Card and Domino Game Night: Hand and Foot, Canasta and Mexican Train Rules

Hand and Foot, Canasta and Mexican Train are favorites at senior centers, clubs and kitchen tables. Here is how each one works, for a new player, with the scoring you need at the end of every hand.

None of these games has one rulebook that everyone follows, and Hand and Foot changes from table to table. What follows is the common version of each, with the usual variations noted. If you join an existing group, ask about their house rules first.

Hand and Foot

Hand and Foot is a relaxed cousin of Canasta. Each player gets two piles of cards: the hand, played first, and the foot, picked up once the hand is used up. It is usually played by four people in two partnerships.

Setup

• Cards: several standard decks shuffled together, jokers included. A common choice is one more deck than there are players, so five decks for four people.
• Deal: every player gets two face-down piles of the same size, usually 11 or 13 cards each. Pick up the hand; leave the foot untouched.

How a turn works

1. Draw two cards from the draw pile.
2. Put down any melds you can: three or more cards of the same rank, 4s up to aces. Partners share melds.
3. Discard one card to end your turn.

Twos and jokers are wild; a common limit is that natural cards must outnumber wild ones in a meld. Seven cards make a finished book: clean with no wild cards, dirty with any.

Instead of drawing, you may take from the discard pile if you hold two natural cards matching the top card and meld all three at once. Many groups take only the top seven cards; others take the whole pile.

Red 3s are laid on the table as soon as you get them, and you draw a replacement. A discarded black 3 stops the next player from taking the pile.

Opening meld, the foot and going out

The first meld your side puts down each round must add up to a minimum: commonly 50 points in round 1, 90 in round 2, 120 in round 3 and 150 in round 4. When your hand runs out, pick up your foot and carry on. To go out, your side must have the books your group agrees on (two clean and two dirty is a common requirement), and many tables also ask your partner’s permission first.

Scoring summary

Each side adds its bonuses and the value of every card it melded, then subtracts the cards still in its hands and feet (many groups take 100 off for each red 3 left unplayed). After four rounds, the higher total wins.

Canasta

Classic Canasta, the version that swept America in the 1950s, is for four players in two partnerships, using two decks plus four jokers (108 cards).

Setup and a turn

• Deal 11 cards to each player. Put the rest face down and turn one card up for the discard pile.
• On your turn, draw one card (or take the discard pile, see below), meld if you can, then discard one card.
• A meld is three or more cards of the same rank. It needs at least two natural cards and may hold no more than three wild cards (2s and jokers).
• A meld of seven cards is a canasta: natural if it has no wild cards, mixed if it has any.

The discard pile and threes

To take the pile, you must meld its top card at once, with cards from your hand or on your side’s matching meld. If the pile is frozen (it holds a wild card, or your side has not melded yet), you need two natural cards that match the top card. You can never take the pile when a black 3 or a wild card is on top. Red 3s are bonus cards: lay them down at once and draw a replacement.

Opening meld and going out

Your side’s first meld in each hand must reach a minimum that depends on your score so far: 15 points if your score is below zero, 50 from 0 to 1,495, 90 from 1,500 to 2,995, and 120 from 3,000 up. Your side needs at least one canasta before anyone can go out.

Scoring summary

Card values match Hand and Foot. Add bonuses and melded cards, then subtract cards left in hand. If your side never melded, red 3s count against you. The first side to reach 5,000 wins.

Some groups play Modern American Canasta instead: 13 cards each, two canastas to go out, higher meld minimums and a target of 8,500. Its rules differ a lot, so follow your group’s sheet.

Mexican Train dominoes

Mexican Train suits mixed groups because everyone plays for themselves and turns are short. You need a double-12 set (91 tiles), a marker for each player (coins work) and ideally a hub. It takes 2 to 8 players.

Setup

• Set aside the double 12. It is the “engine” for round 1.
• Shuffle the rest face down. A common deal is 15 tiles each for 2 to 4 players and 12 for 5 or 6; for 7 or 8 players, rule sheets say 10 or 11. The leftover tiles are the boneyard.

How a turn works

1. Play one tile with a matching end on your own train, which starts from the engine and runs toward you.
2. Or play on the Mexican Train, a shared train anyone can start, or on any train with a marker on it.
3. If you cannot play, draw one tile and play it if you can. If not, put your marker on your train; others may play on it until you play there again and remove the marker.

Doubles are placed sideways and must be covered before play goes anywhere else. If you play a double, play another tile on it; if you cannot, draw, and if that fails, put out your marker. The next player must then cover it.

Tap your last tile on the table to warn others. The round ends when someone plays their last tile, or nobody can play and the boneyard is empty.

Scoring summary

Everyone else adds up the dots on the tiles left in their hand. The player who went out scores 0. Round 2 starts with the double 11, round 3 with the double 10, and so on down to the double blank, so a full game is 13 rounds. The lowest total wins. The double blank usually counts 0, though some groups make it 50.

Making game night easier to follow

Large-print cards, a card holder and colored-dot dominoes help players who find small symbols hard to read. Pick one scorekeeper per table who reads each score aloud. For other games, see all our large-print score sheets, including Phase 10 and Yahtzee. For a group activity that needs no card skills at all, try one of these 12 bingo variations.

Frequently asked questions