Hand and Foot Rules: How to Play, Score & Settle Disputes

Hand and Foot is a rummy-style card game from the Canasta family, usually played by four people in two partnerships with five or more decks. Each player gets two piles of cards: a hand you play first and a foot you play after your hand is gone. Your team scores by building books (seven cards of the same rank) and by being the first to go out.

There is no single official rulebook. Published versions differ on deal size, how many books you need to go out, and how many wild cards a book can hold. This guide teaches one clearly defined set of house rules, our “Game Night Standard.” It’s a combination of published rules, not one established ruleset, and the table below shows where each rule comes from. After that, we show where other versions differ, so your table can agree before the first deal.

Our Game Night Standard (and where each rule comes from)

Quick reference

Card values

Bonuses

Setup and the deal

1. Shuffle all five decks together, jokers included.
2. Deal each player 11 cards face down as their hand and 11 face down as their foot. Keep the foot to one side, untouched.
3. Put the rest face down as the stock. Turn the top card face up to start the discard pile. If it’s a red 3 or a wild card, bury it in the stock and turn another.

Your turn, step by step

1. Draw two cards from the stock, or take the discard pile (rules below).
2. Lay down red 3s immediately and draw a replacement for each.
3. Meld if you can (and, early in a round, if your team meets the opening minimum).
4. Discard one card to end your turn.

Melds and books

• A meld is 3 to 7 cards of the same rank, laid face up in front of your team. Ranks run from 4s to aces. 3s can’t be melded.
• Melds belong to the team. Either partner can add to them.
• When a meld reaches 7 cards it becomes a book. Square it up: put a red card on top for a clean book, a black card on top for a dirty book.
• Wild-card limit: a meld needs at least twice as many natural cards as wild cards (Pagat’s ratio). That means a dirty book holds at most 2 wilds (5 natural + 2 wild). In the Game Night Standard, a meld can never be made entirely of wild cards. Bicycle Cards allows a book with as few as 4 natural cards, so up to 3 wilds. See “Common disputes” below.

The opening minimum

The first time your team lays down cards in a round, the cards’ values must add up to at least the minimum for that round: 50, 90, 120, then 150. You can lay down several melds at once to reach it. Red 3s and book bonuses don’t count toward it.

Taking the discard pile

You may take the discard pile only if all of these are true:

• The top card isn’t a 3. A discarded black 3 “blocks” the pile for the next player (Pagat, Bicycle).
• The top card isn’t a wild card. In the Game Night Standard, a discarded wild can’t be picked up, because we don’t play wild-only melds. Pagat’s version differs. See “Common disputes.”
• You hold two natural cards of the same rank as the top card.
• You meld the top card with those two cards immediately.

Does it count toward your opening minimum? The top card counts, because you meld it. The extra cards you take from beneath it don’t (Bicycle and Pagat agree).

Versions differ on what comes with it. Pagat lets you take up to the top 7 cards. Many tables take the whole pile. Agree before you start.

Moving from your hand to your foot

Once you’ve played every card in your hand, pick up your foot and keep playing. Most published rules let you get there either by melding your whole hand (then picking up your foot right away) or by melding all but one card, discarding it, and starting your foot on your next turn.

Going out

A round ends when one player gets rid of their last foot card. To go out, your team must:

1. Have the books it needs. In the Game Night Standard that’s 2 clean and 2 dirty books. (Bicycle: 1 + 1. Pagat: 2 + 2 + 1 wild book. See “Common disputes.”)
2. Have both partners in their feet. Your partner must have picked up their foot and played at least part of one turn from it (Pagat).
3. Ask your partner’s permission first. “Partner, may I go out?” A “no” means you can’t go out this turn.
4. End by melding your last cards or discarding your final card.

If the stock runs out before anyone goes out, the round ends, and nobody gets the going-out bonus (Pagat).

Scoring a round

For each team:

1. Add the card values of every card your team has laid down (books and unfinished melds).
2. Add book bonuses, red 3 bonuses and the going-out bonus.
3. Subtract the card values of every card still in either partner’s hand or foot (red 3s −100, black 3s −5).

After four rounds, the team with the higher total wins.

Worked example: one full round

Team A went out legally under the Game Night Standard: 2 clean books + 2 dirty books. The partner had picked up their foot and played at least one turn from it, and gave permission.

Card points for Team A: 70 + 35 + 90 + 170 + 30 = 395.

Team B was caught with cards left.

Common disputes (and what the published rules say)

Sources

• Bicycle Cards, Hand and Foot: https://bicyclecards.com/how-to-play/hand-and-foot
• Pagat.com (John McLeod, ed.), Hand and Foot: https://www.pagat.com/rummy/handfoot.html