Hand And Foot Card Game

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  2. The Hand and Foot card game is a variation of Canasta, which means ‘basket’ in Spanish. It became popular in the United States in the 1950s. Playing cards has always been a popular and one of the most loved ways of spending time with family and friends, while you have some fun planning strategies and moves.

Hand and Foot is a great card game and is extremely popular. I have been playing for over 15 years now with family and friends. Hand and Foot is similar to Canasta but with a few differences in rules and game play. A player is dealt two sets of cards: one ‘Hand’ and one ‘Foot’. The object of the game is to build melds of cards to form.

Looking for an interesting card game for friends or a family get together? If yes, then a hand and foot card game is the best choice for you. We all love playing cards during vacations, free times, or family gatherings as they are fun and never fails to entertain. Here is an article all about hand and foot card game so that you can enjoy them with your friends and family.

How to Play Hand and Foot Card Game?

One best thing about card games is that they can provide you hours of entertainment. They are perfect and offer some best ways to have fun with family and friends. Hand and foot card game is one of the best fun card games. Continue reading the article to find out about hand and foot card game rules.

The Pack

To play a hand and foot game, you need five to six decks of cards that have Jokers.

Object of the Game

In order to understand how to play hand and foot card game rules, it is better to understand the object of the game. The main object of the game is to get rid of all your cards, first ‘hand’ and then ‘foot’ by melding them.

Card Values

Here is the scoring of the hand and foot card game.

  • Jokers (Wild Cards) – 50 points
  • Aces – 20 points
  • Deuces (Wild Cards) – 20 points
  • Eight through Kings – 10 points
  • Three though Sevens – 5 points

Pile Values

  • Read Pile – 500 points
  • Black Pile – 300 points
  • The player who goes out gets 100 points as a bonus
  • Black three hold minus 5 points, and red threes hold minus 500 points.

What is Meld?

Meld is a set of three to seven cards that are of equal rank. They are placed on the table.

  • A meld should not have less than three cards.
  • Melds are of partnership, and they do not belong to individual players.
  • After starting the meld, each partner is allowed to play further cards on melds of any partner until there are seven. After that, it becomes a “closed pile.”
  • A meld should not have more than seven cards.
  • After completing a pile, you can begin another meld belonging to the same rank.
  • You are allowed to meld cards belonging to any rank from A, K, Q,…. and are allowed to go down to 4.
  • Jokers, deuces (2’s) are wild cards. You can use them in melds as long as there are at least double as many real cards of the rank present in the meld as that of wild cards.
  • You can not use black and red three cards in the melds.
  • A meld can have a maximum of two wild cards.
  • You are not allowed to meld the cards alone.
  • A complete meld contains seven cards, and it is known as Pile.
  • Two types of melds. First is Clean or Natural meld, which has no wild cards, and it may become a Red Pile. The other one is Dirty of Wild Meld, which has wild cards. It may become a Black Pile.
  • Melds are laid out by keeping them face up so that everyone can see. The card present on the top shows the type of meld. A red card represents Red Pile, and a black one represents Black Pile.
  • You can not play wild cards on Piles.

Starting the Game

  • First of all, decide which partnership will deal first. After shuffling all the cards, one partner has to take half of the cards and deal 11 cards to all the players by facing the cards down. These cards are the hand stack. Now the second partner takes the other half of the cards and provides eleven cards to each player. These cards are the foot stack.
  • Decide which player begins the game. After shuffling all the cards, place them in the middle in two stacks and make sure to face the cards down. The first player has to randomly select a stack of cards from the stock with counting. He or she has to try to get close to 22 cards.
  • Now the player counts the cards in two stacks of 11. Out of the two, one is for the hand stack, and the other is for the foot stack. In case the player has pulled too few or too many cards, pull additional or replace cards from the stack present in the middle of the table so that there are 11 cards each in foot and hand stack. Rotate in the left in order to allow the remaining players to choose their stacks.
  • After completion of each round, the turn to deal moves to the left.

The Play

  • The remaining cards are kept face down on the table in order to create a stock.
  • The foot cards of the players are kept face and set aside. The players can not look at these cards until they have played the cards present in their hands.
  • Each player has to pick up their hand. The game starts with the player present on the left of the person who dealt with the current round.
  • You need to take turns to play the passes in a clockwise way around the table until a player goes out.
  • At each turn, a player has the option to
    • Draw the two cards present on the top of the stock.
    • Meld some cards assuming that the round minimum can be met. Or the players can also add cards to the meld of their partners.
    • End their turn by discarding one card present on the discard pile.
  • Rather than taking two cards from the stock in the hand and foot card game, you can also pick the five cards present on the top of the discard pile. If the pile has less than five cards, then you can take the complete pile. In order to take cards from the discard pile, you should:
    • You need to hold two cards of the same rank as the card present on the top.
    • You should immediately meld three cards, along with the other card that you want to play.
  • After picking cards from the discard pile, you have to complete your turn by discarding one card.

Rounds in Hand and Foot Card Game

There are four rounds in each hand and foot game. Each round consists of a minimum meld requirement, which increases after the completion of each round.

You need to put down the cards with similar face values that add up to the minimum requirement or more before your team is “in the game.” You are allowed to put down various melds at one time in order to achieve this.

In case you are picking up the pile, you are allowed to meld additional cards present in your hand along with the top discard. You can also discard the two that match in order to make the minimum count.

  • Round 1: The total of card points must be at least 50 to begin play.
  • Round 2: The total of card points should be at least 90.
  • Round 3: The total should be at least 120.
  • Round 4: The sum should be at least 150 to begin the play.

Picking Up Feet

After playing all the cards present in your hand, either by discarding or melding them, you have to pick from the foot and then start playing from it.

Hand And Foot Card Game Score Sheet

If you get rid of the card without discarding it, then you can continue playing the game into your foot while playing that hand. In case you have to discard the last card you have in order to get into the foot, you should hold your play until your turn.

Card

Red and Black Threes

In the hand and foot card game, red and black threes have no actual use, and they are exception cards. Red threes are not needed and if you have them, then try to discard them as soon as possible. In case you have a red three in your foot or hand at the end of the round, then your team gets minus three points for each red three.

Black three also do not have any use excite blacking the next player from picking a card from the discard pile. If you have black threes at the end of the round, then you get minus five against your total score. The only way to get rid of black threes is by discarding them into the discard pile.

Ending the Play in Hand and Foot Game

In the hand and foot card game, the play comes to an end when one partner is eliminated. In order to go out, your partnership should:

  • Complete a minimum of two Black Piles and two Red Piles.
  • Your partners pick up the foot and play a turn from it.
  • You need to take permission from your partner to go out. If your partner is okay, then you need to meld all the remaining cards.

It is not essential to discard the cards to go out. You can meld all the cards in order to finish the game.

Scoring

You can get two scores per hand. The score points are the combined face value of all the cards that you have melded. In case your team does not go out and you have cards in your hand or foot, then you lose points for the cards you have. The round ends when a team gets rid of all the cards present in its Hand and Foot. Moreover, the team with the highest points wins the game.

Final Words

The hand and foot card game is an amazing game to play with your friends and family. It is a fun and lighter game with simple rules, which makes it the perfect choice for everyone. The game is full of suspense and entertainment. Now that you know how to play hand and foot game, what are you waiting for? Play this amazing game and share your experience with us by dropping a comment.

GoCampingAmerica.com Posted March 4th, 2013

How to Play the Card Game Hand and Foot

Happy Camper Blog

Hand and Foot is a North American game related to canasta.

Each player is dealt two sets of cards using one as the “hand” and one as the “foot. There are numerous variations of the game and no “standard” rules. You can either play as individuals or as teams. The most common version of the game is played with four players in partnerships; it can also be played by six people in two teams of three or by any number of individuals.

The following rules are for our “favorite” way to play with four people, two teams of two:

  • Decks:You’ll need four full deck of 52 cards, including the jokers – one deck per player.
  • Dealing:You can choose of the two options to deal, but whatever method is chosen should be used consistently within the game.

TO START

1. Choose which partnership deals first. After all the cards have been sufficiently shuffled, one partner takes half the cards and deals 11 cards to each player face down, these cards will be your hand stack. The second partner takes the other half of the cards and deals 11 cards to each player face down, these cards become your foot stack. Subsequent deals rotate to the left to spread the deal.

2. Choose which player goes first. After all the cards have been sufficiently shuffled place all the cards in the middle of the table in two face down stacks. The first player selects a random “stack” of cards off the stock, without actually counting, trying to get as close to 22 total cards as possible*. The player counts their cards into two stacks of 11 cards each, one for the hand stack and one for the foot stack. If they have selected too many or too little cards, replace or pull additional cards from the stack in the middle of the table to get to a total of 22 cards, 11 in the hand, 11 in the foot. Rotate left for remaining players to select their “stacks.

*If a player originally pulls exactly 22 cards off the center stacks – they earn 300 bonus points.

3. After each round of play is completed, the turn to deal passes to the left.

  • Object of the Game: The aim is to get rid of cards from your hand (11 cards), and then from your foot (11 cards), by melding them
  • What is a MELD? A set of three to seven cards of equal rank placed face up on the table.
    • A Meld cannot have fewer than three cards.
    • Melds belong to a partnership and not an individual player.
    • After a meld has been started, each partner can play further cards on either partners melds until there are seven, it then becomes a “closed pile”.
    • A meld cannot contain more than seven cards.
    • If you complete a pile, you can start another meld of the same rank.
    • You can meld cards of any rank from A, K, Q, … down to 4.
    • Deuces or 2’s and Jokers are wild cards and can be used in melds, as long as there is at least twice as many real cards of the rank of the meld as wild cards.
    • Red and black threes cannot be used in melds.
    • A meld can contain a total of two wild cards at most.
    • You cannot meld wild cards alone.
    • A Meld of seven cards is complete and is called a Pile.
    • There are two types of melds
      • 1. A Clean (Natural) Meld has no wild cards and may become a Red Pile.
      • 2. A Dirty(Wild) Meld has wild cards and may become a Black Pile.
    • While melds are laid out face up for everyone to see, completed piles are stacked up and the card placed on top shows the type – a red card for a Red Pile, a black card for a Black Pile. Cards of equal rank can be played on completed Piles.
    • Wild cards cannot be played on Piles.

THE PLAY

1. The remainder of the cards are placed face down in the middle of the table to form a “stock”.

2. The players “foot” cards are placed faced down and set aside – players are not allowed to look at them until they have played all the cards in their hands.

3. Each player picks up their “hand” and play begins with the player on the left of the one who “dealt” the round.

4. Turn to play passes clockwise around the table until someone goes out.

5. At each turn a player:

  • Draws the top two cards off the stock**
  • Has the option of melding some cards, assuming round minimum can be met, or adding cards to their partners meld
  • Discards one card on the discard pile to end their turn

**Instead of drawing two cards off the stock, you may take the top five cards from the discard pile. If the pile contains fewer than five cards, you may take the whole pile, but you may never take more than five cards from the discard pile at any one time. In order to pick up from the discard pile you must:

  • You must hold two cards which are the same rank as the top card
  • You must immediately meld these three cards (the two you are holding and the top discard), along with any other cards you wish to play

Hand And Foot Score Sheet Printable

5. After picking up from the discard pile, complete your turn by by discarding one card as usual.

ROUNDS:

A game consists of four rounds. Each round has a minimum meld requirement that increases with each round.

You must put down cards whose individual face values add up to at least the minimum requirement before your team is “in the game”. You can put down several melds at once to achieve this. If you are picking up the pile, you can meld additional cards from you hand along with the top discard and the two that match to help you make up the minimum count, including wild cards. However, you cannot count any of the other six cards you are pick up towards the minimum.

  • Round 1, cards points must total at least 50 to start play
  • Round 2, cards points must total at least 90 to start play
  • Round 3, cards points must total at least 120 to start play
  • Round 4, cards points must total at least 150 to start play

PICKING UP YOUR FEET

When you have been able to play all the cards in your hand, by either melding or discarding them, you then pick up your foot and play from that.

If you are able to get rid of all your cards in your hand without discarding, you can continue to play into your foot during that hand. If you have to discard the last card to get into your foot, you must hold your play until your turn comes around the table.

RED AND BLACK THREES

Hand And Foot Card Game Score Sheet

Red and black threes are exception cards and have no real use. Red threes are undesirable cards and if you find you are holding a red three you should discard it as soon as possible. If you are caught with a red three in your hand or foot at the end of a round, your team will be charged minus 300 points per red three against your total score. Black threes have no use except to block the next player from picking up from the discard pile when you discard them. If you have any black threes left in your hand or foot at the end of a round counts 5 points against your teams total score. There is no way to get rid of a black three, except for discarding them, one by one, into the discard pile.

END OF PLAY

The play ends when one of the partners “goes out”. In order to go out, your partnership must:

  1. Have at completed at least two Red Piles and two Black Piles.
  2. Your partner must have picked up their foot and played at least part of a turn from it.
  3. You must ask your partners permission to go out. If your partner agrees you must meld all of your remaining cards, or meld all but one of your remaining cards and discard your last card. If your partner says “no” you cannot go out.

You do not have to discard to go out, all possible cards can be melded to complete the game. Scoring You receive two scores per hand. You score points for the combined face value of all cards you have melded AND for each pile. If your team did not go out, you are caught with cards in your hand or foot and you lose points for those cards left at the end of the play. The round ends when the first team gets rid of all the cards in their Hand and Foot, by melding/booking or discarding them. Card Values

  • Jokers = 50 points (Wild Card)
  • Deuces = 20 points (Wild Card)
  • Aces = 20 points
  • Eight through King (8-K) = 10 points
  • Four through Seven (4-7) = 5 pointsKing (8-K) = 10 points
  • Red three = minus 300 points
  • Black three = minus 5 points

Pile Values

Hand And Foot Card Game Rules Hoyle

  • Red Pile = 500 points
  • Black Pile = 300 points
  • Player going out gets 100 bonus points
  • 5/500 - Black threes are -5 points, Red threes are -500 points

Hand And Foot Card Game Buy


Learn more about this game and others at pagat.com