Setup: the hand and the foot
Four players sit in two partnerships. From the 270-card shuffle each player receives a hand of 13 (picked up immediately) and a foot of 13 that stays face down in front of them - nobody may look at their foot until every card of their hand has been melded or discarded. The rest forms the stock; its top card is flipped to start the discard pile (a wild card or red three is buried and a new card turned). Play runs clockwise from the dealer's left, and a match is exactly four deals.
| Card | Points |
|---|---|
| Joker (wild) | 50 |
| Two (wild) | 20 |
| Ace | 20 |
| 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K | 10 each |
| 4, 5, 6, 7 | 5 each |
| Black three | 5 (against you only) |
| Red three | +100 laid out / -100 caught |
The turn: draw two, meld, discard one
On your turn you draw the top two cards of the stock, meld as much or as little as you like, and discard exactly one card to end the turn. Whenever you find a red three in your hand - dealt, drawn, or picked up - it is laid out for your team immediately and replaced with a fresh card from the stock.
Instead of drawing, you may take the top seven cards of the discard pile (or the whole pile if it holds fewer). Three conditions: the top card must not be a three, you must hold two natural cards of the top card's rank, and you must meld those three cards immediately. If the top card is wild you would need two matching wilds instead. If your team has an incomplete meld of five or six in that rank, you must complete the seven-card pile AND still start a fresh meld of at least three from your own cards - the six cards underneath never count toward any requirement.
A discarded black three blocks the next player from taking the pile. Discarding a wild card is legal; it can then only be picked up by a player holding two matching wilds.
Melds and piles
A meld is three to seven cards of one rank (aces down to fours - threes never meld) and belongs to the partnership. Twos and jokers are wild, but a meld must always hold at least twice as many naturals as wilds: one wild in a meld of three to five, two wilds in a meld of six or seven. A meld made entirely of wilds is also legal - and required (see going out). A partnership may never have two incomplete melds of one rank; once a pile of seven is complete, a new meld of that rank may be started.
| Pile | Contents | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Clean (red) | No wild cards | 500 |
| Dirty (black) | One or two wilds | 300 |
| Wild | Seven twos/jokers | 1500 |
| Deal | Minimum |
|---|---|
| 1 | 50 |
| 2 | 90 |
| 3 | 120 |
| 4 | 150 |
The first time your team melds in a deal, the cards you put down that turn must add up to the minimum. Red threes and pile bonuses never count toward it, and neither do the six extra cards of a pile pickup.
Getting into your foot
When your hand runs out you pick up your foot - two ways. Meld every hand card: pick up the foot at once and keep playing the same turn. Discard your last hand card: pick up the foot but wait until your next turn to play from it. Until your foot is picked up, all thirteen of its cards - including any red threes - will count against your team if the deal ends first.
Going out and permission
- Your team must have completed two clean piles, two dirty piles and one wild pile.
- Your partner must have picked up their foot and played at least part of a turn from it.
- You must ask your partner's permission - and the answer is binding either way.
- Then you meld every remaining card, or meld all but one and discard it. Going out scores +100.
Without the right to go out you may never empty your foot: keep at least two cards after melding - one to discard, one to hold. If the stock runs so low that a player cannot draw two, the deal ends immediately with no going-out bonus.
Scoring the deal
Each team scores the point value of every card it melded, plus pile bonuses, plus 100 per red three laid out, plus the going-out bonus - and subtracts the value of every card still held in hands and unpicked feet (a stranded red three is -100). Totals carry across the four deals; the higher total after deal four wins the match.
Frequently asked questions
Can I look at my foot before my hand is finished?
No. The foot stays face down until your last hand card is melded or discarded - that is the core tension of the game.
Why can't I take the discard pile even though I have a pair?
Either a three sits on top (blocking it), your pair is not natural (wilds don't count unless the top card itself is wild), your team has a five- or six-card meld of that rank you cannot both complete and restart, or your team hasn't opened and the pickup meld cannot reach the deal's minimum.
How many wilds can one meld hold?
Naturals must at least double the wilds: one wild in melds of 3-5 cards, two wilds in melds of 6-7. The all-wild meld is separate and is the only way to build the required wild pile.
Do red threes count toward the first-meld minimum?
Never. They are laid out automatically for +100 each, but only real melded cards count toward the 50/90/120/150 requirement.
What happens if nobody can go out?
When a player elects to draw and fewer than two stock cards remain, the deal ends on the spot: both teams score their melds and piles, everyone's remaining hand and foot cards count against them, and nobody collects the going-out bonus.
Related rulebooks
- Canasta rules - partner up, build canastas, race to 5000
- Burraco rules - italy's rummy - pozzetto, clean burrachi, 2000
- Buraco rules - brazil's canastra - sequences, morto, ace to ace
- Rummy 500 rules - dig the discard pile, meld your way to 500
Last reviewed 2026-08-22 · play Hand and Foot online free