The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games (171 page)

only; in either case the bonus applies only for the side going out,

the other scoring only face values. If a wild-card meld is under way,

any available deuces must be added to it, instead of to other

canastas, until the wild canasta is completed and turned down.

Game is 12,000. Up to 7500 the initial meld requirement is 160;

up to 10,000 it is 180; beyond that 200. Going out counts 300

(nothing extra for concealed) and two non-wild canastas must have

been made. Red Threes count 100 each; four or more count 200

each. Optional y, there is a bonus of 1000 for making five canastas,

or 2000 if al are natural.

Mexicana

Three-pack Canasta, thirteen dealt each, in which the first to meld,

or the first in each partnership, immediately draws thirteen more

cards from stock. Sometimes a canasta of Sevens carries a bonus of

1000 and an upcard Seven cannot be taken. Going out requires two

canastas and not less than one red Three per canasta melded.

Quinel a

Four-pack Samba with more elaborations.

Tampa

Three-pack Canasta much like Samba but with wild-card melds

instead of sequences. A wild canasta carries a bonus of 2000.

Uruguay

as distinct from Canasta del Uruguay (above), denotes a two-pack

Canasta with the addition of wild-card melds. Wild canastas count

2000 extra.

Yucatan

Eight-pack Samba. Melds of identical cards a repermit ed. Seven

identical cards constitute a peninsula, carrying a bonus of 1000 per

constituent natural card (minimum five). Game is 25,000 up.

Hand and Foot

2-5 players, 104+ cards

First described in the 1990s on the Internet, by Steve Simpson,

First described in the 1990s on the Internet, by Steve Simpson,

Hand and Foot is a North American Canasta derivative played by

dif erent circles under a variety of rules. The additional features,

though not invariable, are general y as fol ows.

Preliminaries Whether or not played by four in partnerships (the

usual form), use one more pack than the number of players, each

consisting of 52 cards plus two Jokers. Deal to each player two

separate hands of thirteen cards, the first designated the ‘hand’ and

the second the ‘foot’.

The hand is picked up and played first, and the foot must remain

face down and unlooked at until its owner has played the last card

from his hand.

Play At each turn you draw two from the stock, and eventual y

discard one.

There are three types of meld: those consisting entirely of natural

cards, those containing one or more wild cards (‘mixed’), and those

consisting entirely of wild cards (‘wild’). A natural meld may

become ‘mixed’ by the addition of wild cards. When a meld

contains seven cards – variously designated a ‘pile’ or a ‘canasta’ – it

is squared up with a red, black or wild card on top, and (in some

circles) may not be further extended. A mixed meld must always

contain more natural than wild cards, and in some circles may not

contain more than two wild.

In some circles there are four deals, for which the initial meld

requirements are respectively 50, 90, 120 and 150 points,

regardless of your current score.

If you play the last card from your hand to a meld, you may

immediately pick up your foot and continue your turn. If, however,

you empty your hand by a discard, you don’t start playing with

your foot until your next turn.

Going out You go out by playing the last card from your foot, but

Going out You go out by playing the last card from your foot, but

subject to the fol owing restrictions:

You can’t go out by melding black Threes.

In a partnership game, you must ask and receive your

partner’s permission, which wil almost certainly be withheld

if he has not broken into his foot (in case it contains red

Threes, which are penalized if not declared).

You (or your side) must have made at least one wild canasta.

Score Wild canastas score 1500 each. Other scores, bonuses and

penalties are as for Canasta. Black Threes left in hand each count 5

points against.

Variants Some versions at ach special significance to the number

seven. Sevens may not be discarded. You never take the whole pack

(unless it contains seven or fewer cards), but only the top seven. In

order to go out, you must have made at least one natural meld of

Sevens. In some circles you must also have made at least one other

natural canasta, one mixed, and one wild.

Pennies from Heaven

(4/6pp, 216c including 87) An apparent forerunner of Hand and

Foot, typical y played in partnerships and preferably by six players,

with partners sit ing alternately. Jokers and Deuces are wild. Deal

to each player thirteen cards as the initial playing hand, then eleven

cards face down in a stack. Only when you have completed a

canasta do you pick these eleven up and add them to your hand.

Though playing in partnership, you keep your own melds in front

of you. You may lay cards of to your own or a partner’s melds, but

the seventh card to your qualifying canasta must come from your

own hand before you can take up your eleven ‘pennies from

own hand before you can take up your eleven ‘pennies from

heaven’.

At each turn draw two from stock and discard one. If the upcard

is wild you cannot take the pack; otherwise, you can take it only

bymelding the upcard with two natural cards from hand. Wild-card

melds are valid, and a wild canasta scores 1000 points.

Sevens are significant. No canasta may contain more than seven

cards. Both partnerships must have completed at least one canasta

of Sevens before any Seven can be discarded, and you cannot

discard a Seven in going out. The canasta of Sevens may be natural

or mixed, and in either case scores 1500 points.

500 Rum

2-6 players, 52 cards

It was in the 1920s or ’30s that players started scoring positively for

melds made in Rummy games instead of just negatively for cards

left unmelded at end of play. The earliest of its type was Michigan

Rum (Michigan now denotes a compendium game comparable to

Poch). Five Hundred Rum represents a further development along

the road to Canasta. It is a good game for three, and its extension,

Persian Rummy, a good partnership game.

Preliminaries From a 52-card pack deal ten each if two play, seven

if three or four, six if five or six. Stack the rest face down and turn

the top card face up to start a discard pile. Scores are made as play

proceeds, thus necessitating a scoresheet ruled into as many

columns as players.

Object To meld as many cards as possible, preferably high-scoring

ones, and either to go out first or to be left with as lit le deadwood

as possible.

Melds The minimum meld is three of a kind or three cards in suit

Melds The minimum meld is three of a kind or three cards in suit

and sequence. Ace ranks high or low, not both at once. Court cards

count 10 each (plus if melded, minus if deadwood), others face

value. Ace counts 1 in a low sequence (A-2-3…), otherwise 15 (…

Q-K-A).

Play On your turn to play you may draw the top card of stock, and

either discard it face up to the discard pile or add it to your hand. If

you add it, you may then make any melds that you can and wil ,

and finish by adding one to the discard pile. The discards remain

slightly spread so that al can be identified.

Alternatively, instead of drawing from stock, you may draw any

card from the discard pile, provided that:

you immediately meld it or lay it of (you can’t just add it to

your hand), and

you also take al the other discards Iying above it, adding

them to your hand or melding or laying them of as the case

may be.

Again, you end your turn by discarding one.

Scoring Cards may be laid of against your own or others’ melds.

Each time you start a meld or lay cards of , note the score for the

cards so played, keeping a running total.

Scoring variant No running score is kept. Whenever you lay a card

of against another’s meld, you merely announce that fact, but play

the card face up before you, so that it wil count in your favour at

the end ofplay. (It therefore becomesimportant okeepcareful

trackofextended melds, so as not to miss any opportunity to lay of .)

Going out Play ceases the moment any player melds, lays of , or

discards the last card from their hand, or as soon as the last card of

stock has been drawn if no one has gone out. (Variant: If the stock

runs out, players may agree to turn the discards down, without

shuf ling, to start a new one.)

Score The winner’s score is increased by the total value of cards

remaining in other players’ hands, whether or not they can be

melded or laid of . Game is 500 points over as many deals as it

takes.

Polish Rummy

lets you take the whole of the discard pile without necessarily

melding or laying of the bot om card. But you may not take just

part of it except under the conditions prescribed above.

Persian Rummy

An excel ent partnership extension of Five Hundred Rum. Deal

seven each from a 56-card pack including four Jokers, stack the rest

face down and turn an upcard. Play as above until one player goes

out, then score as at 500 Rum. Each side’s partnership score is that

of its two partners combined, plus 25 if one of them went out

without having previously melded.

Jokers are not wild but may be melded as a group of three or

four, counting 20 each (for or against). Any group of four, if melded

in a single turn, scores double its face value. Ace ranks high only

and always counts 15.

Game is two deals, and the winning side adds a game bonus of

50.

Arlington (Oklahoma)

2-5 players, 104 cards

Arlington, a name preferable to Oklahoma to avoid confusion with

Oklahoma Gin, continues the trend towards greater elaboration in

the scoring for melds. A good game for three, it may be thought

more complicated than the 500 Rum group, but less interesting

than Canasta – or, possibly, less complicated than Canasta but more

interesting than 500.

Preliminaries From two to five players receive thirteen cards each

from two packs shuf led together, with or without a Joker (104 or

105). Stack the rest face down and turn an upcard from it. Deal the

next card face up to found the discard pile, and place the remainder

face down to form a stock.

Object To score as much as possible for melds, and either go out, or

be left with as lit le deadwood as possible if somebody else goes

out.

Melds Valid melds are three or four cards of the same rank – not

necessarily dif ering in suit, but never exceeding four – and

sequences of three or more in the same suit, for which purpose Ace

ranks high or low, but not both at once, though two Aces may be

used to make a sequence of 14 cards. The Joker and al Deuces are

wild. If you draw the natural card being represented by a Joker in

one of your own melds, you may put the natural card in its place

and take the Joker back into hand, but this privilege does not

extend to a Deuce. The owner of a meld containing ambiguous wild

cards must indicate what ranks they are intended to represent,

either verbal y or by arrangement (e.g. 6-7-7 must be read as 6-7-8),

as this determines what cards may be laid of against it.

Spade queens Special value at aches to both Queens of spades. They

are melded in groups or sequences in the normal way, but no one is