Welcome to the Hand & Foot
card game guide

1. Use five complete decks of cards (including two jokers per deck).
2. Deal out thirteen cards for the Hand, and thirteen for the Foot for each player.
   1. This game can be played with two players or with partners (i.e. four players). In partner play, either player may contribute to their team’s melds. All melds for a team are kept in front of one of the partners.
3. Each player picks up the Hand and leaves the Foot, face down, to one side (without looking at the cards in the Foot).
4. On each turn, a player must draw two cards: either two cards from the deck, or one card from the deck and the top card of the discard pile. The player may then play cards by adding to existing melds or starting new ones, if possible. To end the turn, the player must discard one card.
5. To begin laying melds on the table, you must meet a minimum point threshold based on your current total score. Refer to the Meld Counts table to determine how many points are needed to open.
   1. In partner play, only the first player to open needs to meet the minimum requirement.
6. Only after all the cards in the Hand have been played or discarded can a player pick up their Foot.
   1. If a player finishes their Hand by playing all remaining cards into melds on the table, they immediately pick up their Foot and continue playing. If a player finishes their Hand by discarding their last card, their turn ends; they pick up their Foot, but must wait until their next turn to play from it.

• Jokers and 2s are wild cards.
• Aces are the highest-ranking cards, above Kings.
• A meld must consist of at least three cards to lay it down.
• A meld (book or run) cannot contain more than seven cards; once it reaches seven cards, it becomes either a red canasta or a black canasta and must be closed and set aside.
• There are two types of melds:
  • Book: A group of cards of the same rank (e.g. all 4s, all Queens, all Aces…). A maximum of three wild cards (Jokers or 2s) may be used in books.
  • Run: A sequence of cards from Ace down to 4 in the same suit – wild cards are never allowed in runs.
• Canastas also come in two types based on purity:
  • A red canasta is either:
    • A book with no wild cards in it.
    • A book of 2s – only 2s, no joker.
    • A run – wild cards are never allowed.
  • A black canasta is always:
    • A book that contains at least one wild card but no more than three.
• Red 3s and black 3s count against you and cannot be used in any meld – book or run.
• If you’ve placed six cards toward completing a canasta, that meld is considered frozen and you can’t take matching discarded cards to complete it. We usually place the sixth card sideways on that pile for a clear visual reminder for all that it is frozen.
• To end the round, a player must go out. This requires having completed at least two red canastas and two black canastas.
• When someone goes out (ends the round):
  • Everyone adds up the canasta counts first.
  • The individual cards are then counted, including cards in canastas and the incomplete ones on the table are points for you.
  • All unplayed cards (not laid on the table) from your Hand and/or Foot count against you, you subtract the count of all these from your total.
  • When playing in teams, if you’re the one to go out and end the round, your partner’s unplayed cards still count against your team’s points.
• First player/team to reach 20,000 points wins the game.

Meld Counts

Points