Hand and Foot card game: rules and score keeper

How to play Hand and Foot

These steps follow Pagat's partnership rules, contributed by Bill Whitnack. The other versions change the numbers more than the flow; see where the sources differ.

The deal

Shuffle five decks with their jokers (270 cards) for four players. One partner deals four face-down stacks of 13 for the hands while the other deals four more stacks of 13 for the feet. Each player picks up a hand and leaves the foot face down. The rest is the stock; turn its top card up to start the discard pile, burying it and turning another if it is a red three or wild card.

Your turn

1. Before your first turn, lay out any red threes and draw replacements.
2. Draw two cards from the stock, or pick up from the discard pile (below).
3. Meld if you can: start melds or add to your team's melds.
4. Discard one card.

Melds and piles

A meld is three to seven cards of one rank, from fours up to aces. In Pagat's rules a meld needs at least twice as many natural cards as wild cards: one wild in a meld of three to five, two in a meld of six or seven. A finished meld of seven is a pile. Square it up with a red card on top for clean, a black card for dirty, or a joker for an all-wild pile. Your team may not have two unfinished melds of the same rank, but once a pile is done you can start another of that rank.

The opening meld

Each round, your team's first meld must add up to the round's minimum in card points: 50, 90, 120, then 150. Red threes and pile bonuses do not count toward it. The keeper shows the minimum for the round you are playing.

Picking up from the discard pile

Instead of drawing, you may take the top seven cards of the discard pile (all of it, if it has fewer). You need two cards in hand matching the top card, and you must meld those three cards at once. A black three on top blocks the pile for the next player. Only the top card counts toward an opening meld, never the six under it.

Picking up your foot

Once your hand is empty, pick up your foot. If you melded every card, you pick up the foot straight away and keep playing. If you discarded your last card, you pick it up and start using it on your next turn.

Red and black threes

Red threes go face up with your team's melds as soon as you have them, and you draw a replacement. They score in your favour on the table but against you if they are caught in your hand or foot when someone goes out. Black threes cannot be melded: discard them to block the pile, or they count 5 against you at the end.

Going out

In Pagat's rules your team needs two clean, two dirty and one wild pile, and your partner must have picked up their foot and played from it. Ask your partner "May I go out?" If the answer is yes, meld everything, or meld all but one card and discard it. Play also ends when the stock runs out and someone wants to draw.

Hand and Foot scoring

Each team scores its pile bonuses, red threes and (for the team that went out) the going-out bonus. Add the card values of everything on the table, then take off the card values left in both partners' hands and feet.

Card values

Values from Pagat. Wikipedia gives the same, with black threes at 5 listed separately; Bicycle lists threes through sevens at 5.

Bonuses by rule set

* Not stated by that source. The keeper fills these from Pagat so the preset still works, and labels them when you pick it. For anything else your table does, use the house rules preset.

A worked round (Pagat rules)

Team 1 goes out with two clean, two dirty and one wild pile. It has one red three down, 465 card points on the table and 25 left in a partner's hand: 1,000 + 600 + 1,500 + 100 + 100 + 465 − 25 = 3,740. Team 2 has one clean and two dirty piles, 260 on the table and 185 left in hands and feet. A red three was still in a foot: 500 + 600 + 260 − 185 − 100 = 1,075. After four rounds, the higher total wins.

Where the sources differ

Pagat says plainly that Hand and Foot has numerous variations and no standard rules. These are the differences that change the score.

• Deal size. Pagat: 13 for the hand and 13 for the foot. Bicycle and Wikipedia: 11 and 11. Pagat's Saskatchewan version: 11 and 13.
• Going out. Pagat: two clean, two dirty, one wild pile. Bicycle: a clean and a dirty book. Wikipedia: three clean and four dirty canastas.
• Wild piles. Pagat scores an all-wild pile 1,500 and requires one. Bicycle says melds should not be all wild cards. Wikipedia does not list one.
• Red threes. Pagat: +100 on the table, −100 if caught. Wikipedia: threes may not be melded, only discarded, and a red three still held at the end is −300 (the keeper's Wikipedia preset has no red threes on the table). Bicycle gives no value. Steve Simpson's version on Pagat counts them −500, always against you.
• Wild cards in a meld. Pagat: at least twice as many natural cards as wild cards. Bicycle: a dirty book needs at least four natural cards. Saskatchewan: more natural cards than wild ones.
• Taking the pile. Pagat and Bicycle: the top seven cards. Wikipedia: the top five. Saskatchewan: the whole pile.
• Lower-scoring versions. Steve Simpson's rules, played without partners, score a clean pile 300 and a dirty pile 100. Use the house rules preset for these.

The keeper's "Wikipedia" preset plays four rounds because Wikipedia's meld table stops at the fourth hand. That is our reading. A tie after the last round stays a tie in the keeper; no source gives a tiebreak, so agree one as a house rule if you want one.

Tips for better Hand and Foot

The first three come from the tactics notes on Pagat's page.

1. Build the wild pile early when your rules score one. At 1,500 it is worth more than any other pile.
2. Keep a wild card in reserve. One spare wild can finish a meld and get you into your foot.
3. Hold pairs. A pair matching what the other team is likely to discard lets you take seven cards from the pile.
4. Get out of your hand. Cards in a foot you never picked up all count against you, red threes included.

Hand and Foot questions

How many cards are in a hand and a foot?

Pagat's partnership rules deal 13 cards for the hand and 13 for the foot. Bicycle and Wikipedia deal 11 and 11. Pagat's Saskatchewan version deals 11 for the hand and 13 for the foot.

How many decks do you need for Hand and Foot?

Pagat says one more deck than the number of players, jokers included, so five decks for four players. Bicycle says five or six decks. Wikipedia gives four to seven.

What are the meld requirements for each round?

Pagat, Bicycle and Wikipedia all use 50 points in round 1, 90 in round 2, 120 in round 3 and 150 in round 4. Red threes and pile bonuses do not count toward it.

What do you need to go out in Hand and Foot?

It depends on the rules you use. Pagat needs two clean, two dirty and one wild pile. Bicycle needs a clean and a dirty book. Wikipedia needs three clean and four dirty canastas. Pagat and Wikipedia also have you ask your partner first.

What happens to red threes in your foot?

If the other team goes out before you pick up your foot, red threes still in it count against you. Pagat takes off 100 each. Wikipedia says threes cannot be melded at all, so any red three you still hold costs 300.

Can Hand and Foot be played with 6 players?

Yes. Pagat says six can play as two teams of three, and Wikipedia mentions three teams of two. The keeper handles two, three or four teams.