1: Four play as two teams, partners facing. Shuffle two decks and four jokers: 108 cards.This is Classic Canasta, the form that spread around the world.
2: Deal 11 cards each. Stack the rest face down as the stock and turn one card up beside it.The turned card starts the discard pile. Cover a wild card or a red 3 with another card.
3: Red 3s never stay in a hand. Lay each one face up and draw a card to replace it.A red 3 is a bonus card, scored when the hand ends.
4: The player on the dealer's left starts. Take the top stock card to begin a turn.Or take the whole discard pile, when the pile sheet allows it.
5: Meld if you can: lay three or more cards of one rank face up, any rank from 4 to ace.Add cards to your own team's melds on any turn, never to the other team's.
6: Twos and jokers are wild. A meld needs two natural cards and holds three wild cards at most.Queen, queen, 2 is a meld. Queen, 2, joker is not.
7: Seven cards of one rank make a canasta.Square it up with a red card on top if no wild card is inside, a black card if one is.
8: To end your turn, discard one card face up onto the pile.A black 3 is a stop card: the next player cannot take the pile.
9: With a canasta on the table, go out: meld every card, or all but a last discard.The hand ends at once and both teams count their points.
1: Four play as two teams, partners facing. Shuffle two decks and four jokers: 108 cards.This is Classic Canasta, the form that spread around the world.
2: Deal 11 cards each. Stack the rest face down as the stock and turn one card up beside it.The turned card starts the discard pile. Cover a wild card or a red 3 with another card.
3: Red 3s never stay in a hand. Lay each one face up and draw a card to replace it.A red 3 is a bonus card, scored when the hand ends.
4: The player on the dealer's left starts. Take the top stock card to begin a turn.Or take the whole discard pile, when the pile sheet allows it.
5: Meld if you can: lay three or more cards of one rank face up, any rank from 4 to ace.Add cards to your own team's melds on any turn, never to the other team's.
6: Twos and jokers are wild. A meld needs two natural cards and holds three wild cards at most.Queen, queen, 2 is a meld. Queen, 2, joker is not.
7: Seven cards of one rank make a canasta.Square it up with a red card on top if no wild card is inside, a black card if one is.
8: To end your turn, discard one card face up onto the pile.A black 3 is a stop card: the next player cannot take the pile.
9: With a canasta on the table, go out: meld every card, or all but a last discard.The hand ends at once and both teams count their points.
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Taking the discard pile, frozen or not 9
1: To take the discard pile you must meld its top card on the spot.Lay the meld first, then pick up the rest of the pile and go on with your turn.
2: Not frozen: meld the top card with two cards of its rank from your hand.One card of the rank and one wild card will also do.
3: Not frozen: or add the top card to a meld of that rank your team already has.Either way, every card in the pile then joins your hand.
4: The pile is frozen against a team until that team has made its first meld.It can be frozen for one team and open to the other.
5: A wild card discarded freezes the pile for everyone. Lay it sideways so it shows.The pile stays frozen until someone takes it.
6: Frozen: take the pile only with two natural cards of the top card's rank from your hand.A wild card cannot stand in, and a meld on the table is not enough.
7: A wild card or a black 3 on top: the next player cannot take the pile.A black 3 does not freeze the pile. Once it is covered, it has no effect.
8: Only the top card counts. A card buried in the pile cannot help make the meld.One 5 in your hand, a 5 on top and a 5 further down: not enough.
9: Stock used up: play goes on while each player can take the last discard and meld it.The hand ends when a player has to draw and no card is left.
First meld: the table by score 9
1: Card values: joker 50, ace and 2 are 20, king down to 8 are 10, 7 down to 4 are 5.A black 3 counts 5.
2: A team's first meld of a hand must add up to a minimum, counted in card values.Several melds laid in the same turn are added together.
3: Team score below zero: the first meld needs 15 points.Any three cards are worth 15 or more, so any meld will do.
4: Team score 0 to 1,495: the first meld needs 50 points.Every team starts the game here.
5: Team score 1,500 to 2,995: the first meld needs 90 points.Three aces and a joker are 110 (ours).
6: Team score 3,000 or more: the first meld needs 120 points.Bonuses for canastas and red 3s never count toward the minimum.
7: Taking the pile for a first meld: its top card counts, with two natural cards from hand.Cards deeper in the pile do not count toward the minimum.
8: After one partner makes the first meld, both partners meld freely for the rest of the hand.The other team still has to meet its own minimum.
9: Worked example (ours): three kings and queen, queen, 2 add up to 70.30 for the kings, 20 for the queens, 20 for the 2. Enough at 50, short at 90.
Scoring a hand 9
1: Going out scores 100.Going out concealed, the whole hand melded in one turn with a canasta in it, scores 200.
2: Each natural canasta scores 500. Each mixed canasta scores 300.Natural means no wild card inside. Mixed holds one, two or three.
3: Each red 3 scores 100, and all four score 800.A team that made no meld loses those points instead.
4: Add the card values of every card your team melded, canastas included.Seven kings are 70 in cards and 500 for the canasta: 570.
5: Subtract the card values of every card still in your team's hands.That includes the partner of the player who went out.
6: Keep a running total for each team. A total can fall below zero.The total also sets the minimum for the next hand's first meld.
7: The game ends when a team's total reaches 5,000 at the end of a hand.If both teams get there together, the higher total wins.
8: You may ask your partner "May I go out?" The answer is binding.Nobody has to ask.
9: Black 3s are melded only by a player going out: three or four of them, no wild cards.At any other time a black 3 can only be discarded.
Two, three and six players 9
1: Two players: deal 15 cards each.Each player keeps a score of their own, and the game runs to 5,000.
2: Two players: take two stock cards each turn and discard one.With one card left in the stock, drawing it counts as a full draw.
3: Two players: going out takes two canastas.Everything else is as on the standard sheet.
4: Three players: deal 13 cards each. Draw two cards a turn and discard one.Some tables deal 11, as in the game for four.
5: Three players: the first to take the pile plays alone against the other two that hand.Each player keeps a score of their own, and the game runs to 7,500.
6: Six players: shuffle three decks and six jokers. Deal 13 cards each.That is 162 cards.
7: Six players: play as three teams of two, or as two teams of three.Partners in a team of two sit opposite. Teams of three sit in alternate seats.
8: Six players: going out takes a team two canastas.Red 3s: four score 400, five score 1,000 and all six score 1,200.
9: Six players: three teams play to 7,500. Two teams play to 10,000.With two teams, a team at 7,000 or more needs 150 points for its first meld.
How this list was compiled: Written for this site on 2026-10-09, in our own words. The sheets give Classic Canasta, the form of the game that was standardized around 1950 and spread around the world. Every row was checked on 2026-10-09 against the card game rules site Pagat: https://www.pagat.com/rummy/canasta.html, and against English Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, Canasta: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canasta. Both give the same game: four players in two partnerships, two 52-card decks with four jokers, 11 cards each, twos and jokers wild, melds of three or more cards of one rank with at least two natural cards and at most three wild cards, a canasta of seven cards, red threes laid out and replaced, black threes as stop cards, the pile frozen by a wild card and frozen against a team that has not melded, the first-meld minimums of 15, 50, 90 and 120 by score, the card values, the bonuses of 100, 200, 300, 500 and 800, and a game to 5,000. The game for two (15 cards, two drawn, two canastas to go out) is in both; the three-player game with a lone player and a target of 7,500, and every row of the six-player game, are as Pagat gives them. Wikipedia marks its rules section as lacking citations, so no row rests on it alone. A newer American form with other rules is played at many clubs; it is not on these sheets. The rows marked ours are this site's own sums, worked out from the card values above. Nothing is played for a stake: points only keep score. Licence: own work
How it works
Canasta is a rummy game for four players in two partnerships, played with two decks and four jokers. A canasta is seven cards of one rank, and a team needs one on the table before either partner can go out.
Read the full guide
Instructions on how to play the card game Canasta: one turn
Every turn is draw, meld if you can, discard. Say you hold two kings and the player before you discards a king. Once your team has melded, you can lay your two kings with it and pick up the whole pile.
The first meld of a hand
A team's first meld has to reach a minimum that rises with its score: 50 points at the start, 90 from 1,500 and 120 from 3,000. First meld: the table by score has the card values to add up. Until then the discard pile stays frozen for that team.
Questions and answers
How do you play the card game Canasta?
Four players in two teams use two decks and four jokers. Deal 11 cards each. On your turn draw, meld three or more cards of one rank, then discard. Seven of a rank make a canasta, and a team with one may go out.
What are the rules for a 6 player Canasta card game?
Shuffle three decks with six jokers and deal 13 cards each. Play as three teams of two or two teams of three. Going out takes a team two canastas. Three teams play to 7,500 and two teams to 10,000.
How many cards do you deal in Canasta?
Eleven each when four play. Two players get 15 cards each and three players get 13. Six players get 13 each, with a third deck shuffled in.
What does a frozen pile mean in Canasta?
A frozen pile can be taken only with two natural cards from your hand that match its top card. A wild card in the pile freezes it for everyone, and it is frozen against a team that has not melded yet.