Hand and Foot Canasta

Hand and Foot is a game related to Canasta, in which each player is dealt two sets of cards - the hand, which is played first, and the foot, which is played when the hand has been used up. There are numerous variations of this game and no standard rules. The most usual version is for four players in partnership.

Each player picks up their 'hand', and play begins with the player on the left side of the dealer. The player is supposed to draw two cards from the Stock on each turn, and then discard one card on each turn. If a red Three is drawn, it is put down immediately and replaced with a new card from the deck.

The aim is to get rid of cards from your hand, and then from your foot, by melding them. A meld is a set of from three to seven cards of equal rank placed face up on the table. A meld cannot have fewer than three cards or more than seven. Melds belong to a partnership, not to an individual player.