The Official Rules
Master the strategy, understand the mechanics, and dominate the table in Hand and Foot Frenzy.
Quick Start (the 60-second version)
New to the game? Here is the whole thing in eight steps. Read on below for the full detail on each.
1
Decks
Use one more standard 52-card deck (with jokers) than there are players. Four players = five decks.
2
Deal
Each player gets two stacks of 11 cards — a Hand and a Foot. Look at your Hand only.
3
Goal
Build melds (3+ cards of the same rank). Grow a meld to 7 cards to make a canasta.
4
Your turn
Draw two from the stock (or take the discard pile if you can use the top card), meld what you can, discard one.
5
The Foot
When your Hand is empty, pick up your Foot and keep playing.
6
Open
Your team's first meld each round must hit a minimum: 60, 90, 120, then 150 points across the four rounds.
7
Win the round
Once your team has at least one clean and one dirty canasta, a player empties both Hand and Foot and discards their last card to go out.
8
Score
Add card values plus bonuses (canastas, going out, red 3s), subtract anything left in hand. Highest total after four rounds wins.
The Essentials
Introduction
Hand and Foot is a strategic, partnership-driven take on Canasta that became popular in North America in the 1950s. It scales naturally to two, three, or four players — though pairs play, with partners seated opposite each other, is the most common configuration.
The defining twist is the two-stage hand: every player gets a Hand they play first, and a Foot they cannot touch until the Hand is empty. That single mechanic shapes the whole round — pacing your melds, keeping cards in reserve for the Foot, and reading whether a partner is close to going out all flow from it.
A full game runs four rounds. Each round ends the moment any team plays their last card while satisfying the canasta requirement, so timing your "going out" play is as important as accumulating raw points.
The Objective
Score the highest total across four rounds by building melds — sets of three or more cards of the same rank — and locking in canastas of seven cards. A team only ends a round by going out after meeting the canasta requirements on the table.
Card Values
Joker
50 pts
Aces & 2s
20 pts
8 through King
10 pts
4 through 7
5 pts
Red 3 (meld bonus)
+100 pts
Black 3 (cannot be melded)
—
Setup & Preparation
Decks
Use one more standard 52-card deck (including its two jokers) than the number of players. A four-player game uses five shuffled decks; a two-player game uses three. Mix the decks thoroughly before dealing — the rest of the round assumes the stock is well-randomized.
Dealing
Each player is dealt two stacks of 11 cards. Pick up the first as your Hand. The second is your Foot — set it face down and don't look until your Hand is empty. The remaining cards form the stock; turn one face-up next to it to seed the discard pile.
The Discard Pile
The discard pile sits between players and grows by one card each turn. Its top card is what every opponent and partner will be eyeing — controlling what you give it is half the game. Wild cards, red 3s, and black 3s discarded on top freeze the pile until someone takes it with naturals.
The Flow of Play
1. The Draw
Draw two cards from the central stock, or take the top four cards of the discard pile (or all of it if fewer than four remain) when you can immediately meld its top card with at least two natural cards of the same rank from your hand — or legally extend one of your team's existing melds with it.
2. Meld & Open
Lay down sets of three or more cards of the same rank. To open the round, your team must meet a minimum point threshold that grows each round: 60, 90, 120, 150 points. After you've opened, additional melds in the same round have no minimum.
3. Canastas & The Foot
Build a meld to seven cards to lock in a canasta — a clean book (no wilds) or dirty book (with wilds). When you play every card in your Hand, pick up the Foot and continue playing on the same turn.
Building Melds
A meld is a set of three or more cards that share the same rank. There is no upper limit on meld size — once the third card joins, the meld can grow indefinitely. When it reaches seven cards it becomes a canasta (also called a "book") and unlocks the canasta bonus described in the Scoring Chart.
Clean vs. Dirty Melds
A clean meld contains no wild cards — every card shares the same natural rank. A dirty meld includes one or more wild cards (jokers or 2s) standing in for naturals. Wild cards can never outnumber the naturals in the same meld, and every meld must include at least one natural card.
Shared Across the Team
In partnership play, melds belong to the team, not the player. Either partner can extend any of the team's round melds on their turn — coordinating which ranks to commit to early is one of the core strategic decisions of the game.
Wild Cards & Threes
Jokers (50 pts)
Wild. Stand in for any natural rank inside a dirty meld. Discarding a joker freezes the pile.
Deuces / 2s (20 pts)
Wild. Same melding rules as jokers — can never outnumber naturals in the same meld. Discarding a 2 freezes the pile.
Red 3s (+100 each)
Bonus cards. After your side has opened the round, lay red 3s down in batches of three for a 100-point bonus per card. Left in your hand or foot at round end, each one is a 100-point penalty.
Black 3s (defensive)
Cannot be melded. Their only use is the discard — playing one freezes the pile and prevents the next opponent from picking it up.
Going Down by Round
The minimum point value of the first meld(s) your team puts down each round — your "opening" threshold — grows as the game progresses. Once your team has opened, additional melds in the same round have no minimum.
Round
Minimum points
Round 1
60 pts
Round 2
90 pts
Round 3
120 pts
Round 4
150 pts
Scoring Chart
Each round's score is the sum of every card's face value across all your melds, plus bonuses, minus the face value of any cards still in players' hands or feet when the round ends.
Card values
Joker
50 pts
Aces & 2s
20 pts
8 through King
10 pts
4 through 7
5 pts
Red 3 (meld bonus)
+100 pts
Black 3 (cannot be melded)
—
Bonuses & penalties
Going out
+100
Clean canasta (no wilds)
+500
Dirty canasta (with wilds)
+300
Red 3 (per card, when melded)
+100
Cards left in hand or foot
subtract face value
Going Out
To end a round, your side must have at least one clean canasta and one dirty canasta on the table, then a player on that side must empty both Hand and Foot and play a final discard. The instant those conditions are met, the round ends automatically and scoring runs.
Etiquette note: most groups expect the player about to go out to ask their partner's permission before playing the closing discard. The partner can hold the round open by saying no — useful when they still have low-value cards in hand that would be lost as penalty.
Hand and Foot for 2 players
Hand and Foot works well head-to-head. Use three decks (players + 1) including jokers, deal each player a Hand and a Foot of 11 cards as usual, and play straight singles instead of partnerships. Everything else — opening minimums, canasta requirements, going out — stays the same.
The main difference in feel: with no partner to back you up, discard-pile control and protecting your Foot matter even more. For the deck counts and format at every other player count, see the Hand and Foot by player count guide in the Guides menu.
Common house rules & variations
Hand and Foot is famously house-rule-friendly. Common variations include different opening minimums, requiring more or fewer canastas to go out, allowing or banning "going out concealed" (playing your whole Foot in one turn), and tweaks to red-3 handling.
Agree on the house rules before you deal. Online, private tables let you set custom house rules so your family's version travels with you.
Printable rules & score sheet
Want a copy for the table? Download a one-page printable Hand and Foot rules summary and a score sheet for tracking all four rounds. Both download as a PDF, ready to print.
Reference
Three companion pages drill into the parts of the rules that come up most often. Each is updated from the same source as this page — every numeric claim matches the rules engine that runs the game.
Full Scoring Chart
Every card value, every bonus, the penalty cards, and a worked example showing how a round adds up.
Going Down by Round
A focused page on the per-round opening minimums, the red-3-melds-excluded rule, and worked first-meld examples.
Ranked Variants
How the Ranked monthly rule rotation works and the categories of rule deltas a variant may introduce.
Strategy Guides
Three opinion-driven deep dives into the three highest-leverage decisions in Hand and Foot — what to do with wilds, when to freeze the pile, and when to close the round. The rules above tell you what is legal; these pages tell you what is wise.
Strategy: Melding Wilds
When to hold a wild versus play it, the +200 swing between clean and dirty canastas, and per-meld wild limits.
Strategy: Freezing the Pile
How freezes work, when to spend a wild for one, breaking a freeze, and the defensive late-round stall.
Strategy: Going-Out Timing
Partner-permission etiquette, counting partner's hand, and why the +100 bonus is rarely the right reason to close.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many decks do you need for Hand and Foot?
One more than the number of players, including jokers. Two players use three decks; four players use five. Shuffle all the decks together thoroughly before dealing.
Is Hand and Foot the same as Canasta?
Hand and Foot is a Canasta variant. The biggest differences: each player is dealt two stacks of 11 cards (a Hand and a Foot), melds have a minimum size of three (not two), and rounds end automatically when a player empties both stacks and their team has the required canastas.
How many cards do you start with in Hand and Foot?
Each player is dealt two stacks of 11 cards. You play through your Hand first; once it is empty you pick up the Foot and continue on the same turn.
What is the difference between a clean and a dirty canasta?
A clean canasta is seven same-rank cards with no wild cards (+500 bonus). A dirty canasta is seven same-rank cards that include at least one wild (+300 bonus). You need at least one of each on the table to go out.
Is there a maximum meld size in Hand and Foot Frenzy?
No. The minimum meld is three cards of the same rank; there is no upper limit. A meld becomes a canasta (a "book") once it reaches seven cards and continues to score normally as more cards are added.
When can you pick up the discard pile?
You can pick up when you hold at least two natural cards matching the top card's rank to immediately meld it, or when the top card legally extends one of your team's existing round melds. A pickup takes the top four cards of the pile — or all of it if fewer than four remain — and the top card must be melded right away. The discard pile is frozen when a wild card, red 3, or black 3 sits on top — once frozen, you can only take it by playing two naturals of the matching rank from hand.
What happens when the stock runs out?
When the stock can no longer supply a full two-card draw, the discard pile is shuffled into a new stock — except its top five cards, which stay behind as the discard pile so it remains available for pickups. The reshuffle happens automatically on the draw that needs it, and the turn history notes it. If even the reshuffle cannot supply a full draw, the round ends immediately and is scored as it stands.
What is the minimum point value to open in each round?
Round 1 requires 60 points to lay down your first meld, round 2 requires 90, round 3 requires 120, and round 4 requires 150. The minimum applies only to the meld(s) you use to open; subsequent melds in the same round have no minimum.
Can a meld contain only wild cards?
No. Every meld must contain at least one natural card, and wild cards (jokers and 2s) cannot outnumber the naturals in the same meld.
What are red 3s and black 3s used for?
A red 3 is a bonus card worth +100 each. After your side has opened the round, you can lay red 3s down in batches of three for the bonus; left in your hand or foot at round end they count as a 100-point penalty. Black 3s cannot be melded — they exist only to be discarded, and discarding one freezes the pile.
How do you go out in Hand and Foot Frenzy?
Empty both your Hand and your Foot, then play a final discard. Your side must have at least one clean canasta and one dirty canasta on the table before going out is allowed. Etiquette: many groups expect the player going out to ask their partner for permission before playing the closing discard.
How is a Hand and Foot game scored?
Each round, sum the face value of every melded card, add bonuses (going out +100, clean canasta +500, dirty canasta +300, red 3 +100 each), then subtract the face value of any cards left in players' hands or feet. The team or player with the highest cumulative score after four rounds wins.