Canasta

Every unplayed card is deducted at its ordinary card value. This includes wild cards, natural cards, and black threes.

Choose partners by agreement or by drawing cards, with the two highest cards playing against the two lowest. Partners sit opposite each other.

Before play begins, correct a hand with too few cards by dealing the missing cards from the stock. A player with too many cards returns the excess at random to the stock without exposing them.

For easier recreational play, allow an unfrozen pile to be taken whenever its top card can be added to an existing meld, as described in the main rules. For a stricter game, require two matching natural cards from the hand for every pickup, whether or not the pile is frozen.

A wild card may be discarded, but it freezes the pile and should be placed sideways so its presence remains visible. A black three blocks only the next player from taking the pile.

A partnership finishes with one natural canasta, one mixed canasta, two red threes, and the 100-point going-out bonus. Its melded cards have a combined face value of 420, and its partner holds 35 points in unplayed cards.

If the stock runs out, play may continue while players can legally take the discard pile. A player who can legally take an unfrozen pile by adding its top card to an existing meld must do so; a player who would need to use a pair from hand may decline.

For casual games, correct accidental rule errors as soon as they are noticed. Return an illegal meld to the player’s hand if no hidden information has been revealed, restore an improperly taken discard pile when its order is known, and redeal only when a fair reconstruction is impossible.