3

I understand that you can pick up the top discard (and then the whole discard pile) if the pile is not frozen, and the top card matches a meld you have on the table.

I have some friends who play that you cannot do this if the meld is already a canasta. That makes a matching card a much safer discard - the opponent could conceivably still take the pile with matching cards from their hand, but if they already have a canasta of the same cards on the table, this is much less likely.

Any opinions, or definitive rules on this?

Improve this question
1
2

Yes, you can add to a Canasta just like you can add to any other meld.

Source:

Additional cards may be added to a canasta to score their point values, but these do not affect the bonus - except that a wild card added to a natural canasta reduces it to a mixed canasta.

Other rules sources aren't as straight-forwardly clear on that point, but they say you can add to a meld on the table, and a Canasta is defined as a meld of 7 or more cards.

Improve this answer
3
  • Thanks. And thanks for posting the source of your answer - can I ask where that comes from? I'd like to read the whole thing. – Richard Prestage Jul 5 '18 at 9:23
  • 1
    The word “source” is a link to the page. :) – GendoIkari Jul 5 '18 at 13:05
  • @RichardPrestage another resource is pagat.com/rummy/canasta.html – Andrew Savinykh Jul 5 '18 at 23:13

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.