for going out.
When a player wants to go out, they may ask the partner if it is OK to do so on their turn.
The partner may answer yes or no, but the active player decides whether to actually go out or not.
[Note] Black 3 melds can only be played on the step that you go out. They cannot have wilds.
Special Case: Going Out Concealed
There is a special case called going out concealed where all of the following conditions are met.
- You did not have any meld in your hand by the beginning of your turn (red 3s are allowed).
- You have not laid off a card to your partner's mends by the start of your turn.
- In a turn, you played your first melds, and then went out without laying off a card to your partner's melds.
Going out concealed are scored higher than regular going out.
Stock File Run Out
If the last card is drawn from the stock pile in Step ➀: Draw a card, and no one goes out in that turn, the following processes are performed.
- The deal continues in the normal turn order.
- From this point on, the active player can only choose Option B: Take all the cards in the discard pile in Step ➀: Draw a card. Unlike the normal rules, Step ➀ is not mandatory unless the player can lay off (Step ➀: Special Action 2). The deal ends immediately if the player chose not to take the cards from the discard pile (even if they can). If the player can lay off by taking card from the discard pile, the player should do so.
- If the active player chose to do Option B: Take all the cards in the discard pile, the player performs Step ➁: Play cards and Step ➂: Discard a card as usual. If the player cannot go out, the deal continues.
[Rare Case] If the last card drawn from the deck is a red 3, the active player puts it in their playing area and the deal ends immediately, without doing Step ➁: Play cards and Step ➂: Discard a card.
Scoring
Each time a deal is completed, both team's scores are recorded. Each team gains or loses points from the following factors.
[Note] Points are awarded to teams, not individuals.
➀ Cards in the Playing Area
Each team receives points indicated on each card. The point for each card is as follows.
➁ Red 3 Bonus
If your team has all four red 3s on the playing area, you get additional 400 points (100 x 4 + 400 = 800 points in total).
➂ Canasta Bonus
Mixed canastas are melds that contain one or more wilds, while natural canastas are melds that do not contain any wilds. A team scores 300 points for each mixed canasta and 500 points for each natural canasta.
➃ Going Out Bonus
The team with the player who went out gets 100 points. If it is a going out concealed, the team scores an additional 100 points (200 points in total).
➄ Hand Card Penalty
Each team loses the points indicated on the remaining cards in the hand.
The sum of ➀ to ➄ (which may be less than zero) will be added to the teams' previous scores. If neither team's score reaches 5000 points, the game will proceed to the next deal.
- The dealer moves to the left player.
- After doing ➁ to ➄ in "Setup", the turn begins with the player to the left of the new dealer.
The game ends when either team's score reaches 5000 points. The team with the higher total wins. In case of a tie, both teams share the victory.
Supplement Rules
In Canasta, it is forbidden to look at cards other than the face-up cards on the table or to exchange information with other players. However, the following is allowed.
- On your first turn, you can look at the whole cards in the discard pile when you discard a card.
- You can examine the number of wilds in a mixed canasta when laying off wilds to it.
- You can let your partner know the current minimum count when they are about to make their first meld.
- If a player has red 3s in hand, you can remind them to play red 3s.
- The sixth card in a meld can be turned around to indicate that it one more card will make it a canasta.
- You can tell other players that you have one card left in your hand.
- You can ask your partner if you can go out. Your partner can reply with a yes or no.
- You can ask for the minimum count of your team or your opponent's team.
- You can ask for the number of cards in other players' hand.
Two-player Variant
Canasta can also be played by two players. While the general flow of the game is mostly the same as for 4-player play, the following changes apply.
- While 4-player games were 2-on-2 team games, 2-player games are 1-on-1 individual games. There are no partners.
- The number of cards dealt to each player per deal is 15 (instead of 11).
The following two rules are recommended in 2-player games. You may adopt only one of them if you prefer.
- The number of cards to be drawn from the stock file in Step ➀: Draw a card becomes two (instead of one).
- The number of canastas required to go out is two or more (instead of one or more).
コメント
コメントを投稿