Special cards

Red Threes and Black Threes

Threes are the odd cards out in both Canasta and Hand and Foot. Red threes are bonus cards you lay down right away. Black threes are blockers you throw away to protect the pile. Here is how each works, and where house rules differ.

At a glance

Red threes in Canasta

How you play them

• If one is dealt to you, place it face up in front of you on your first turn and draw a replacement from the stock.
• If you draw one from the stock, lay it down and draw again.
• If the first card turned up for the discard pile is a red three, more cards are turned on top, and the pile starts out frozen.
• If a red three is the very last card in the stock, the player lays it down and the hand ends.

How they score

Collecting all four doubles their value. The flip side is that if your team never gets a meld down, those same red threes count against you. That is a good reason to get your first meld down quickly when you are holding several.

Red threes never count toward your first-meld minimum.

Black threes in Canasta

The stop card

When you discard a black three, the next player cannot pick up the discard pile on their turn. They must draw from the stock. That makes a black three the safest possible discard, especially when the pile is large.

In Hoyle-style rules, the block lasts only one turn. Once someone discards on top of the black three, the pile can be taken normally.

Some rule books, including Bicycle's, describe a discarded black three as freezing the pile, like a wild card. In practice, at most tables the effect is the same: the next player cannot take it. If your group thinks a black three freezes the pile for longer, agree that before you start.

Melding black threes

You may meld black threes only on the turn you go out, in a set of three or four with no wild cards. Otherwise they stay in your hand until you discard them.

Scoring

A black three is worth 5 points. If you are caught with one in your hand when someone goes out, it costs you 5.

Red threes in Hand and Foot

How you play them

• Lay each red three face up with your team's melds as soon as you get it, and draw a replacement.
• Red threes in your foot are laid down when you pick up the foot.
• If a red three is turned up to start the discard pile, it usually goes back into the stock and another card is turned.

How they score

This is the rule that varies most between families:

A red three usually gets "stuck" when the other team goes out before you reach your foot. With five decks there are ten red threes in the game, so it happens more often than you might think.

Most Hand and Foot groups do not give an extra bonus for four red threes, and red threes never count toward the round's meld minimum.

Black threes in Hand and Foot

• Discarding a black three stops the next player from picking up the discard pile.
• In most versions black threes cannot be melded at all.
• Each black three left in your hand or foot at the end costs 5 points.

Some groups allow a clean book of black threes, with no wild cards allowed. Others let you meld three or four black threes only on your going-out turn, as in Canasta. A few groups say a pair of black threes can never be used to pick up the pile.

Tips for using threes well

• Save black threes for when they matter. A black three is most useful when the pile is big or when you are not sure your discard is safe.
• Do not hold too many. They cannot be melded in normal play, so they clog your hand. Use one when you have a tough discard to make.
• In Canasta, red threes raise the stakes. If your team has two or three red threes and no meld, getting down quickly protects several hundred points.
• In Hand and Foot, reach your foot. An unopened foot may hide a red three that will cost you if the round ends.

Related pages

• How to play Canasta
• Canasta scoring
• How to play Hand and Foot
• Hand and Foot scoring