Canasta Rules

These are the Canasta rules as defined by "Hoyle's Rules of Games".

Overview
 Your goal is to beat your opponent by scoring more points. You score
points by melding cards, and making as many canastas as possible. A
canasta is a meld of at least seven cards of the same rank.
 Each player starts with 15 cards in hand. Yours are visible at the bottom of
the window.
 Both players take turns in drawing one card from the stock, and discarding
one card on the discard pile (in that order). Both players take turns in
drawing the first card.
 After drawing a card, a player may meld cards if (s)he wants to. Cards are
melded in columns of at least three cards; e.g. you can meld three Kings, or
four Fives. You cannot meld sequences like Four-Five-Six. Once a card has
been melded, it cannot be taken back into the hand (except with the Undo
meld option).
 When a player has melded his cards, he ends his turn by discarding a card.
At that point, his melded cards are checked to see if they conform to the
canasta rules. Discarding a card is not necessary if the player can go out by
melding all of his cards.
 Instead of drawing a card from the stock, a player may take the entire
discard pile. However, this is only allowed if he can directly meld the top
card.
 A hand is over when one of the players has no cards left in his hand, or
when there are no cards left on the stock. The scores of both players are
then computed, and a new hand is dealt. A player can only finish a hand
when he has at least one or two canastas, depending on the setting of the
corresponding option.
 A canasta match is over when one of the players reaches 5,000 points.

Rules
 If a rank is melded, it must contain at least three cards on the table.
 It is possible to add a wildcard to a column of cards of any rank on the
table. The wildcard is then seen as a card of that rank (but the value
remains unchanged). However, there may never be more wildcards than
natural cards within one meld.
 At the beginning of a hand, the top card of the stock is automatically
turned around and placed on the discard pile. If this card is a Red Three or
a wildcard, the procedure is repeated until the top card of the discard pile
is neither a Red Three nor a wildcard.
 When a new hand is dealt, the hands of both players are checked to see if
they contain a Red Three. If there is one, that Three is then automatically
melded, and an extra card is dealt to the hand out of which it came. This
procedure is repeated until neither player has any Red Threes left in his
hand.
  Black Threes may not be melded, except when the player can go out by
melding a column of three or four Black Threes. These Black Threes must
then be the last cards to be melded.
 The discard pile can be frozen by discarding a wildcard or a Red Three. A
freeze is indicated by brackets [..] and means that both players are only
allowed to take the discard pile if they can meld the top card using only the
cards in their hand, as if they had no cards on the table. For example, if the
discard pile is frozen and the top card is a Seven, the pile may only be taken
if the player has two Sevens in his hand, even though he has a column of
three Sevens on the table. Also, no wildcards may be used in melding: if he
has one Seven and a wildcard in hand - instead of two Sevens- he may not
take the discard pile.
 If you have taken the discard pile but discover that you cannot use the top
card, you can restore the pile by clicking on it. This carries a penalty of 50
points.
 It is never allowed to take the discard pile when the top card is a Black
Three, a Red Three or a wildcard. Thus, Black Threes can be used to freeze
the pile for a single turn.
 The first time a player melds cards in a hand, their value must be at least a
certain minimum. When a player goes out in one turn ('goes out
concealed'), this requirement does not apply.
 A player can only go out when he has at least one or two canastas,
depending on the 'Canastas needed to go out' setting. If a player has less
than this number of canastas, and only has one card left that he should
discard, he has to 'pass the discard', i.e., he does not discard that last card.
 Taking a discard pile that only contains one card is never allowed if you
only have one card in your hand.
 When there are no more cards on the stock a special situation occurs:
o 1. If the discard pile is not frozen and you can add the top discard to
one of your melds, you must take that top discard. Only that card is
removed from the pile; you do not receive the rest. You must
discard normally.
o 2. If you can take the discard pile in the normal way, you may. You
must discard normally.
o 3. If you can do neither, press the 'End Hand' button that appears in
the upper right-hand corner of the screen. You do not have to
discard.

Scoring: Card Values and Bonuses

The cards have the following point values:
Card Value
Four, Five, Six, Seven, Black Three 5
Eight, Nine, Ten, Jack, Queen, King 10
Deuce, Ace 20
Joker 50
Red Three 100
The following bonuses are awarded:
 A mixed canasta is worth 300 points, a natural canasta 500 points, and a wildcard canasta 1,000
points.
  The player that goes out gets a bonus of 100 points. If this player had no cards (except Red
Threes) on the table directly before going out ('goes out concealed'), this bonus is doubled to
200 points.
 If a player has all four Red Threes on the table, their score of 400 points is doubled to 800 points.
 If a player goes out and his opponent has melded nothing but Red Threes, the value of those
Red Threes is deducted from his opponent's score.

Total Score
At the end of a hand, the total score is calculated as follows:
1. The sum of the values of the cards on the table forms the initial score value.
2. Bonuses for canastas, going out and Red Threes are added to the score.
3. The values of the cards in hand are deducted from the score.
However, if you have selected Yes in the 'Canasta required for positive score' option, this calculation is
only valid if you have at least the number of canastas as it is shown in the 'Canastas needed to go out'
setting! If not, a negative score results consisting of the sum of the values of the cards in your hand and
on the table. It is therefore always wise to get a canasta quickly, so that you don't run the risk of holding
a large collection of cards if your opponent goes out. If you have selected No, the above does not apply.

Minimum
The first time in a hand that a player melds cards the sum of their values must be at least a certain
minimum. This minimum depends on your current score in the following way:
Score Minimum
Less than 0 15
From 0 to 1495 50
From 1500 to 2995 90
3000 or more 120

Notes
 The values of any Red Threes never contribute to the required minimum. Canastas contribute
only if the corresponding option is enabled.
 If you turn off the option Top card counts for initial meld, you must add the value of the top card
to the minimum needed when taking the discard pile. E.g., if the minimum is 50 and you took an
Ace from the pile, you must have 50 + 20 = 70 points on the table to get the rest of the pile. The
value of the Ace is thus not counted toward the 50 point minimum.
 If you took the top card of the discard pile but you discover that you cannot use it, you can put it
back by clicking on the pile again. This carries a penalty of 50 points.