Hand and Foot is one of the most popular card games in America — and one of the least well explained. It’s closely related to Canasta, but has its own structure, its own vocabulary, and a few rules that catch almost every new player off guard.
This guide covers the complete rules from deal to finish, written for players who have never played before.
What Is Hand and Foot?
Hand and Foot is a partnership card game based on Canasta. Each player is dealt two separate piles of cards — the hand and the foot. You play through your hand first. Once it’s gone, you pick up your foot and keep playing.
The game is typically played over four rounds, with each round using a different minimum meld requirement. The partnership with the most points after four rounds wins.
What You Need to Play
- Players: 4 (in two partnerships of two) — some play with 6 players in two groups of three
- Cards: Five standard 52-card decks plus jokers — 270 cards total
- Partners: Sit opposite each other
- Goal: Be the first partnership to reach 10,000 points across four rounds
The Deal
This is where Hand and Foot immediately feels different from most card games.
Deal 11 cards to each player — this is the hand. Deal another 11 cards to each player separately, kept face down — this is the foot. Players may not look at their foot until they have played through their entire hand.
Place the remaining cards in the centre as the draw pile. Flip the top card to start the discard pile.
If the first face-up card is a wild card or a red three, keep flipping until a regular card appears.
Red Threes — Handle Them Immediately
Any red three in your hand must be placed face up on the table before play begins. Draw a replacement card from the draw pile.
Red threes score 100 points each at the end of the round — but only if your partnership has completed at least one book.
What You’re Trying to Do
Your partnership is building books — completed sets of seven matching cards. Books are the Hand and Foot equivalent of canastas in Classic Canasta.
There are two types:
- Red book (clean book): Seven natural cards with no wild cards — worth 500 points
- Black book (dirty book): Contains one or more wild cards — worth 300 points
To go out and end the round, your partnership must complete a required number of books. The number varies by round — see the Going Out section below.
Wild Cards
Twos and jokers are wild cards and can substitute for any natural card in a book.
Key rules:
- A book must always have more natural cards than wild cards
- No book can contain more than three wild cards
- You cannot form a book made entirely of wild cards
Initial Meld Requirements
Like Canasta, your partnership cannot lay down its very first meld until it meets a minimum point value. In Hand and Foot this requirement is set by round rather than by score:
| Round | Minimum initial meld |
|---|---|
| 1 | 50 points |
| 2 | 90 points |
| 3 | 120 points |
| 4 | 150 points |
How a Turn Works
1. Draw
Take two cards from the top of the draw pile. You may not take the discard pile in Hand and Foot — drawing from the pile is the only option.
2. Meld
Lay down new melds or add cards to existing melds on the table. You are never forced to meld.
3. Discard
End your turn by placing one card face up on the discard pile.
Picking Up Your Foot
Once you have played every card from your hand — including your discard — you may pick up your foot on your next turn.
You pick up the foot at the start of your turn, before drawing. The foot then becomes your new hand and play continues normally.
Some groups allow a player to pick up the foot mid-turn if they play their last hand card during melding — house rules vary on this point.
The Discard Pile
Unlike Classic Canasta, most Hand and Foot groups play that you cannot pick up the discard pile. You can only draw from the draw pile.
This is the single biggest difference from Canasta and it significantly changes the strategy — you can’t rely on grabbing a big pile to build books quickly.
Note: some groups play with a modified discard pile rule. Always confirm before you start.
👉 Hand and Foot vs Classic Canasta — what’s different
Going Out
To go out and end the round, your partnership must have:
- Played through both the hand and foot (no cards remaining)
- Completed the required number of books for that round
Books required to go out by round:
| Round | Red books required | Black books required |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 4 | 3 | 2 |
Before going out, you may ask your partner “May I go out?” Your partner must answer honestly, and you are bound by their answer.
Going out bonus: 100 points
Scoring the Round
At the end of each round, count up points for both partnerships.
Add:
| Item | Points |
|---|---|
| Red book (clean) | 500 |
| Black book (dirty) | 300 |
| Each red three | 100 |
| Going out bonus | 100 |
| Joker (in meld) | 50 |
| Two / wild card (in meld) | 20 |
| Ace (in meld) | 20 |
| K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8 (in meld) | 10 |
| 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 (in meld) | 5 |
Subtract:
- The point value of any cards remaining in your hand or foot at the end of the round
👉 Full details: Hand and Foot Scoring
Winning the Game
Play four rounds in total. After round four, add up all scores across all rounds. The partnership with the highest total wins.
If both partnerships reach 10,000 points in the same round, the higher score wins.
Common Hand and Foot Mistakes
- Looking at your foot before playing through your entire hand
- Forgetting the minimum meld requirement for each round
- Confusing red books and black books — a single wild card makes it a black book
- Trying to go out without the required number of books complete
- Forgetting that cards left in hand or foot count against you
Related Guides
- Hand and Foot Scoring
- Hand and Foot vs Classic Canasta
- Canasta Rules — Complete Guide
- Wild Cards & Jokers in Canasta
- Canasta Scoring Explained
Written by Carol Vance — Last updated 2026