Canasta rules

Canasta for Three Players

Three is an awkward number for a partnership game, but Canasta handles it well. Everyone keeps their own score, and in the version Pagat.com gives, two players team up for each hand against whoever grabs the discard pile first.

This page covers only what changes with three players. For the basics of melds, canastas, wild cards and freezing the pile, start with how to play Canasta.

What changes with three players

The cards, point values, first-meld minimums and bonuses are all the same as in the four-player game.

Setting up

• Use the normal Canasta pack: two decks plus four jokers, 108 cards.
• Deal 13 cards to each player. Some families keep the four-player deal of 11. Fewer cards means shorter hands.
• Turn up the first discard as usual. A wild card or red three turned up freezes the pile from the start.
• The player to the dealer's left goes first, and play moves clockwise.

On each turn you draw two cards from the stock, or take the discard pile instead, then meld if you like and discard one card. Red threes go down at once and are replaced from the stock.

Two ways to play

Rule books split on how three players should relate to one another. Both versions are easy. Pick one before you start.

Version 1: Everyone for themselves

This is the simple version, and it is the one Wikipedia describes. There are no partners at all. Each player melds on their own, scores their own hand and needs their own canasta to go out. Think of it as two-player Canasta with an extra seat, though how many canastas you need is something to agree (see Going out).

Version 2: The lone player (Pagat's version)

This is the version Pagat.com gives alongside its classic rules. It adds a clever twist.

• At the start of a hand, nobody has a partner.
• The first player to take the discard pile becomes the lone player for that hand.
• The other two immediately become partners against them, until the hand ends.
• Partners share their melds, so either partner can add to them. Each partner keeps their own red threes.
• If someone goes out before anyone has taken the pile, the player who went out counts as the lone player.
• If the stock runs out and nobody ever took the pile, everyone scores separately.

The idea is that taking the pile gives you a big advantage, so the other two join forces to balance it out. It makes the decision to take a small pile more interesting.

The first meld

Each player has their own running score, so each player has their own first-meld minimum:

In the lone-player version, two temporary partners may have different minimums. Whichever partner makes the pair's first meld must meet the minimum for their own score. After that, both partners can meld freely.

Going out

The classic rule stays the same: you need at least one canasta to go out, either your own or, in the lone-player version, one belonging to your partnership. Going out earns 100 points, or 200 if you go out concealed.

Some groups raise the bar to two canastas, as in the two-player game. Wikipedia notes that when players draw two cards, two canastas are usually required. With a two-card draw there are plenty of cards around, so this keeps hands from ending too soon. Pagat's three-player rules keep the classic one canasta.

Scoring

Each hand is scored the usual way: canasta bonuses, red threes, the going-out bonus, plus melded cards, minus cards left in hand. Full values are on our Canasta scoring page. What changes is who gets the points.

• Everyone for themselves: simple. Each player scores their own hand.
• Lone-player version: the lone player's whole hand score goes to them. The partnership adds up its shared melds, canastas and the cards left in both partners' hands. That partnership total is then added to each partner's running score. Each partner also adds or subtracts their own red threes. Pagat does not say who gets the going-out bonus when a partner goes out; we count it as part of the partnership score, but agree this before you start.

So if the partnership scores 900 for the hand, both partners get 900. This sounds generous, but the lone player often scores well too, because they took the pile.

The target score

Pagat sets the game at 7,500. When one or more players reach it at the end of a hand, the highest score wins. The higher target makes sense: in the lone-player version, partners collect points for shared melds, so scores climb faster than in the four-player game.

Other sources stick with 5,000. If you play everyone-for-themselves with an 11-card deal, 5,000 is a reasonable game length.

Where sources disagree

None of these is wrong. Three-player Canasta has always been a "make it work" game. Agree your version before the first deal and stick with it for the whole game.

Tips for three-handed play

• In the lone-player version, think before you take a small pile. Taking it early means two people against you. Sometimes it is worth waiting until the pile is big enough to justify that.
• Watch both opponents' discards. The player on your right feeds you; the player on your left takes what you throw away. Be most careful about what you hand to your left.
• Black threes are your shield. A black three stops only the next player, so it protects you from the player on your left. More in red threes and black threes.

More general advice is in our Canasta strategy tips.

Setting up the scorekeeper

1. Choose Canasta and 3 teams. Each player is a team. Tap the names to type your own.
2. If you play to 7,500, open House rules and change "Game ends at" to 7,500. Leave it at 5,000 if that is your target.
3. Each player's first-meld minimum is shown under their score, based on their own total.

For the lone-player version, enter the partnership's shared points (melded cards, canastas and cards left in both hands) in both partners' columns, and each partner's own red threes in their own column. The scorekeeper gives the going-out bonus to one column only, so mark the partner who went out and add the bonus (100, or 200 if concealed) to the other partner under "Other." If a partnership never melded, tick No melds this hand in each partner's column so their red threes count against them.