Guide
How to Play Canasta
Canasta is a rummy-family game of melds and the discard pile. Draw, lay down sets of three or more cards of one rank, take the pile, and build seven-card canastas before your opponent does.
Play Canasta freeThe objective
Be first to 5,000 points
Canasta is played with two standard decks and four Jokers — 108 cards. You play a match against the computer over as many hands as it takes for one side to reach 5,000 points. In each hand you score by melding cards, completing canastas, laying down red threes and going out, and lose points for the cards left in your hand.
What makes Canasta different from plain rummy is the discard pile. Anyone who can use the top card may take the whole pile, so a large pile is worth fighting over — and wild cards can freeze it to make that harder.
The game is free, runs in the browser and needs no account. Open the table when you want to play; use this guide for the rules, scoring and the habits that win more matches.
The deal
Fifteen cards each, one card face up
Each side is dealt 15 cards. One card is turned up to start the discard pile — if it is a wild card the pile starts frozen — and the rest of the pack is the stock. Red threes are set aside straight away and replaced from the stock.
The starting player alternates from hand to hand. Every deal is a fresh shuffle, and your match score carries over between hands.
Controls
Select cards, then choose an action
Every method does the same thing. Use whichever fits the device in your hand.
Everywhere
Tap to select, then act
Tap cards in your hand to select them (they lift and glow). Then press Meld to lay them down, Discard to throw the one selected card, or tap one of your meld chips to add the selection to it. Tap the stock to draw and the discard pile to take it.
Fast play
Auto-pick for the pile
Press Take pile with nothing selected and the game picks the matching cards for you when a legal pickup exists. The pile glows gold when you can take it. Select cards yourself when you want to choose exactly which ones to use.
Desktop
Keyboard
D draws from the stock, T takes the pile, F melds the selected cards, X discards the selected card, U undoes this turn’s melds, S sorts your hand and M mutes the sound. Cards are real buttons, so Tab and Enter also work.
The turn
Four steps every turn
Draw, meld, discard — and know when to go out.
- 1
Read the deal
Two 52-card decks plus four Jokers make a 108-card pack. You and the computer each get 15 cards, one card is turned face up to start the discard pile, and the rest form the stock. Any red three in your hand is laid aside automatically and replaced.
- 2
Draw or take the pile
Start each turn by drawing two cards from the stock, or by taking the whole discard pile if you can use its top card. Taking the pile means matching the top card with cards from your hand and melding them at once.
- 3
Meld sets and build canastas
A meld is three or more cards of the same rank. Wild 2s and Jokers can join a meld, but naturals must always outnumber wilds. Reach seven cards in a meld and you have a canasta — 500 bonus points if it is all natural, 300 if it holds wilds.
- 4
Discard, or go out
End your turn by discarding one card face up. Once you have a canasta you can go out by melding or discarding your last card, earning a bonus and ending the hand. Cards left in your opponent’s hand count against them.
Rules
Every rule that decides a play
The objective
Score more points than the computer over as many hands as it takes for one side to reach 5,000. Points come from melds, canasta bonuses, red threes and going out, minus the value of cards left in your hand.
Melds and wild cards
A meld is at least three cards of one rank, from Ace or 4 through King. Twos and Jokers are wild. A meld may hold at most three wilds and always more naturals than wilds. A finished canasta (seven cards) cannot take more wilds, but naturals can still be added.
Red threes and black threes
Red threes are never melded: they are placed on the table when drawn or dealt, you draw a replacement, and each is worth 100 points (800 if you hold all four). If your side has no melds by the end of the hand those points count against you. Black threes cannot be melded here; discarding one blocks the next player from taking the pile.
The discard pile and freezing
You may take the pile when its top card is natural and not a black three. If a wild card was ever discarded onto the pile — or turned up at the start — the pile is frozen and you need two natural cards of the top rank in your hand. The pile is also frozen for you until you have made your first meld. An unfrozen pile can be taken by adding the top card to an existing meld of that rank.
The first meld
Your first meld of the match must reach a minimum in card points, set by your total score: 50 when you are between 0 and 1,495; 90 from 1,500 to 2,995; 120 from 3,000; and 15 if you are in the negatives. You can lay down several melds in one turn to reach it, and Undo takes them back if you fall short.
Going out
You may go out only if your side has at least one canasta. Meld your last cards, or discard your last card. Going out earns 100 points, or 200 if you had no melds before that turn. The hand also ends if the stock runs out and the next player cannot take the pile.
Simplifications in this version
This is a two-player game against the computer, so you draw two cards each turn and there are no partnerships. Black-three melds and asking a partner for permission to go out are not part of this build.
Scoring
How points are counted
Card values, canasta bonuses and the going-out bonus are added up at the end of every hand, then the value of any cards still in hand is taken away.
- 01 · Points for every card melded
Card values
Jokers are worth 50. Twos and Aces are worth 20. Kings down to 8s are worth 10 each, and 7s down to 4s and black threes are worth 5. The same values are subtracted for cards left in a hand at the end.
- 02 · 500 natural · 300 mixed
Canasta bonuses
A seven-card meld with no wild cards is a natural canasta worth 500 bonus points. A seven-card meld that contains at least one wild is a mixed canasta worth 300. Longer melds keep their card points but do not earn extra bonuses.
- 03 · 100 each · 800 for all four · 100/200 out
Red threes and going out
Each red three is 100 points, or 800 for all four together. Going out adds 100, or 200 if you melded everything in a single turn from a table with no earlier melds.
Common mistakes
Why good hands get lost
Throwing wilds away
Discarding a 2 or Joker freezes the pile for both sides and hands your opponent a wild. Do it deliberately, not to get rid of a card.
Ignoring a growing pile
Letting the computer scoop a 12-card pile a few times decides a match. If you cannot take it, stop feeding it ranks it can match.
Melding too thinly
Three-card melds are easy to make but cost you flexibility. Extend a meld towards seven cards rather than starting a new rank for every triple.
Going out without a plan
You need a canasta before you can go out. Rushing melds without one can leave you stuck holding cards while the opponent builds.
- Keep wild cards for finishing canastas or opening a first meld — a wild is worth 20 or 50 points if you get stuck holding it.
- Watch the discard pile. A big pile is worth more than any single meld, so build pairs that let you take it.
- Discard ranks the computer has already melded only when you must — every one you throw is a free extension for them.
- Pairs are your currency. Hold pairs of different ranks so more top cards become takeable.
- Throw a black three when the pile is large: it blocks the next player from taking it.
- Reach the first-meld minimum early. Until you have melded, the pile is frozen for you and you cannot add to it.
- Go out when you are ahead, but not with a hand full of points. Count what the computer holds before you race.
- Use Undo to test a line: lay a meld, see whether it clears the minimum, and take it back if it does not.
Where you can play
Same game on phone and desktop
playcanasta.app runs in any modern browser with no app to install. Progress stays on the device you played on.
Desktop browsers
Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari all run the game with no plugin. Click cards to select them, use the buttons or the keyboard shortcuts for drawing, melding, discarding and undo.
Phones and tablets
The table is laid out for portrait screens: your hand, melds, the stock, the pile and the action buttons all fit on one screen. Tap to select, then tap a button. Restarting is instant.
Progress on this device
Your match score, hand number, matches won, best hand, canastas built and win streak live in local browser storage. They stay until you reset them or clear site data, and they do not sync between devices.
Still stuck on a rule? Read the Canasta FAQ or jump in and play.
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