Hand and foot card game strategy

We do not play that wildcards can be melded. I have always played you can never discard a wildcard. There are so many different version please answer and direct to the rules where yes or no this question applies.

We play you draw 3 cards to go down you must have 80 points not counting red 3s that are worth points and put them down anytime and get a free card.

Then draw 4, going down is points, then draw 5, to go down points them last draw 6 and have to go down. Each stage correlates the draw to the amount of melds, to go out. And draw 4, 4 reds 4 blacks. Draw 6 cards going out take 6 red 6 black. You can always have more than needed to go out. On the discard pile do you turn either the red or the black three a different direction than the rest of the cards.

We play you turn the black three sideways and when picking up the discard pile you only take down to the three. Log in Sign up. Cart 0 Check Out. Set Up Before the game begins an initial dealer must be chosen. Melding Melds are formed by matching cards of the same rank.

Wildcards The Jokers and 2s in the deck are wildcards and can be used to build upon any meld. In Hand and Foot, there are two stacks that players must meld to win How to Play The gameplay moves clockwise and begins with the player clockwise to the dealer. Books In Hand and Foot, a pile of 7 cards is called a book. History In , Canasta was invented by Segundo Santos and Alberto Serrato who wanted to create a quicker game than bridge.

Variations Because Hand and Foot is in itself a variation of Canasta, the following games are also variations of Canasta. Samba Samba is practically Classic Canasta but, with increased values for everything.

That team will shuffle all the cards thoroughly and then one of the members will act as the dealer. The dealer will take half of the available cards and deal them 11 cards per player face down. The other player on the team will then act as the dealer, taking the second half of the cards and dealing them 11 cards per player face down.

The two shuffled piles that were dealt from should be placed in the center of the table, face down. All following deals will rotate clockwise to spread the deal. That player will select a stack of cards from one of the center piles while trying to get as close to 22 cards as possible without going over.

That player then counts the cards they chose, separating them into two stacks of If they have too many cards, they have to replace or pull stacks from the center decks until they have a total of 22 cards two piles of Going clockwise, each player does the same. The object of the Hand and Foot card game is to get rid of all 11 cards from your hand and all 11 of your foot cards as well. Melding happens when you place a set of three to seven cards face up on the game table.

The cards must all be of equal rank. Melding is where working with your team members is essential. Although melds are played fanned out and face up for all players to see, once a meld is completed thus becoming a pile it is stacked up, and the card placed on the top of the pile identifies its type. A red card marks a red pile, and a black card marks a black pile. Deuces and jokers are considered wild cards and can be used in all meld ranks. The only stipulations are:.

Now that we have covered the basic structure of the game, we will run through how an actual play of a Hand and Foot card game would look. As mentioned before, after the initial deal, the remainder of the cards are placed in two piles, face down, in the center of the table. Every round should have a meld point requirement that is raised in subsequent rounds.

If a discard pile is used to meet the requirement of the card game , you can only count the meld made with the top card toward the minimum requirement, no matter how many total melds the discard pile gives you. I have hunted and hunted for the answer to the following question. During an initial meld does a clean book count for the face value? In other words, if I lay down seven sixes as an initial meld will that count as 35 points and seven kings as an initial meld count as 70 points?

Hi Patsy, so sorry to hear about you having trouble finding this answer, but yes when you place a meld or a book if all 7 are laid down at once they use the sum of the values of their cards for the total value of the meld. When scoring you will also count the additional points for completing a clean book, but that is in addition to the meld value.

The instructions make absolutely no sense whatever. Hi Meryl, Hand and Foot is one of the more complicated card games on our site. I am so sorry to hear you are having difficulties with the instructions. We also have video instructions on how to play HAnd and foot on our youtube channel that may help as well.

Are you allowed to have four cards in your hand that match and instead of starting a meld and laying down the 4 like cards you pick up the discarded pile and make your meld?

My question is can he pick up the discarded pile when he already has enough cards to start a meld? Hi Jan, yes this is allowed. In order to draw from discard, you must hold at least 2 cards of the same rank as the discard, and you may hold more.

YOPu must also meld at least 3 cards, but can also meld more as well. Hi Sue, yes, 5 decks are used for all number of players 2 through 7. The game is best played with 4 players in 2 partnerships. Hello, when playing the last round one team declared they went out. This caused one team to mix their hand and foot and cards together believing the game was over. Shortly the team realized they had only completed their hand and still had the foot. Or is there some penalty on the team that caused them to mix it by mistakenly claiming they were out.

This was a confusing situation that popped up. Thanks for any help. Hi Andrew, there are not any official penalties for this circumstance. I might suggest either a replay of the round or a score penalty for the offending team.

Are runs 7 cards of 1 suit in order, not including wild cards or threes played in Hand and Foot? If so, can a card be picked up from the discard pile if it can be used to make the run? For example if you held a 7 and8 of hearts and a 9 of hearts was discarded, could you pick up the 9 to play with the 7 and 8 to start a run? Also if the stock pile is depleted but the game is not over, do you reshuffle the discard pile and continue the game?

HI Ann, Sequences of cards such as you described above are not used. In Hand and Foot, melds consist of equal ranked cards, and never cards of the same suit in ranking order. Hi Cheryl, to go out measn to have no cards in hand. If you have no cards in hand you have already gone out. Hi Nancy, you can pick up your foot by discarding both types of 3s. However, if you want to play a red 3 you cannot pick up your foot, as playing a red 3 down in front of you causes you to draw a card.

Hi Jill, 3s are not allowed to be melded. Red 3s give you a bonus score at the end of play for each one face up in front of you and penalize you for ones in hand.

They cannot be formed into a book. Each club has their own variation on rules. In the other, we can only pick up 5 cards. Here you are saying that you pick up 7 cards. My understanding is that there are no set rules, yet in some of your answers, you call certain plays as not legal. My question for you is this: How do we know which rules are optional that can be changed and which rules are basic ones that could not or should not be changed?

Thank you so much. Hi Ruthann, this is a very interesting question indeed. The Hand and Foot rules on the site as far as my research would have me believe are the standard rules. I do try to be mindful of variations when I answer questions but there are so many that this becomes very difficult unless they are specified in the question asked.

That being said, if you have any variations or questions pertaining to the standard rulings of hand and foot please feel free to either ask here or for more in-depth responses you can always email the site at info gamerules.

Thank you for your question, and I hope you have a lovely day. AM I understanding this correctly. Hi Sharon, that is correct. You can either add cards to an already established meld or create a new meld, but you cannot do both in a single turn. So for your example, you can finish your meld of 8s, and then you will have to wait till your next turn to start a new meld. The group I play with, when making a meld and they have 6 cards on the table, they place the 6th card sideways noting to the other players that the need only 1 more card to make a canasta.

Also, you cannot pick up that 7th card from the pile, you have to draw it from the stock. We only pick up the top card from the pile, not 7 cards. Are you aware of any of these rules? Hi Patricia I have not heard of any of these variations on the rules, but they seem very interesting. My question is about discarding wildcards. The rule is you may not play any meld that forces you to discard a wild card.

If you have any natural cards in your hand, you may not discard a wild card, you may only discard a wild card when a wild card is the only option. Our version of hand and foot we do not meld wild cards, and wild cards placed on the discard pile are the same as discarding a black three.

My question: if holding three wild cards and one king, then drawing two kings from the stockpile, then play 3 kings for my meld leaving me with three wild cards, then discard a wild card, is this legal play?

I am told that I must discard one of the kings, and not play the three kings for my meld or play 2 kings and a wild card then discard the third king. This rule effects the making of red or black books, especially when you need a red book to go out. Hi Raymond, in the version of Hand and Foot I am familiar with there is no rule stating you cannot discard a wild card. As per the rulings you stated in your comment, it would seem it is not a legal play.

The ruling you posted says you cannot play a meld that forces you to discard a wild card. Again, I am not familiar with this ruling though. Please let me know if there is anything further I can help you with. Recently we started plying hand and foot. Once the stock is depleted, the game will be over if someone wants to draw more cards from there, but there is nothing left.

You can modify this game and come up with unique rules to make it more enjoyable when you play with your friends. However, some rules cannot be changed since they define the game and make it different from the rest. Hand and foot card game has been providing entertainment to people for decades and can be played by individuals of all ages, so grab a few packs of cards and give it a go.

Usually you use 5 or no 6 decks and the game is played by around 2 — 6 persons. The player behind picks the first hand and starts playing. Deal, Cards, and Players While playing the game, an extra deck of cards is used over the number of players. Next steps in the game The first card of the stock will not be placed face-up and must be placed close to it to begin a discard stack. A whole game comprises of a total of four rounds.

What is the goal of the game? Players are free to make a collection of any rank. More About Melding Three cards have specific uses and you can not meld them in the usual way. The Red Threes The red threes can be placed on a separate pile, but this can only be done after the initial meld has been played.

End of Hand The game is set to end once one of the players has removed all the cards in their hands and foot by discarding or melding them.