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Official Hand and Foot Rules
Here's a breakdown of the rules for Hand and Foot, a fun and strategic card game similar to canasta that is typically played with partners:
Objective
The goal in Hand and Foot is to be the team with the most points scored by getting rid of all the cards in your "hand" and then your "foot" by melding them strategically.
Setup
1. Shuffle the Decks: Combine all decks thoroughly.
2. Deal the Cards:Each player receives 11 cards for their Hand, which they can look at immediately.
Each player is dealt a second set of 11 cards for their Foot, which is kept face down until their Hand is played.
3. Prepare the Stock and Discard Piles:Place the remaining cards face-down as the Stock pile.
Flip the top card to start the Discard pile. If it’s a Red Three, Deuce, or Joker, replace it with a new card.
Card Values & Scoring
Jokers (Wild Cards): 50 points each
Deuces (Wild Cards): 20 points each
Aces: 20 points each
Eights through Kings: 10 points each
Threes through Sevens: 5 points each
Game Rounds
The game is played over four rounds, each requiring a minimum point total for the first meld.
Round 1: Minimum meld of 50 points
Round 2: Minimum meld of 90 points
Round 3: Minimum meld of 120 points
Round 4: Minimum meld of 150 points
To meet the minimum requirement, players can combine multiple melds, using cards from their hand, wild cards, and the top discard. However, the other six cards from the discard pile cannot contribute toward the minimum points.
Gameplay
The goal is to play through your Hand, then move to your Foot, creating melds along the way.
Turns:
Draw two cards from the Stock pile at the start of your turn.
Create melds or add cards to existing melds.
Discard one card at the end of your turn.
Melds:
A meld consists of 3 to 7 cards of the same rank, placed face up.
Clean Meld (Red Book): Seven natural cards (no wild cards). Worth 500 points.
Dirty Meld (Black Book): At least four natural cards and one or more wild cards. Worth 300 points.
Once a meld reaches seven cards, it is complete and becomes a Book.
Picking Up the Discard Pile:
Players can take the top seven cards from the discard pile if:
They have two cards in their Hand matching the top card of the discard pile.
They immediately lay down those three cards as part of a meld.
Only the top card of the discard pile can count toward the minimum meld requirement.
Playing the Foot:
Once your Hand is depleted, announce you’re playing your Foot and continue.
Discarding your last card marks the end of your turn.
Going Out:
To end a round, a player must have at least one Clean Book, one Dirty Book, and discard their final card.
Scoring
At the end of each round:
Calculate points for completed melds.
Add the value of all cards played during the round.
Deduct points for any cards left in a player’s Hand or Foot.
The team or player with the highest cumulative score at the end of all rounds wins the game.
Notes/Variations
Starting Melds (Optional): Some variations allow players to create their first meld(s) on the table before their first turn by using cards from their hand. This can jumpstart the game.
Red Threes: While red Threes cannot be used in melds, drawing one allows you to immediately discard another card from your hand without ending your turn.
So there are the rules to the popular card game Hand and Foot! It's very similar to Canasta so many of the rules and skills will help you in both game types. Enjoy!