Deal and melds
- Partners sit opposite. Deal 11 cards each. Place the remainder as stock and turn one card to start the discard pile.
- A meld is at least three cards of one rank. Twos and jokers are wild; a meld must always contain at least two natural cards and cannot have more wild than natural cards.
- A seven-card meld is a canasta. A natural canasta has no wild cards; a mixed canasta contains wild cards.
- Initial meld minimum is based on the partnership’s score: negative=15, 0–1495=50, 1500–2995=90, 3000+=120.
Turn and discard pile
- Draw one card from stock or legally take the discard pile, meld if desired, then discard one.
- To take an unfrozen pile, match its top card with a natural pair from hand or add it to an existing meld. A frozen pile requires the natural pair.
- Red threes are exposed immediately and replaced from stock. Black threes block the next player from taking the pile.
Going out and scoring
- A side may go out only after completing a canasta. A player may ask their partner for permission; the answer is binding.
- Add card values in melds and bonuses, then subtract cards left in both partners’ hands.
- Natural canasta +500; mixed canasta +300; going out +100; concealed going out adds another +100.
- Each red three is +100 when the side has a canasta, or −100 without one. All four red threes score +800 or −800.
- Card values: jokers 50; aces and twos 20; K–8 are 10; 7–4 and black threes are 5. First side to 5,000 after a hand wins.
Common house rules
- Draw two instead of one
- Different initial meld thresholds
- Three wild cards maximum per meld
- Special hands
- Require two canastas to go out