Hand and Foot

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Melds and books
4. Setup
5. Playing a turn
6. Picking up your foot
7. Going out
8. Scoring
9. Winning the game
10. Tips for beginners
11. Variants

Overview

Hand and Foot is a North American member of the Canasta family. You collect cards of the same rank and lay them out on the table in scoring groups called melds; a meld of seven cards is a book and earns a big bonus. The twist: every player gets two sets of cards – a hand to play first and a foot that you pick up once your hand is empty. A round ends when a player gets rid of both. A game has four rounds, and the side with the most points at the end wins.

• Players: best with 4 in two partnerships of two; partners sit opposite each other. Everything laid out belongs to the whole side, and partners share their score. Other numbers of players are under Variants.
• You need: one more deck than there are players – for four players, five standard 52-card decks with two jokers each (270 cards), all shuffled together – and paper and pencil for scoring.

Below, "your side" means you and your partner.

The cards

• Wild cards (jokers and 2s) can stand in for any natural card in a meld.
• Natural cards are all cards from 4 up to Ace. Suits don't matter, only ranks.
• The 3s have special rules (below).

Melds and books

A meld is a group of three to seven cards of the same rank that you lay face up on the table in front of your side, e.g. Q Q Q or five 6s. Once it is there, you or your partner may add more cards of that rank to it on later turns.

Wild cards may be used, but a meld must always have at least twice as many natural cards as wild cards, and never more than two wild cards. So a meld of 3–5 cards may contain one wild card, a meld of 6 or 7 cards up to two. 9 9 Joker is fine; 9 Joker 2 is not.

When a meld reaches seven cards, it is a finished book. Square it up into a pile; nothing more can be added to it.

• A clean book has no wild cards – put a red card on top.
• A dirty book has one or two wild cards – put a black card on top.
• A wild book is made only of wild cards (2s and jokers). You may start a meld of three or more wild cards and add wild cards to it until it has seven.

Your side may not have two unfinished melds of the same rank at the same time. Once a book of a rank is finished, you may start a new meld of that rank.

Setup

1. Choose a first dealer; the deal passes to the left after each round.
2. The dealer deals each player a hand of 13 cards, face down. The dealer's partner deals each player a second pile of 13 cards, the foot. Leave your foot face down beside you – don't look at it.
3. The rest of the cards form the face-down stock (draw pile). Turn its top card face up next to it to start the discard pile.
4. Pick up your hand. If it contains red 3s, lay them face up in front of your side at your first turn and draw a replacement from the stock for each.

Playing a turn

The player to the dealer's left starts; play goes clockwise. On your turn:

1. Draw: take the top two cards of the stock – or take from the discard pile (see below).
2. Meld (optional): start new melds and/or add cards to your side's melds.
3. Discard one card face up onto the discard pile.

Because you draw two and discard one, your hand grows as you play.

Red 3s

Whenever you get a red 3 (from the stock or from your foot), lay it face up with your side's melds at once and draw a replacement card from the stock. Each red 3 on the table is worth 100 to your side.

Black 3s

Black 3s can never be melded. Their only use: if you discard one, the next player can't take the discard pile. A black 3 left in your hand or foot at the end costs 5 points.

Your side's first meld

The first time your side lays out anything in a round, the cards you put down in that turn must add up to a minimum, which rises each round:

Only the card values count – not red 3s or bonuses. Several melds together may make up the minimum. After that, both partners may meld freely for the rest of the round.

Example: In round 2 your side needs 90. Anna lays out A A Joker (20 + 20 + 50 = 90) – enough. K K K and 8 8 8 (60) would not be.

Taking the discard pile

Instead of drawing two from the stock, you may take from the discard pile if:

• the top card is not a 3, and
• you hold two cards of the same rank as the top card, and
• you meld these three cards at once.

Then you take the top seven cards of the discard pile (or all of them if there are fewer): the top card goes into the meld, the others into your hand. After that you may meld more and then discard as usual.

If this is your side's first meld, only the top card counts towards the minimum – not the six other cards you are about to pick up.

Picking up your foot

Once your hand is empty, you pick up your foot:

• If you meld all the cards from your hand, pick up your foot at once and carry on with your turn from it (discarding one card at the end).
• If you meld all but one and discard the last one, pick up your foot and start playing from it on your next turn.

Any red 3s in your foot are laid out and replaced as usual.

Going out

You go out by getting rid of all the cards in your foot – by melding all of them, or melding all but one and discarding it. The round then ends. You may only go out if:

1. your side has at least two clean books, two dirty books and one wild book, and
2. your partner has picked up their foot and played at least one turn from it, and
3. you ask your partner's permission ("Partner, may I go out?") and they say yes.

Until you are allowed to go out, you have to keep at least one card after your discard.

Stock runs out: if a player needs to draw and the stock is empty, the round ends at once. Both sides score, but nobody gets the bonus for going out.

Scoring

When the round ends, each side scores:

• plus the value of all cards in its melds and books,
• plus the bonuses in the table,
• minus the value of all cards still in its players' hands and feet – including a foot that was never picked up. A red 3 in an unused foot counts −100.

Both sides score for their books, whether they went out or not.

Example: Ben goes out. His side has two clean books (Kings 70, 5s 35), two dirty books (Queens with one 2: 80; 7s with a joker: 80), a wild book of four jokers and three 2s (260), the meld 9 9 9 (30) and one red 3. Cards: 70 + 35 + 80 + 80 + 260 + 30 = 555. Bonuses: 1000 + 600 + 1500 + 100 + going out 100 = 3300. Total 3855. The other side has one clean book of Aces (140 + 500), J J J Joker (80) and a red 3 (100). Carla still holds A 8 4 (35); Dan never picked up his foot, which contains cards worth 170. Score: 140 + 500 + 80 + 100 − 35 − 170 = 615.

Winning the game

Play four rounds, with the minimum first meld rising each round. Add up each side's scores; after round 4, the side with the higher total wins.

Tips for beginners

• Get into your foot early. Cards you can't play count against you – and a whole unused foot hurts.
• Wild cards are precious: you need seven of them for the wild book. Don't spend them freely on dirty melds.
• Keep an eye on the requirements: two clean, two dirty, one wild.
• Discard a black 3 when the discard pile holds cards your opponents want.
• Sort your cards by rank – hands get big.

Variants

All optional – agree before you start. Hand and Foot is played in many local versions, so check which one your table uses.

• Other numbers of players: from 2 to 6, always with one deck more than players. With 6, play three partnerships of two or two teams of three; with 2, 3 or 5, everyone plays alone.
• Easier going out: many rule sheets only require two clean and two dirty books; wild books aren't played.
• 11 cards: hand and foot of 11 cards each instead of 13.
• Saskatchewan Hand and Foot: hand of 11, foot of 13, books called canastas that may grow beyond seven cards, the whole discard pile is taken, and going out needs one clean, one dirty and one wild canasta.