Ten hands with running totals for two partnerships, plus the card values, canasta bonuses and the initial meld requirement table — the three things people look up every single hand.
| Hand | Team 1 | Running | Team 2 | Running |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| 4 | ||||
| 5 | ||||
| 6 | ||||
| 7 | ||||
| 8 | ||||
| 9 | ||||
| 10 | ||||
| FINAL |
| Card | Value | Card | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joker | 50 | 8 – K | 10 |
| Ace / 2 | 20 | 4 – 7, black 3 | 5 |
| Red 3 (each) | 100 | All four red 3s | 800 |
| Bonus | Points | Your score | Meld needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural canasta | 500 | Minus | 15 |
| Mixed canasta | 300 | 0 – 1,495 | 50 |
| Going out | 100 | 1,500 – 2,995 | 90 |
| Going out concealed | 200 | 3,000 + | 120 |
Four players in two partnerships, two decks plus four jokers, eleven cards each. A turn is three beats: draw (one card from the stock — or take the entire discard pile if you can immediately use its top card in a meld), meld if you wish, and discard one card to end your turn.
Melds are three or more cards of one rank, shared with your partner, built toward canastas — seven-card melds, the ones the bonuses on this sheet pay for. Wild cards (deuces and jokers) fill gaps, but a wild discarded onto the pile freezes it: a frozen pile can only be taken with a natural pair matching its top card, and freezing it is the game's main defensive weapon. Your team needs at least one canasta before it may go out, and the initial-meld minimums in the table below rise as your score does.
Canasta's rules are not complicated, but its scoring has three separate tables — card values, bonuses, and a sliding initial meld requirement — and nobody remembers all three. That is what this sheet is for.
The requirement rises as your team's score does: below zero you need 15, from 0 to 1,495 you need 50, from 1,500 to 2,995 you need 90, and at 3,000 or above you need 120. It is counted from card values only — bonuses do not count toward it.
A canasta is seven cards of a rank. A natural one, with no wild cards, is worth 500; a mixed one containing wilds is worth 300. Your team must have at least one canasta before it can go out.
Red threes are bonus cards — you never meld them, you just lay them down and draw a replacement. Each is worth 100, and holding all four is worth 800. If your team has not melded by the end of the hand, they count against you instead.
Canasta is played several different ways. American Canasta, Classic Canasta and Hand and Foot all use different meld minimums and bonuses. The values on this sheet are the widely played American rules — if your group does something different, settle it before the first deal rather than in the middle of hand four.