How to play classic canasta

By Ali. Updated September 22, 2026. Every rule here was checked against the published rules listed at the end.

What you're trying to do

You and your partner play as a team, and together you build canastas: melds of seven or more cards of the same rank. Your side needs at least one canasta before either of you can go out by getting rid of every card in your hand, which ends the hand. Then both sides add up their points, and hands continue until a side reaches 5,000.

Playing with two or three? Learn the rules below first, then read the changes for two players or three players at the end.

The cards

You need two standard decks and four jokers, 108 cards in all, shuffled together. With four players, partners sit across from each other.

Natural cards are all the ranks from 4 up to ace, and melds are made of them. Wild cards can stand in for natural cards in a meld, within limits. Red and black threes never go into ordinary melds, and they have their own section.

What each card is worth

Card	Points
Joker	50
Ace or 2	20
King, queen, jack, 10, 9 or 8	10
7, 6, 5, 4 or a black 3	5
Red 3, as a bonus	100

You'll use the card values twice: to reach the minimum for your side's first meld, and to score the cards when the hand ends. Red threes are a bonus, so they never count toward the minimum.

Setting up and dealing

1. Choose a dealer. After each hand, the deal passes to the left.
2. The dealer shuffles, the pack is cut, and the dealer deals 11 cards to each player.
3. The rest of the cards go face down in the middle as the stock. Turn its top card face up beside it to start the discard pile.
4. If that card is a wild card or a red three, turn it sideways and turn up another card on top of it, until a natural card or a black three shows. The sideways card freezes the pile.
5. Anyone dealt a red three lays it face up in front of them and draws a replacement from the stock.
6. The player to the dealer's left goes first, and play moves clockwise.

Taking a turn

Every turn has the same three steps.

1. Draw. Take the top card of the stock, or take the whole discard pile if you're allowed to (see the discard pile). If you draw a red three, lay it face up and draw again.
2. Meld. If you can and want to, lay down new melds or add cards to your side's melds.
3. Discard. Place one card face up on the discard pile, and your turn is over.

Melds and canastas

A meld is three or more cards of the same rank, from 4 up to ace, laid face up in front of your side. Runs don't count. Your side's melds belong to both partners, and you never add to the other side's melds.

• Every meld needs at least two natural cards, and it can never hold more than three wild cards.
• You can't meld wild cards on their own.
• Your side keeps one meld for each rank, and more cards of that rank go onto it.
• It's fine to meld a rank the other side has already melded.

A meld of seven or more cards is a canasta, as long as at least four of its cards are natural. It can keep growing after that.

When you finish a canasta, square it up with a red card on top if it's natural, or a black card if it's mixed. Adding a wild card to a natural canasta makes it mixed.

Your side's first meld

The first time your side lays down cards in a hand, those cards have to add up to a minimum, using the card values above. Once either partner has done it, you both meld freely for the rest of the hand. The minimum depends on your side's score going into the hand.

Your side's score	Minimum
Below zero	15
0 to 1,495	50
1,500 to 2,995	90
3,000 or more	120

Any meld is worth at least 15, so a side below zero can open with anything.

• You can lay down several melds at once to reach the minimum.
• Red threes and canasta bonuses don't count toward it, only the cards' own values.
• If you open by taking the discard pile, its top card counts toward the minimum, but none of the other cards in the pile do.

Counting a first meld, step by step

Say your side has 3,200 points, so you need at least 120. You're holding three kings, two aces, a joker and three 5s.

Add them up: 30, 90 and 15 make 135. That's more than 120, so you can lay all three melds down together. Without the kings you'd have only 105, which isn't enough yet.

The discard pile

Taking the discard pile can hand you a lot of cards at once, so it's one of the most important moves in the game. Instead of drawing, you can take the whole pile if you can meld its top card right away.

• First meld the top card, using cards from your hand. Then take the rest of the pile into your hand.
• After that you can meld more cards, then discard as usual.
• You can never take the pile while a wild card or a black three is on top.

When the pile is open

If the pile isn't frozen against your side, you can take it in any of three ways:

• with two natural cards from your hand that match the top card,
• with one matching natural card and one wild card, or
• by adding the top card to one of your side's melds.

When the pile is frozen

A frozen pile can only be taken with a natural pair from your hand that matches the top card. The pile is frozen:

• for everyone, while it holds a wild card, which goes in sideways so it stays in sight under later discards,
• for everyone, if a red three was turned up to start the pile, and
• for your side alone, until your side has made its first meld.

A wild card or a red three keeps the pile frozen until someone takes it. The freeze on your side alone lifts as soon as your side makes its first meld.

Table rules vary. Some tables make the pile harder to take. They don't let you take it just to add its top card to a finished canasta, or they ask for a natural pair every time, as if the pile were always frozen.

Red and black threes

Red threes are bonus cards

• Whenever you get a red three, lay it face up with your side's melds and draw a card to replace it.
• If a red three turns up in a discard pile you take, lay it down too, but don't replace it.
• Each red three scores 100, and all four on one side score 800. If your side hasn't melded anything by the end of the hand, they count against you instead.

Black threes are stop cards

• Discard a black three and the next player can't take the discard pile. Once another card covers it, the pile works as usual again.
• You can't meld black threes, except when you go out: then you may meld three or four of them, with no wild cards.
• A black three left in your hand counts 5 against you, like any low card.

Table rules vary. Bicycle's rules go further: a black three freezes the pile, just as a wild card does, until someone takes it.

Going out

Going out means getting rid of every card in your hand, either by melding them all or by melding all but one and discarding it. It ends the hand and scores your side 100.

• Your side needs at least one canasta first, though you can finish it on the turn you go out.
• Until your side has a canasta, you must keep at least one card in your hand at the end of every turn.

Not sure it's the right moment? Before you meld anything on your turn, you may ask, "Partner, may I go out?" The answer is binding: yes means you must go out, and no means you can't this turn. Asking is optional.

Going out concealed

If you meld your whole hand in one turn, including at least one canasta, without having melded anything earlier in the hand and without adding to your partner's melds, you've gone out concealed. That scores 100 more, 200 in all. If your side hasn't melded yet and you drew from the stock, you don't need to meet the first meld minimum.

When the stock runs out

If the last card of the stock is a red three, the player who draws it lays it down, and the hand ends right there, with no meld or discard.

Otherwise, play goes on without a stock as long as each player takes the card just discarded and melds it. You must take it if the pile isn't frozen and the card fits one of your side's melds. The hand ends when a player can't take the discard, or chooses not to when they don't have to.

Winning the game

Keep a running total for each side. Scores can drop below zero. The game ends after a hand in which a side reaches 5,000, and if both sides get there in the same hand, the higher score wins.

Our printable score sheet has a row for each side and a column for red threes. A plain sheet of paper works too: Bicycle's rules suggest heading the columns We and They.

Canasta for two players

Two players play head to head, with the rules above and three changes:

• Deal 15 cards each.
• On each turn, draw two cards from the stock, then discard one as usual.
• You need two canastas to go out.

The game is still played to 5,000.

Table rules vary. Online games such as Canasta Palace deal 15 but draw one card at a time, and need only one canasta to go out, so agree before the first deal. Pagat's rules add one detail for the draw-two game: when only one card is left in the stock, taking it counts as your whole draw.

Canasta for three players

Deal 13 cards each. From there, tables play one of two ways.

Everyone for themselves

The simplest version: each player plays and scores alone, with the rules above.

Cutthroat canasta

In this version, a partnership forms during each hand.

• On each turn, draw two cards from the stock and discard one.
• The first player to take the discard pile plays alone for the rest of the hand, and the other two become partners against them, sharing their melds.
• If someone goes out before anyone has taken the pile, that player is the one playing alone.
• If the stock runs out before anyone has taken the pile, everyone scores alone.
• Each player keeps their own running score. Partners both receive the pair's score for melds and canastas, but each scores only their own red threes.
• Each player's first meld minimum comes from their own score, even with a partner.
• The game is played to 7,500.

Table rules vary. Some cutthroat players need two canastas to go out, and Pagat notes that some tables deal 11 cards instead of 13.

Print the rules and a score sheet

Print the one-page classic canasta rules card, with the two and three player games on it, and a score sheet with ten hands and a column for red threes. Both are free, and the rules card is worth having on the table when a new player joins or when your group plays a few times a year. Our printables page has every sheet on the site.

Common questions

How many cards do you deal in canasta for 2 players?

Fifteen each. In classic canasta for two, you also draw two cards from the stock on each turn and discard one, and you need two canastas to go out. Some online games deal 15 but draw only one card.

Can you play canasta with 3 players?

Yes. Deal 13 cards each. In the simplest version everyone plays alone. In cutthroat canasta, you draw two cards a turn, and the first player to take the discard pile plays alone against the other two for the rest of that hand.

What are 4 red threes worth in canasta?

In classic canasta, 800 points: each red three scores 100, and all four on one side score double. A side that hasn't melded anything by the end of the hand loses the 800 instead. Modern American Canasta scores threes differently.

Can you discard a wild card in classic canasta?

Yes, at any time. A discarded wild card freezes the discard pile. It goes in sideways, and until someone takes the pile, the only way to take it is with a natural pair that matches the top card.

What is a frozen discard pile in canasta?

A pile you can only take with a natural pair from your hand that matches the top card. The pile is frozen for everyone while it holds a wild card, and frozen for your side until your side has made its first meld.

What does a black three do in canasta?

It blocks the discard pile for one turn: the next player can't take the pile while a black three is on top. Black threes can't be melded, except by a player who is going out, who may meld three or four of them without wild cards.

How many points do you need for your first meld in canasta?

In classic canasta it depends on your side's score: 15 below zero, 50 from 0 to 1,495, 90 from 1,500 to 2,995, and 120 at 3,000 or more. Modern American Canasta uses 125, 155 and 180.

Where these rules come from

Classic canasta was standardized around 1950, and the rulebooks still agree on almost all of the four-player game. We wrote this page in our own words from Pagat's classic canasta rules and Bicycle's canasta rules, and checked each rule against at least one more source, including Wikipedia's canasta article and the rules published by Canasta Palace. The three-player rules also draw on Playcardgames.org. Where the sources differ, we say so.

If your group plays a rule differently, please tell us through the contact page. Red Threes is independent and isn't affiliated with any of these sites or card makers.