Canasta Score Sheet

At the end of each hand, each partnership adds up two things, which is why the sheet has two columns per side:

• Bonus: 500 for each natural (clean) canasta, 300 for each mixed canasta, 100 for each red three (800 if one side has all four), 100 for going out and 100 more for going out concealed.
• Cards: the value of every card melded on the table, minus the value of every card still in both partners’ hands.

Add the two for the hand, then add that to the running total. Red threes count against a side that has not melded anything by the end of the hand: minus 100 each, or minus 800 for all four.

A partnership’s first meld of each hand must reach a minimum count that depends on its total so far: 15 if the total is below zero, 50 from 0 to 1,495, 90 from 1,500 to 2,995 and 120 at 3,000 or more. Only card values count toward it, not bonuses. The on-screen scorer shows each side’s current minimum under the totals, so nobody has to work it out.

The game ends after the hand in which a side reaches 5,000 points; the higher total wins.

• Choose one scorekeeper and read the bonus and card counts aloud before writing them down.
• Count each side’s melded cards in canasta piles of seven: it is quicker and easier to check.
• Print the large print sheet for players who find small boxes hard to read across the table.