Classic Canasta
The game a lot of us learned at the kitchen table. Eleven cards at four, one canasta to go out, and the game runs to 5,000.
Classic and Modern American Canasta
Canasta night, wherever everyone lives.
Two or four players, partners across the table, and video built in, so you can see who’s eyeing the pile. The table shuffles, deals, and keeps score. Nothing to download.
Classic or Modern American · 2 or 4 players · Video at the table · No downloads
How a table works
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Open a table
Enter your name and email. Choose Classic or Modern American, and two or four players. You get a short room code.
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Send the code
Text it, email it, or read it out over the phone. Friends type it in on any phone, tablet, or computer.
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Deal and talk
Start when you’re ready and turn on video if you like. An empty seat gets an auto player, so you don’t need a full table to begin.
What you can play
Modern American Canasta
The club game. Thirteen cards at four, a higher opening, and the game runs to 8,500. Special hands are optional at four.
Two or four players
Play head to head with fifteen cards and two draws a turn, or as two pairs with partners sitting opposite.
Partners and auto players
Pick your pair in the waiting room. Short of a player? An auto player takes the chair and plays its part.
Video at the table
See faces and hear the groan when someone takes a fat pile. Video is optional, and you can mute or turn the camera off.
The table keeps the rules
Opening minimums, frozen piles, red 3s, going out, and the running score are handled for you.
Canasta in two minutes
Two decks plus four jokers: 108 cards. Twos and jokers are wild. On your turn you draw from the stock, or take the whole discard pile when you can meld its top card. Then meld if you want to, and discard one card.
A meld is three or more cards of the same rank. Seven makes a canasta: natural with no wilds, mixed when wilds helped. Your side’s first melds must reach an opening minimum, and that minimum rises as your score grows. Red 3s are bonus cards. They go face up as soon as you get them.
Go out when your side has the canastas it needs. Then everyone counts up. Classic is played to 5,000. Modern American is played to 8,500.
For the Canasta four who don’t live on the same street anymore.
The partner from the club who moved south. The cousins who only see each other at weddings. The friend abroad who still counts the red 3s out loud. Open a table, send the code, and play the next hand together.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to download anything?
No. Canasta plays in the browser on phones, tablets, and computers.
Can two people play?
Yes. Pick 2 players and each of you plays alone, with fifteen cards and two draws a turn.
We only have three. Can we still play?
Yes. Start a 4-player table and an auto player takes the empty chair.
Which rules do you use?
Classic Canasta and Modern American Canasta. The host picks one when opening the table. Full rules.
Is this the same as Hand and Foot?
Same family, different game. How they differ. Hand and Foot has its own page.
Do we have to use video?
No. It’s there if you want it, and the game works the same without it.