Hand and Foot Card Game.

Introduction

Hand and Foot is a North American game similar to Canasta. 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 usual version is for four players, with two partners. That is what will be described here. It can also be played by six in two teams of three, or by any number of people playing as individuals.

Players, Cards, Deal

For Hand and Foot, partners sit opposite each other. Five decks of cards are used, including two jokers per deck.

Choose which partnership will deal first. After the cards have been thoroughly mixed, one partner takes part of the deck, deals four face-down stacks of 13 cards and passes them around the table in a clockwise direction until each player has a stack - the hand. Meanwhile the other partner takes another part of the deck and deals another four stacks of 13 cards each and passes them also in a clockwise direction until each player has a second stack - the foot.

The remainder of the undealt cards are put in a face-down pile in the middle of the table to form a draw pile. The top card of the draw pile is turned face-up and placed next to it to start a discard pile. If this card is a red three or wild card (two or joker) it is buried in the draw pile and a new card turned up.

The players' "foot" stacks are placed face down around the draw pile and discard piles - the players are not allowed to look at them until they have played all the cards in their hands. Each player picks up their "hand" stack. Play begins with the player to the left of the one who dealt the hands.

After the end of the play, the turn to deal passes to the left. A complete game consists of four deals.

The Object of the Game: Melds

The aim of Hand and Foot 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. After a meld of three or more cards has been started, either player of the partnership can add further cards to it until there are seven. You can make a meld of cards of any rank from A, K, Q, ... down to 4. Threes have special uses and cannot be melded in the normal way.

In Hand and Foot, Twos and jokers are "wild cards" and can be used as substitutes in melds, as long as there are at least twice as many real cards of the rank of the meld as wild cards. For example a meld of 3, 4 or 5 cards can contain at most one wild card and a meld of 6 or 7 can contain at most two. You can also make a meld consisting entirely of wild cards - twos and jokers. In fact you must make such a meld to be allowed to go out and win the deal. There are three types of meld:

a clean meld has no wild cards.
a dirty meld has one or two wild cards .
a wild meld consists entirely of wild cards.

A meld of seven cards is complete and is called a pile. While melds are fanned out face up, complete piles are squared up and the cards placed on top shows the type -

a red card for a clean pile.
a black card for a dirty pile.
a joker, or two, for a wild pile.

Usually the complete piles of seven cards are kept in front of one member of a partnership (along with red threes), while the other partner keeps the incomplete melds of three to six cards.

Scoring Hand and Foot is based on cards you have melded, and you lose points for any cards left in your hand at the end of the play. The play ends when someone gets rid of all the cards in their hand and foot, by melding or discarding them; this is known as "going out". In order to be allowed to go out, you must satisfy all of the following conditions:

Your partnership must have completed at least two dirty piles, two clean piles and one wild pile (exactly seven cards in each);
Your partner must have picked up their "foot" and played at least part of one turn from it;
You must ask your partner's permission to go out. If your partner agrees you must meld all of your remaining cards, or meld all but one of your remaining cards and discard your last card. If partner says no, you are not allowed to go out on that turn.

Card Values

In Hand and Foot, individual cards have values as follows. They count for you if you have melded them, but against you if they are left in your hand or foot at the end of the play:

Jokers .......... 50 points each
Twos & Aces .......... 20 points each
Eight through King .......... 10 points each
Four through Seven .......... 5 points each
Black Threes .......... 5 points each

Bonus Points

There are also the following Hand and Foot Bonus Points. Both teams score points for any complete piles they have made, in addition to the scores for the cards within the pile. Only the team that goes out scores the bonus for going out, obviously. The red threes count plus 100 points if they have been placed face up on the table with your melds, but minus 100 points if not. For example if you do not manage to pick up your foot before an opponent goes out, any red threes in it will score minus 100 points.

Each complete "Clean" Pile of 7 cards .......... 500 points
Each complete "Dirty" Pile of 7 cards .......... 300 points
Each complete "Wild" Pile of 7 cards ............ 1500 points
For "Going Out" .......... 100 Points
Each Red Three .......... 100 points

Minimum Initial Meld Requirements

In each deal, there is a minimum requirement for the total value of the cards making up the first meld put down by each partnership.
Round 1   ..........   50 points
Round 2   ..........   90 points
Round 3   ..........   120 points
Round 4   ..........   150 points
Red threes do not count towards this minimum; nor does the bonus for a seven card pile, so for example seven sixes count only 35 points and are not sufficient for an initial meld.

The Play

The player to the left of the person who dealt the "hands" starts the play. Then the turn to play passes clockwise around the table.

Each player should immediately place any red threes they have face up on the table. Then they must draw an equal number of cards from the draw pile to replace the red threes. They then proceed to draw cards for their turn. A turn normally consists of:

   1. taking the top two cards from the draw pile;
   2. optionally melding some cards or adding to your partnership's melds;
   3. discarding one card on top of the discard pile.

If you draw a red three from the draw pile you should immediately place it face up on the table with your melds and draw a new card from the draw pile to replace it.

As an alternative to drawing two cards from the draw pile, you may take the top seven cards from the discard pile. If the pile contains fewer than seven cards, you may take the whole pile, but you may never take more than seven cards from the pile at one time. In order to pick up from the discard pile you must fulfill all of the following conditions:

   1. the top card of the discard pile must not be a three;
   2. you must hold two cards which are the same rank as this top card;
   3. you must immediately meld these three cards (the two you are holding and the top discard), possibly along with other cards that you are holding.

After picking up from the discard pile and melding, you complete your turn by discarding one card as usual. You can block the next person from picking up the discard pile, by discarding a three. Black three's have no value, other than to block the discard pile.

If your side has not yet melded, then the first time that you meld you must put down cards whose individual values add up to at least the minimum meld requirement. You can put down several melds at once to achieve this. If you are picking up the discard pile, first create the required meld of the top card and additional cards from your hand. Then add additional cards to make the required point count. Some of these additional cards could be wild.

A meld cannot contain more than seven cards. A partnership is not allowed to have two incomplete melds of the same rank. But if you complete a pile, you can then start another meld of the same rank. Therefore if you have an incomplete meld of five or six cards on the table, you will not be able to pick up a card of that rank from the discard pile unless you have enough cards of that rank to finish the first seven card pile and make a new three card meld of the same rank.

If you discard a black three, this blocks the next player from picking up from the discard pile.

You may discard a wild card. If you do the next player may only pick up the pile with two matching wild cards (two twos to pick up a two, or two jokers to pick up a joker).

Picking up the Foot

When you have played all the cards in your "hand", you can pick up your "foot" and continue to play from that. There are two ways to pick up your "foot".

If you manage to meld all the cards from your "hand", you can immediately pick up your "foot" and continue your turn, discarding one card from it at the end.
If you meld all the cards from your "hand" but one, and then discard this last card, you can pick up your "foot". But, you must wait to play from your "foot" until your turn comes around again. of your next turn.

The red and black threes

Red and black threes cannot be used in melds.

Red threes count for the players if they are laid down on the table. If you do not lay down your red threes, they will count against you. Whenever you find that you are holding a red three you should immediately place it face up on the table with your melds and draw a replacement card from the draw pile. This can happen because you find it in your hand, or pick it up in your foot, or draw it from the draw, or discard, pile. If your opponents "go out" any red threes still in your "hand" or "foot" will count against you.

The only use for black threes is to block the next player from picking up from the discard pile. Any black threes that you hold at the end count 5 points against you. Black threes cannot be used to make a meld. So, the only way to get rid of them is to discard them one at a time onto the discard pile.

End of the play

The play ends when either

A player goes out by:
1. receiving permission from his/her partner
2. partner must have picked up their foot and played from it
3. melding all of his/her remaining foot cards.
4. or by melding all but one card and discarding the last card.
when the draw pile is depleted and a player wishes to draw from it.

As already explained, you must complete the required piles to go out.

two dirty
two clean
and one wild

If you have not satisfied these conditions, or if you have satisfied them but your partner refuses permission for you to go out, then you are not allowed to leave yourself without any cards. That means that if you are playing from your foot, you must keep at least two cards in your hand after melding - one to discard and at least one to hold in your hand so that the game can continue.

If the draw pile is depleted, the play will end as soon as someone wishes to draw it. Both sides score for the melds they have put down, less the points for the cards remaining in their hands and feet. No one gets the bonus for going out. It may be possible to continue playing for a few turns without a draw pile, as long as each player is able and willing to take and meld the previous player's discard. As soon as someone wants to draw and is unable to, the hand is over.

Advice on Tactics

As with most card games, one learns from experience what works best. Different players adopt different kinds of strategies. It is important to observe your partner's discards and melds and co-operate with she is trying to do. If you get into your foot before your partner, you should avoid completing melds as this may make it difficult for your partner to get into his foot. There are two exceptions to this:

When the opposition are down to very few cards, it may be wise to complete as many melds as possible, before the opposition "goes out".
It is generally worth completing your "wild card" pile as soon as possible because of its high point value.

Try for higher "card count" melds (such as aces) if possible and if the cards are running for you.

Try to keep a few pairs in hand of the ranks that you think the opposition may discard. Then you may be able to pick up from the discard pile. This is especially useful while you are waiting for your partner to get into her foot.

Try not "burn" any more wild cards than you absolutely need to, by making dirty melds. The exception may be to "dirty" a meld to get into your foot.

It is a good idea always to save one wild card for just that purpose, and hope to pick up a few more wild cards in your foot. Wild cards are often the key to completing melds and "going out". But be careful not to hold too many of them.

Other numbers of players

Any number of people from two to six can play, using one more deck of cards than the number of players. Four or six can play as partners; with two three or five, everyone must play for themselves. The game for four players in partnerships is said to be best.

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