What you need
- Five standard decks with two jokers each (270 cards) for the usual four-player game
- Pen and paper, or the free score keeper
Players and time
4 players in partnerships (also 6 in two teams of three, or individuals). About 1 to 2 hours for four rounds.
The goal
Score the most points over four rounds. You earn points by melding sets of cards and building books of seven, and you lose points for cards left in your hand and foot.
There is no single set of Hand and Foot rules. This page follows the rules on Pagat's four-player partnership page and lists common changes as house rules.
Setup
- Shuffle all the decks together. Each player is dealt 13 cards as a hand and another 13 cards as a foot. The foot stays face down.
- The rest of the cards form the stock. Turn the top card face up to start the discard pile.
- Partners sit across from each other. A game is four deals, called rounds.
A turn
- On your turn, draw two cards from the stock. You may take the discard pile instead, but only if its top card is not a three and you can meld the top card using two matching cards from your hand.
- You may then meld. A meld is three to seven cards of the same rank. Threes cannot be melded, and twos and jokers are wild.
- A meld of three to five cards may have one wild card. A meld of six or seven cards may have two. A meld of seven cards is a book (Pagat calls it a pile).
- Finish your turn by discarding one card. A black three discarded blocks the next player from taking the discard pile.
- Play the hand first. When you have played every card from your hand, you pick up your foot and play that.
- Your side's first meld in each round must reach a minimum point total: 50 in round 1, 90 in round 2, 120 in round 3 and 150 in round 4. Red threes and book bonuses do not count toward it.
- A player goes out by playing or discarding the last card of the foot, after the side has the books it needs. The round then ends.
Special cards and combinations
- Books
- A clean book is seven natural cards of one rank: 500 points. A dirty book includes wild cards: 300 points. A book of seven wild cards is 1,500 points.
- Red threes
- Each red three laid face up with your melds is worth 100 points. A red three still in your hand or foot at the end of the round counts 100 points against you.
- Black threes
- A black three cannot be melded. You can discard it to block the next player from taking the discard pile. A black three left in your hand at the end counts 5 points against you.
- Going out
- Going out earns a 100 point bonus. Your side must have at least two clean books, two dirty books and one wild book, your partner must have picked up their foot and played from it, and you must ask your partner's permission before going out.
Scoring
At the end of each round, each side adds up the values of the cards it has melded, adds its book bonuses, red threes and the going-out bonus, and subtracts the values of all cards left in its players' hands and feet.
| Item | Points |
|---|---|
| Joker | 50 |
| Two, ace | 20 |
| Eight through king | 10 |
| Four through seven, black three | 5 |
| Clean book (seven natural cards) | 500 |
| Dirty book (with wild cards) | 300 |
| Wild book (seven wild cards) | 1,500 |
| Red three laid down | +100 |
| Red three left in hand or foot | −100 |
| Going out | +100 |
| Cards left in hand or foot | Minus their card values |
Worked example
In round 1 your side has two clean books, a dirty book and 40 more card points melded in incomplete melds. That is 500 + 500 + 300 + 40 = 1,340. You also laid down two red threes (+200) and your partner went out (+100): 1,640. The cards left in your hands and feet are a king and a 5: 15 points, so the round is 1,640 − 15 = 1,625.
Keep score with the Hand and Foot score keeper
How to win
After four rounds, the side with the most points wins. If your group plays to a target, enter it in the score keeper settings.
Common house rules
These are house rules. They are not part of the official rules, so agree on them before you start.
- Different card or book values (variation) House rule
- Many sets of rules use 300 for a clean book and 100 for a dirty one, as in one individual-play version on Pagat. Another version scores red threes as −500 if not laid down. Change the values in the score keeper settings.
- Saskatchewan version (variation) House rule
- Each player has an 11-card hand and a 13-card foot. Piles are called canastas and a player takes the whole discard pile.
- Different going-out requirements (variation) House rule
- Some groups require fewer books to go out in early rounds and more in later ones. For example, one version requires two clean and two dirty books in round four.
- Different first-meld minimums (variation) House rule
- Some groups use different minimums for each round. The score keeper titles list the Pagat values.
Frequently asked questions
How many cards do I need?
Five decks with jokers, 270 cards, for four players. More players need a sixth deck, according to some groups. Check your rules.
What is a book?
A meld of seven cards of the same rank. A clean book has no wild cards, a dirty book has some wild cards, and a wild book is all wild cards.
Do red threes count toward the first meld?
No. Neither red threes nor book bonuses count toward the minimum for your first meld in a round.
Can I meld threes?
No. Red threes are scored when laid down. Black threes are only for discarding to block the discard pile.
How many rounds are there?
Four. The first meld minimum goes up each round: 50, 90, 120 and 150 points.
Why do the rules differ between groups?
Hand and Foot has no standard rulebook. Groups agree on book values, red three scores and going-out requirements before they start.
Sources
- Pagat: Hand and Foot (Four-player partnership rules: deal, melds, wild cards, books, card values, minimum melds, going out, and variations.)
- Pagat: California Hand and Foot rules (document) (A published rules sheet with different red three scoring. Listed, not fully read.)