History
Invented in Uruguay early in the 20th century, Canasta developed in Argentina and spread to the United States in 1949. During the early '50s, it was probably the biggest card game fad the United States has ever seen. The name of the game, which means "basket" in Spanish, may come from the tray used to hold the stock and discards.
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Basic info
Canasta is normally a four-player game, though it can also be played by two. (A six-player version exists, but is not an option at Yahoo!) To play either variation, two standard 52-card decks and four jokers are combined to make a 108-card deck.
The rules below describe the four-player game, but differences in the two-player game are noted when applicable. (Throughout these rules, "partnership" should be taken to mean "player" in a two-player game.) Players are divided into two competing partnerships, and partners sit across from one another.
The object is to be the first partnership to score 5,000 points. Points are earned by melding sets of three or more cards of the same rank.
Game Play
The Deal
In a four-player game, 11 cards are dealt to each player; in a two-player game, each player is dealt 15 cards. The remainder of the deck is placed facedown to form the stock, and the top card of the stock is turned faceup and placed alongside the stock to start a discard pile.
The Play
Beginning with the player to the dealer's left, each player in turn either
1. draws the top card of the stock (or the top two cards, if players have chosen that option in setting up their table), makes any melds he or she wishes to (subject to initial meld requirements, as explained below), and then discards a card faceup onto the discard pile (even if two cards were drawn, only one is discarded); or
2. if certain conditions are met (see "Taking the Discard Pile"), picks up the entire discard pile and adds it to his or her hand.
Play continues until either (i) one player--whose partnership must have formed at least one canasta--goes out by discarding or melding his or her last card; or (ii) when the stock is exhausted.
Playing at Yahoo
Shuffling, dealing, and scoring are handled automatically at Yahoo! Players take actions by clicking on cards and/or labeled buttons, as follows:
To draw a card, a player clicks on the stack.
To discard a card, click on the card you wish to discard and then on the "Discard" button. (You can instead click on the "No Discard" button in a situation in which you are not required to discard.)
To meld, click on the cards you want to meld, then click on the Meld button--unless you are melding for the first time in a hand and want to take the discard pile, in which case you click on the cards and then on the discard pile.
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To pick up the discard pile, simply click on it if there is only one way for you to take the pile. If there is more than one way for you to take the pile--that is, when you hold at least two natural matching cards and a wild card--you must first click on the cards you want to use to take the pile, and then click on the pile.
In creating a Canasta table at Yahoo!, a player may choose whether to play with two players or four, whether players draw one card or two cards each turn, and whether one canasta or two are required to go out.
source: games.yahoo.com
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