Canasta (Canastra) – 2 players

Player: 4 (2 teams); variants 2–6 · Cards: 2 French decks with jokers, 108 (2 × 52 + 4 jokers) · Type: Rummy/Canasta family (partnership)

Play Canasta (Canastra) against the computer

Objective

Be the first team to reach 5000 points.

Equipment & setup

Everyone gets 15 cards. One card face up as the discard (if it is a wild card or red 3, another is turned up and the pile is frozen). Red 3s are laid out immediately and replaced.

Card ranking & card values

Joker 50; 2 and A 20; K–8 10; 7–4 and black 3 5. Red 3 = 100 bonus (all four in one team: 800).

Gameplay

1) Turn: draw 2 cards from the stock and discard 1 OR take the whole discard pile (rules as in the four-player game).

2) Melds: at least 3 cards of the same rank, at least 2 natural cards, at most 3 wild cards.

3) The first meld needs the same minimum value as with four players, depending on your own score.

Special rules & special cards

Canasta = 7 cards: pure (no wild card) 500, mixed 300. Frozen discard pile (wild card in it or team hasn’t melded yet): can only be taken with 2 natural cards. A black 3 on the discard pile blocks it for the next player.

Scoring & points

Melded card values + Canasta bonuses + red 3s + going-out bonus (100; going out concealed 200) − cards in hand. Red 3s count negative if the team hasn’t melded at all.

End of game & winning

Going out is only allowed once you have at least two Canastas. The game ends as soon as a player reaches 5000 points.

Origin & history

Developed in 1939 in Montevideo (Uruguay) by Segundo Santos and Alberto Serrato; spread via Argentina and Brazil and triggered a mass boom in the USA in the early 1950s. Still a family classic in Germany today; played as Canastra in Brazil.