Learn & Then Play: “Hand, Foot, Elbow” Canasta

Many of you have enjoyed playing Hand & Foot. In this variation, teams of two play across the table and make up “required” canastas:
Five required canastas (sets of seven cards) 5’s only, 7’s only, Wilds, 1 Clean, and 1 Dirty.

THIS WILL BE A TEACHING and PLAYING DAY. ITS SO EASY!!! We will learn what Canasta hands are and then play a few rounds this fun, engaging card game as partners of two - up to three partner teams with seven decks of cards with Jokers.

If you can bring Seven decks shuffled that will help speed up play. Please bring a dish to share as well break after discussion of the Rules of Play and grab a bite.

Those five Canastas are required before a team can go out (additional canastas may be made and in those, can consist of more than seven cards, etc.)
We start with the “hand” of 15 cards. A team may pick up their “elbow” of 13 cards once they’ve closed their first canasta. A player may pick up her “foot” when she has run out of cards to play and then playing through, or after discard, she then may pick up and look at her foot.

Please sign up to come if you have played some version of Canasta or Hand & Foot before. If you have any questions, call me! My telephone number will be in the private comments below.

We will limit today’s play to 4 players initially. It’s actually pretty easy to learn if you’ve played any type of Canasta or Hand & Foot. We play as pair partners to make the canasta sets.

We usually play three or four rounds and it lasts about 3 hours. I will have a printed sheet of our Table Rules.
Seven decks of cards are used for each round. Please add a comment if you’re able to bring a pre-shuffled set of seven decks.

Please be mindful of your RSVP as we count on you to attend if you say you will. My telephone number is in the private comments below if you need to reach me.