Hand and Foot is a card game for teams, played in 4 rounds. This page describes common rules, not an official rulebook. House rules vary, so agree on yours before you start.
Two teams of 2 players, or more teams if you have the space.
Several decks of cards with jokers. A common rule of thumb is one more deck than the number of players.
Paper and a pencil for the score, or our score sheet.
The goal
Hand and Foot is a canasta-style game. Your team lays down sets of the same rank, called melds, and builds them into books of 7 cards. The game has 4 rounds. Each round needs a bigger first meld: 50, 90, 120, 150 points. The team with the highest total after the last round wins.
How a round goes
Each player gets two piles of 13 cards: the hand and the foot. Keep the foot face down and untouched.
On your turn, draw 2 cards, play any melds you can, then discard one card.
Play from your hand first. When your hand is empty, pick up your foot and play from that.
Jokers and 2s are wild. Black 3s block the discard pile, so the next player cannot take it.
Your first meld each round must reach the minimum for that round. Cards you lay down count toward it.
A book has at least 7 cards. You go out by playing your last card once you have enough books. Your group decides how many.
Scoring
These are the values our score sheet uses. Cards you melded count for you. Cards left in your hand or foot count against you.
Hand and Foot point values
What
Score
Clean book (no wild cards)
500 points
Dirty book (has wild cards)
300 points
Wild book (7 wild cards)
1500 points
Going out
100 points
Red 3 (bonus)
100 points
Black 3 left in hand
minus 5 points
Joker
50 points
Ace or 2
20 points
8 through king
10 points
4 through 7
5 points
Meld minimums by round
Round 1: 50 points to start melding.
Round 2: 90 points to start melding.
Round 3: 120 points to start melding.
Round 4: 150 points to start melding.
Common house rules
Some groups deal 11 cards in each pile instead of 13.
Wild book values differ a lot. Some groups pay 1000 to 2500 for a book of wilds.
Going out may need one clean book and one dirty book, or just two books of any kind.
Red 3s may count only once your team has melded, or may always count.
Some groups limit how many wild cards can go in one book.
Ending the game and prizes
After round 4, add the round totals for each team. The highest total wins. Our score sheet keeps the running total for you.
Printable rules card for each table
One card prints on each sheet. Print one sheet for each table. Tick your group's house rules on the card. Lines are left blank for rules of your own.
Under common rules the first meld each round must reach 50, 90, 120, 150 points in rounds 1 to 4. House rules vary.
How much is a clean book worth?
A clean book, with no wild cards, is worth 500 points. A dirty book is worth 300 points, and a wild book is worth 1500 points. Many groups change these numbers.
How many cards are in the hand and the foot?
Common rules deal 13 cards to each. Some groups use 11.
What is a red 3 worth?
A red 3 is worth 100 points as a bonus. Some groups count it against you if your team has not melded.