Hand and Foot Card Game Variations

Players:

• Minimum of 2, maximum of 8.
• Can play with or w/o partners (some versions play only with partners).
• Can play with odd number of players.

Cards:

• Normal playing cards including the jokers---all respondents.
• Number of decks used equal to number of players----22 of 67 resp.
• One more deck than the number of people playing - i.e. three decks of cards for two people, five decks for four people, etc.--25 of 67 resp.
• Six decks for four people---9 of 67.

The Shuffle:

       All respondents except ten shuffle all the cards together. The author and one other are the only ones who sort the card after each deal. We do this to prevent someone getting an extremely unbalanced hand. It also makes it possible to increase the odds of picking up the card you want, by watching what cards have come from which pile.

The Deal:

       There are many variations in ways of dealing. Because they all end up with each player having a hand and a foot, I won't go into them. A number of respondents (58) do give a bonus if when dealing, a person picks up the exact number of cards required to make one hand and one foot.

       Number of cards in the hand and foot do vary widely, as follows:

• 11 in both - 333/503
• 12 in both - 10/503
• 13 in both - 89/503
• 13 in hand, 11 in foot - 28/503
• Other - 43/503

Object of Game & Length of Game.

       The object of the game is to either get the most points in a fixed number of rounds, (381 of 506 resp.) or to be the first to reach a certain number of points (125 of 503 respondents.

• Three rounds - 17/506
• Four rounds - 310/506
• Five rounds - 49/506
• Six rounds - 5/506
• 5,000 points - 5/125
• 10,000 points - 94/125
• 15,000 points - 9/125
• 20,000 points - 7/98

Minimum Points for initial meld at each round

By Rounds

• Round 1--308 resp. - 50 pts, 58 resp. - 60 pts., 32 resp. - 90 pts., 15 resp. - various pts. (15, 35, 40, 100,120)
• Round 2--338 resp. - 90 pts, 32 resp. - 120 pts., 41 resp. - various pts. (50, 80, 100, 150)
• Round 3--16 resp. - 90 pts., 336 resp. - 120 pts, 49 resp. - 150 pts., 18 resp. - various pts. (100, 110, 180, 200)
• Round 4--328 resp. - 150 pts, 26 resp. - 180 pts., 39 resp. - various pts. (100, 120, 200)
• Round 5--10 resp. - 150 pts, 11 resp. - 180 pts, 7 resp. - 250 pts, 5 resp. - a canasta, 17 resp. - other

By Game score - 125 respondents

• 1st. STEP
  • 50 points - Up to 1495 (33 resp.), Up to 2495 (21 resp.), Up to 2995 (18 resp.)
  • Other points and totals - (60 & 90, 2000 to 4999) - 26 resp.
• 2nd. STEP
  • 90 points - Up to 2995 (32 resp.), Up to 4995 (26 resp.), Others = (18 resp.)
  • Other points and totals - (60, 100 &120, 1495 to 10,000 (21 resp.)
• 3rd. STEP
  • 120 points - Up to 4995 (28 resp.), Up to 7495 (21 resp.), Up to 10,000 (20 resp.), Others - ( 20 resp.)
  • 150 points - Up to 10,000 (9 resp.), Others - (9 resp.)
• 4th. STEP
  • 150 points - Up to 10,000 (32 resp.), Other - (11 resp.)
  • 180 points - Up to 10,000 (3 resp.), Other - (5 resp.)
• 5th. STEP
  • various points - (10 resp.)

Points:

       Threes are almost always minus points, unless they can be put into a canasta. The points shown here are for threes not in a canasta

• Red Three's - 100 pts. - 120, 300 pts. - 141, 500 pts. - 201, 1000 pts. - 8 resp., other - 19 resp.
• Black Three's - 5pts.- 253, 50 pts.- 21, 100 pts.-43, 300 pts.-33, Other pts. - 12 resp., 0 or no response - 149resp.
• Five point cards - 4 to 5 - 4 resp, 4 to 6 - 7 resp, 4-7 301 resp, 4-8 100 resp, 4-9 57 resp.
• Ten point cards - From one above high five point card to king.
• Two's and Aces 20 points - All respondents
• Joker 50 points - All respondents (370 people)
• Bonus for picking up exact number of cards to deal hand & foot -- 100 points (40 of 45 resp.), Other (50, 200, 250) 5 of 45 resp.
• For "Going Out": 100 pts.- 299, 200 pts.- 38, 300 pts.- 19, 500 pts. - 33 resp., Other - 10 resp.

Types & Values of Canastas

• Each "Clean" pile 300 pts.-14, 500 pts.-439 of 469 resp.
• Each "Dirty" pile 100 pts.-12, 300 pts.-435 of 466 resp.
• Canasta of Sevens: 1500 pts. - 24 resp., other points.-20 resp.
• Canasta of Wild cards 300 pts. - 6, 1000 pts.-27, 1500 pts. - 29, 2000 pts. - 15, 2500 pts. - 22
• Canasta of red threes - 1000 pts. - 9, other - 16
• Canasta of black threes - 300 pts.-14, 500 pts. - 7, other - 8 resp.

Picking Up and Discarding:

       Almost all respondents pick up two cards and discard one card

       One respondent plays that the first person playing, can pick up the single discard, and doesn't have to play. He only gets the one card if he does pick up the discard.

Picking up the discard pile:

       All respondents required that to pick up the discard pile, the player must hold two matching cards in his hand, and must play the top card together with his matching pair.

       The number of cards taken from the discard pile varied as follows:

• Not allowed - 20 resp.
• One card - 17 resp.
• Two cards - 72 resp.
• Three cards - 12 resp.
• Five cards - 77 resp.
• Six cards - 12 resp.
• Seven cards - 77 resp. (Discard pile must have seven cards in it.
• Eight cards - 39 resp.
• Whole pile - 104 resp.
• Down to a wild card, and other variations - 20 (est) resp. (Whole pile if no wild card)

Picking up the Foot:

       Most respondents play that you can pick up your foot after you get rid of all the cards from your Hand. Most play that if you play all your cards in the hand, you can immediately go into your foot without stopping. One resp. plays that you must wait until your next turn.

       One resp. plays that partner of the intial melder, after completing the first canasta, may pick up his foot. His partner then is free to complete a canasta, and when he has done so, may pick up his foot.

       One resp. plays that the partnership must have completed one clean and two dirties before they can pick up their foot.

Clean and Dirty Piles: No. of cards allowed

• Clean - Max. 7 cards - 151 resp. of 360 ttl. resp.
• Clean - More than 7 cards - 200 resp. of 360 ttl. resp.
• -------------
• Dirty - Max 7 cards - 120 of 362 ttl. resp.
• Dirty - More than 7 cards - 235 362 ttl. resp.

Dirty Piles:No. of wild cards allowed.