Hand and Foot Card game is a unique take on an old Spanish card game developed by Alberto Serrato and Segundo Santos. If you want to know the nuances of the game and learn the basics, then stick around. We will discuss some of the basics that you need to know in order to start your journey to learn this unique game.
What Is The Hand And Foot Card Game?
If you have ever played rummy, I think you will be able to find some points of similarities with the Hand and Foot card game. Some users who played the game also claim that the game shares a major sense of resemblance with games like Canasta and Pennies From Heaven. Meanwhile, others claim that the game shares some major resemblance with Solitaire and Jack Change It. The game primarily involves the melding of cards, but then again, there are no standard rules that govern the gameplay, similar to spits and slapjacks.
The game comes in several variations and can include several players at the same time. But the most common variation includes four to six players in two teams. This is an exciting game that can be a great addition to your next sleepover. Similar to Uno, this game’s primary objective is to get rid of as many cards as possible from your sets of cards.
The History
The Hand and Foot game itself is a variation of the famous card game called Canasta. The game of Canasta was first invented in the year 1939 by Alberto Serrato and Segundo Santos.
The primary objective behind creating this game was to formulate a game that was quicker than Bridge. The very word Canasta stands for ‘basket’ in Spanish. Soon after its inception, the game became an instant hit amongst the members of card clubs. In fact, the game was one of the most popular card games during the early 1900s.
Cut to the 1970s, card lovers brought a new variation to the popular Canasta called the Hand and Foot card game. A unique take on the famed canasta that inspired several other forms of card games. One such card game was modern-day UNO, where players have to lose the cards they are holding before their opponents.
How To Play?
The hand and foot card game is definitely a great card game to play during parties and sleepovers, but what about fundamentals? Well, that is where we come in. We will help you understand this fun yet weird card game that is popularly lauded as one of the best party games out there.
Objective
As you already know, the game’s primary objective is to get rid of all the cards you are holding. Two sets of cards are dealt to each player called Hand and Foot, respectively.
Dealing
The game starts by shuffling the cards properly. Subsequently, the dealer deals 11 cards per player, and this makes up the ‘Hand’ set. Following this, the dealer deals another set of 11 cards to each player, which makes the ‘Foot’ set. Players are allowed to examine the hand set but cannot examine the foot set.
Once the dealer finishes his dealings, he will place the rest of his cards in the center of the table. This stockpile of cards will make up the discard pile. Following this, the dealer will place the top card of the discard pile on the table facing up. This top card can be any of the cards except a Joker, a Three, and a Deuce.
Rounds
The hand and foot card game is played in four rounds. The most interesting part of this game is that the minimum meld requirement increases after every round. This adds a layer of complexity that most other card games lack. The break up of each round of the game is as follows:
- In Round 1, the game begins with 50 card points
- In Round 2, the game begins with 90 card points
- In Round 3, the game begins with 120 card points
- In Round 4, the game begins with 150 card points
Rules To Follow
In order to truly understand the game of hand and foot, you primarily need to understand the rules that govern the gameplay. Even though at the beginning of the article, I did claim that there are no rules. But there are certain unwritten rules that you need to follow in order to smoothly sail through a round of Hand and Foot Card Game.
- The primary rule that you need to know is that each team must have two incomplete melds belonging to the same rank.
- In order for a meld to work, it must have more natural cards than any wildcards at any given point in time.
- If a wild card cannot be moved after it is melded.
- For a meld to work, it must have a set of three and seven in order for it to work.
- If you have a Black 3 card, then it cannot be melded.
- If the opponent team ends a round before your team gets the chance to pick the foot stack, then your team will lose 100 points in one go.
- If the first card of the draw pile is a wild card or a red 3, then the card is discarded. Subsequently, the next card is picked to be the deck face.
That Is A Wrap
With that, we have reached the very end of our article analyzing the unique hand and foot card game. A game developed from the Spanish game of Canasta. For more such content about card games, keep following our page closely.
Additional Reading:
Samik has been a literature student all along and uses his fluidity to write about multi-niche topics. Aspiring to be a professional writer, he tries to analyze his topic from a critical standpoint but still adds a hint of personal perspective to the end product. Being a person having a general inclination toward global politics and documentary filmmaking, he also wishes to write and document more about numerous conflicts that are brewing in the different corners of the globe.
