For a four-player game, divide into two partnerships (for 2 or 3 players, see the modifications at the end of this article). Each player sits across from their partner. Deal 11 cards to each player, then set the rest of the cards face down to form the stock. Place one card face up in the middle of the table to start the discard pile.
The objective of canasta play is to form melds, which are groups of at least three of the same ranked card. A meld of seven or more cards is called a "canasta." Each player begins their turn by drawing a card. They can do this from the top card of the stock, or they may take the entire discard pile. To take the entire discard pile, they must be able to make (and immediately play) a meld with the top card of the discard pile and cards that are already in their hand.
Once a player has drawn, they may play any complete melds they have in their hand (though they do not have to), and then they may lay off (add cards to) on their teams existing melds. Melds are shared between partners, but not between the two teams.
Twos and jokers are wild cards that may stand in for any rank. However, a meld cannot have more wild cards than natural (non-wild) cards. A canasta without any wild cards is called a "natural" canasta, and is worth more than a "mixed" canasta.
If there is a wild card in the discard pile, the pile is considered frozen. No player may take a frozen pile unless they have a natural pair in their hand to meld with the top card. The wild card is usually turned sideways to show that the pile is frozen. Black 3s are special cards: they cannot meld like other cards. When they are on top of the discard pile, they pile is "blocked." No player may take a blocked pile under any circumstance. A wild card on top of the discard pile also blocks it.
If neither partner on a team has melded yet in a round, their first play onto the table must reach a certain point value. This is calculated by adding the value of each card that they play together (see below). Until a team has made their initial play, the discard pile is considered frozen for them.
| Card | Value |
|---|---|
| A | 20 |
| 2 | 20 |
| Black 3 | 5 |
| 4-7 | 5 |
| 8-K | 10 |
| Joker | 50 |
The value of the initial meld limit varies depending on the team's total score at the beginning of the round:
| Score | Initial Meld |
|---|---|
| <0 | 0 |
| 0-1495 | 50 |
| 1500-2995 | 90 |
| 3000-5000 | 120 |
Red 3s are also special cards. At the beginning of a round, before any players take their turns, all players remove red 3s from their hands and place them where melds go for their team. They then draw cards to replace their red 3s. Whenever a player draws a red three during the game, they place it with their team's melds, then draw another card. If a red 3 happens to be turned over as the first card in the discard pile, the pile is considered blocked (while the red 3 is on top) and frozen.
When a player runs out of cards, either by melding or discarding, and their team has at least one canasta, the round is over. A player may not play so that they have 1 or 0 cards left in their hand if their team does not have a canasta. Before "going out," a player may (but does not have to) choose to ask their partner, "may I go out." Their partner must respond with yes or no only. The asker must follow their partner's wishes, not going out if their partner says no, and going out if their partner says yes. On the turn when they go out, a player can discard but does not have to.
Black threes may be melded (as a group of 3-4 black threes) if and only if the player is going out on that turn.
If there are no cards remaining in the stock at the beginning of a turn, the current player must take the discard pile if they can. If they cannot, the round is over and scoring proceeds as normal. Neither team receives a bonus for going out.
Once a round is over, each team scores in the following areas:
Once at least one team has reached 5000 points, the team with the highest score wins the game.
The following modifications are made for a two-player game:
The following modifications are made for a three-player game: