Build seven-card canastas together.
Classic Canasta · draw, meld and discard.
HAND COMPLETE
Waiting for the host to deal.
FREE ONLINE CARD GAME
Two decks. Four players.
Seven cards make a canasta.
Play Classic Canasta free with a computer partner or choose a two-player game. Pick Easy, Standard or Expert, build seven-card canastas, and follow the live opening minimum and discard-pile explanation. Ask your partner before going out if you want a binding answer. No account or download.
Classic Canasta · 2 or 4 seats · First to 5,000
Updated
New to Canasta? Learn the rulesMAKE SEVEN TOGETHER
Build melds of one rank, complete canastas and count the cards left behind. Play four seats with a partner opposite, or two seats individually. This is Classic, with the rules stated here.
Two decks and four jokers make 108 cards. Four players receive eleven each; two receive fifteen and draw two per turn instead of one. Deal rotates. Red threes expose and replace automatically. Start by drawing from stock or taking a legal whole pile. Meld if you wish, then discard one card.
A new meld needs three cards, at least two naturals of one rank from fours to aces, and no more than three wilds. Twos and jokers are wild; runs and wild-only groups are not used. Your side's first batch must meet its minimum, and may include several ranks at once. Select all the groups together before pressing Meld.
The live counter counts card points, not bonuses.
A wild or red three buried in the pile freezes it. Your side also treats it as frozen until opening. You need two matching naturals in hand and must meld the top immediately; the buried cards arrive afterward. Unfrozen, a natural plus a wild or an existing team meld also works. A black three blocks only while on top.
Only the top and your own cards can prove the pickup.
Seven or more cards in one meld form a canasta. Natural has no wilds and earns 500; mixed has one to three and earns 300. Cards keep their values too. Melds can grow, and a wild added to a natural canasta turns it mixed. Your side has one meld per rank, shared by partners.
The canasta tile names its type and bonus.
Use every card, with or without a final discard, and have the required canastas. Auto needs one for partnerships and two individually; Options can explicitly set one or two. Black threes may form a pure group of three or four only in the final play.
Asking partner is optional. Preview a complete final play and choose Go out now, or Ask partner first immediately after drawing/pickup, before further melding. A Yes plays that proposal immediately. A No leaves its cards unplayed and forbids going out this turn; keep at least a card after discarding. Requests need at least two held cards so No leaves a legal way to continue. A one-card player may go out directly.
A concealed finish earns 200 total: no personal meld on an earlier turn, no additions to partner's earlier melds, and a complete new canasta this turn. A final-turn pile pickup is allowed but must meet an opening minimum. A concealed stock-draw finish waives that minimum; exposed red threes do not spoil it.
With empty stock, a legal unfrozen top matching a team meld must be taken. Otherwise take a legal pile or choose Draw to end the hand. Drawing a lone last red three ends immediately, with no meld/discard. In two-player, gaining one ordinary card from the last two cards completes a one-card draw; gaining only red threes without replacements ends the hand.
CARDS PLUS BONUSES
Jokers are 50; twos and aces 20; eights through kings 10; fours through sevens and black threes 5. Add melded card values and canasta bonuses, then subtract both partners' remaining cards. Red threes give 100 each or 800 for all four, negative if your side never melded. Ordinary out earns 100; concealed earns 200 in total.
Minimum opening: 15 when below zero; 50 from 0 to 1,495; 90 from 1,500 to 2,995; 120 at 3,000 or more. The minimum is based on the score before the hand. Red threes and canasta bonuses do not help meet it. Only the pile's top may count in an opening pickup.
For example, seven natural kings give 570, a meld of three sevens 15, one red three 100 and ordinary out 100. With 40 left in partner's hand, the side earns 745. The scorecard separates these components. A hand ending from stock has no going-out bonus.
Finish the hand before checking 5,000 or 2,500. If both sides cross, higher total wins; equal totals share. Single hand ends after one hand at the higher total, even below zero. There is no instant loss at −2,000.
PLAY FOR THE SIDE
Three kings and three sevens make only 45. A joker can make an opening easier, but spending it changes the chance of a natural canasta later. Select several ranks as one batch when needed; do not rely on buried pile cards to open.
A useful top can hide a large hand penalty. Check how many cards fit your melds or pairs before taking everything. When your opponent has a meld matching your discard, an unfrozen pile may be taken without a pair. A black three stops that pickup; a wild freezes future pickups rather than making the pile permanently safe.
Your partner's remaining cards count against your side. An optional No can buy time for another canasta or a heavy hand to be melded. Use that next turn to make progress. The final preview shows exactly what will be played, including its discard and out bonus.
Easy lays obvious groups early and usually discards high, sometimes throwing a wild. Standard opens efficiently, builds canastas and avoids feeding opposing melds. Expert counts public ranks and pickup knowledge, prioritises canasta projects and estimates discard risk. Two-player also compares discards across eight sampled next-opponent turns in a background worker. If that worker is unavailable, it uses Standard. These are estimates, not access to actual hidden hands or stock. All computers, including partner, use the selected level.
Classic rules differ between groups. Pagat and Bicycle describe the Classic rule family used here. We disclose the opening, wild, stock and finish choices above. Modern American, wild canastas and three-player formats are separate rulesets.
QUICK ANSWERS
Practice here against computers without a download or account. Choose two players individually or four with a partner, and Easy, Standard or Expert.
Draw or legally take the pile, optionally meld, then discard. Build same-rank groups into seven-card canastas. Use the live minimum and pickup explanation, and preview your final play when ready to go out.
Seven or more cards in one meld. No wilds means natural for 500 bonus; one to three wilds means mixed for 300. Melded card values count as well.
A buried wild or red three, or your side not having opened. A frozen pickup needs two matching naturals in your hand. A black three blocks only while on top; once covered it does not freeze the pile.
Red threes expose automatically and are replaced when dealt or drawn, but not when taken in the pile. They give 100 each or 800 for all four, negative without a team meld. Black threes stop pickups while on top and meld only as three or four in a final go-out play.
15 below zero, 50 below 1,500, 90 below 3,000 and 120 thereafter. One batch may include several ranks. Count cards only, plus the top discard when picking up; not bonuses or buried cards.
Yes. Choose Two in Options: fifteen cards each and a draw of two. Auto needs two canastas to go out, compared with one in partnerships. Explicit One or Two overrides Auto. Three players are not supported.
Classic. Modern American commonly uses a different deal, opening minimums and target, with other meld restrictions. It is not an option on this table.
It depends on melds, pickups, sets of canastas and the target. Choose Single hand for one scored hand or 2,500 instead of 5,000 for a lower target. Practice can be resumed after reload.
No. Asking is optional, immediately after drawing/pickup and before further melding. Yes commits your previewed final plan; No leaves it unplayed and prevents going out this turn. You need at least two held cards to ask safely. With one card, go out directly when legal.
Yes, at this Classic table a meld needs at least two naturals and at most three wilds. Two naturals plus three wilds is legal. Some groups use a natural-majority restriction instead; that rule is not used here.
Practice fills empty seats with computers. To play with friends, open a HopLobby lobby and send one link: our party games run in the browser too.
No. Each computer receives only its own cards and public information: melds, threes, discard pile, counts and known public pickups. Difficulty changes decisions rather than the deal or legal rules.
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