May I pick-up the discard pile if the top card is the same in as the ones in my already-completed canasta. (i.e. it has the needed seven (7) cards)
1 Answer
Yes. Here are a few sources to confirm this.
- Hoyle gaming says "you can pick up the discard pile if you can use the upcard in an existing meld or in a new meld" and that a "canasta is a meld."
- Bicycle cards says "...a player may take [the discard pile]: ... by adding the top card to a meld he already has on the table. Having taken and melded the top discard as described, the player takes the rest of the pile into his hand...." and that a canasta is a "meld comprising seven or more cards."
- Pagat says "In order to [pick up the discard pile], you must be able to meld the top discard, without needing any of the other cards in the discard pile to make your meld valid."
Note: Wikipedia has been updated since the original post, so the below is currently incorrect.
I did find that Wikipedia contradicted this, claiming a player "may only pick up the discard pile if they can use the top card by making a new meld along with two other cards from their hand," but this is the only source where this appears to be written.
-
The Wikipedia rule is only referring to when the pile is frozen. Commented Nov 2, 2017 at 20:30
-
@GendoIkari I had that though, too, but the second paragraph in that section deals specifically with a frozen discard pile. The line I quoted is the line above it, which doesn't mention anything above the pile being frozen. The other subtle difference is that the first paragraph says you can pick up the pile "with two other cards from their hand" (meaning wilds), and the second says you can pick up the pile "with two natural cards of the same rank." These differences make me think they are talking about two different scenarios: frozen or not frozen discard pile. Commented Nov 3, 2017 at 12:04
-