Hand and Foot
The canasta cousin played with five decks. The full partnership rules, the house rules tables change most, and a score keeper for tonight.
What you need
Four players in two partnerships, partners facing each other, and five standard decks with their jokers shuffled together: 270 cards. Twos and jokers are wild. A game is four rounds, and the higher total after the fourth wins.
The deal
Each player gets two face-down stacks of 13 cards. The first is the hand, which you pick up. The second is the foot, which stays face down until your hand is gone. The rest of the pack goes in the middle as the stock, and its top card is turned over to start the discard pile. If that card is a red three, a two or a joker, bury it in the stock and turn another. The player to the left of the dealer goes first.
On your turn
- Draw two from the stock, or pick up from the discard pile.
- Meld if you can and want to: start a meld, or add to one your team already has.
- Discard one card to end your turn.
Picking up the discard pile
You take the top seven cards, or the whole pile when it holds fewer than seven. Three things must be true.
- The top card is not a three.
- You hold two cards of the same rank as the top card. Wild cards do not count toward the two.
- You meld those three cards at once.
A black three on the pile blocks the next player. A wild card on top can only be taken by a player holding two matching wild cards.
Melds and books
A meld is three to seven cards of one rank, from fours up to aces. Both partners build on the same melds. Seven cards close the meld into a book, and a team can start a second meld of a rank only after the first one is closed.
| Book | What is in it |
|---|---|
| Clean | Seven natural cards, no wild cards |
| Dirty | Seven cards with one or two wild cards |
| Wild | Seven twos and jokers |
A meld of three to five cards holds at most one wild card. A meld of six or seven holds at most two.
Your team's first meld in each round must be worth a minimum in card points: 50 in round one, 90 in round two, 120 in round three and 150 in round four. When you pick up the pile, only the top card and the cards from your hand count toward that minimum.
Threes
Red threes go face up on the table the moment you find one, and you draw a replacement. Each is worth 100 to your team. A red three still in your hand or foot when the round ends counts 100 against you. Black threes cannot be melded. Discard one to block the pile. Any you are left holding count 5 against you.
Moving to your foot
Meld every card in your hand and you pick up your foot and keep playing in the same turn. Meld all but one, discard it, and you start on your foot next turn.
Going out
A round ends when a player goes out. Your team needs two clean books, two dirty books and one wild book on the table. Your partner must have picked up their foot and played from it. Then you ask your partner, and if the answer is yes you meld your remaining cards, with or without a final discard. If the answer is no, you play on.
The round also ends when a player needs to draw and the stock cannot supply the cards. Both teams score what they have, and nobody gets the 100 for going out.
Between rounds: shuffling 270 cards
Five decks, three loads.
Lotus takes up to two poker-size decks at a time, jokers included, so 270 cards go through as three loads of 90.
After a pass, split each load in half and pair each half with a half from a different load. Cards cross between loads on every pass.
Scoring
| Card | Points |
|---|---|
| Joker | 50 |
| Two, ace | 20 |
| Eight to king | 10 |
| Four to seven | 5 |
| Black three | 5, counted against you |
| Item | Points |
|---|---|
| Clean book | 500 |
| Dirty book | 300 |
| Wild book | 1,500 |
| Going out | 100 |
| Red three | 100 laid down, minus 100 caught in hand or foot |
At the end of a round, each team adds its bonuses and the value of every card it melded, then subtracts the value of every card left in hand and foot.
A worked round. A team goes out with two clean books, two dirty books and one wild book, and its melded cards add up to 415. That is 1,000 for the clean books, 600 for the dirty books, 1,500 for the wild book, 415 in cards and 100 for going out: 3,615.
House rules
Hand and Foot lives on house rules. These are the ones tables change most.
| Rule | Partnership game | Other tables play |
|---|---|---|
| Decks | 5 for four players | One deck more than players |
| Hand and foot | 13 and 13 | 11 and 11, or 11 and 13 |
| Discard pile | Top seven cards | The whole pile |
| To go out | 2 clean, 2 dirty, 1 wild | 1 clean and 1 dirty |
| Red three caught | Minus 100 | Minus 500 |
| Clean and dirty books | 500 and 300 | 300 and 100 |
Rules and variants as recorded by pagat.com, Hand and Foot, including the Saskatchewan, Steve Simpson and Brian Brouillette versions.
Common questions
How many decks do you need for Hand and Foot?
Five decks with jokers for four players. Tables that play with other numbers usually use one deck more than the number of players: three decks for two, seven for six.
Can you pick up the discard pile with a wild card?
No. You need two cards of the same rank as the top card, and a two or a joker cannot stand in for either one.
What is a dirty book?
A closed meld of seven cards that includes one or two wild cards. It scores 300. The same seven cards with no wild cards is a clean book and scores 500.
How many books do you need to go out?
Two clean, two dirty and one wild in the partnership game. Some tables ask for one clean and one dirty.
Score keeper
Enter each team's round. Set your table's values under House values. It keeps the game on this device.
| This round | ||
|---|---|---|
| Round score |