How to play Hand and Foot

Hand and Foot is a partnership game of the Canasta family. Every family plays it a little differently – these are the common rules, and the app lets you change each one.

Players and cards

Four players in two teams; partners sit across from each other. Use one more deck than there are players – five decks with jokers for four players. Every player is dealt two piles of 11 cards: the hand and the foot. You play your hand first; the foot stays face down until your hand is empty.

A turn

1. Draw two cards from the stock – or take the discard pile (see below).
2. Lay down melds or add cards to your team's melds.
3. Discard one card. Your turn is over.

Melds and books

A meld is three or more cards of the same rank, from 4s to Aces. Suits don't matter. The team shares one meld of each rank. A meld of seven cards is a book: a clean book (no wild cards, often called a red book) or a dirty book (with wild cards, a black book). A book is closed; more cards of that rank start a new meld.

Wild cards

All 2s and jokers are wild. A meld needs at least two natural cards, and the natural cards must always outnumber the wild cards – so a dirty book has at most three wild cards.

Red threes and black threes

A red three goes straight to your team's side for a bonus of 100 points, and you draw a replacement. Black threes can't be melded, except three or four of them when you go out. Discarding a black three blocks the next player from taking the pile.

Minimum first meld

A team's first meld of each round must reach a minimum count: 50 points in round one, 90 in round two, 120 in round three and 150 in round four.

Taking the pile

Instead of drawing, you may take the top seven cards of the discard pile if you hold two natural cards that match the top card. The top card goes straight into a meld with them. Some families take the whole pile, some allow it with a matching meld on the table, and some never take it.

Picking up your foot

When you play the last card of your hand, pick up your foot. If you emptied your hand by melding, keep playing with the foot right away; if you discarded your last card, you play the foot on your next turn.

Going out

Before anyone may go out, the team needs its books – commonly one clean and one dirty book (many families ask for two of each). A player who is in the foot then goes out by melding or discarding every last card. Until then, always keep a card to discard.

Scoring

After four rounds the team with the higher total wins.

Play Hand and Foot on Android