What are some common rules players forget? (A quick recap)

Here is a quick summary of some important rules that are easy to forget. Canasta Junction helps by automatically enforcing most of them, so you can focus on your strategy!

1. The hand ends if the last draw is a 3. If a player draws a 3 as the very last card from the draw pile, the game freezes instantly. The app will end the hand and apply a small penalty for the 3 left in that player's hand .
2. A wild card canasta must be completed first. You cannot add a wild card to any other meld if your team has started a wild card canasta but has not yet completed it. The app will prevent you from making this illegal play.
3. The "Rule of Five" for adding wild cards. After your initial meld, you can only add wild cards to a meld that already contains at least five natural cards. Again, the app will enforce this for you.
4. Penalties for holding Aces or 7s apply even if the card is "dead". Even if your opponents have a canasta of Aces, you will still be penalized -1500 points if you are caught with three or more Aces in your hand at the end of the round. The app calculates this automatically.
5. You can use "dead" cards in a Special Hand. Cards from a rank where a canasta has already been completed ("dead" cards) are still valid to be used when declaring a Special Hand.
6. The Straight is the only Special Hand with a 3. No other Special Hand can contain a 3. The app will reject any invalid Special Hand declaration.

7. No Talons after the Turn Card. The Talon bonus is not awarded to a team making its initial meld after the Turn Card (signaling a low deck) has been drawn.

    

Also, n the app, by default, adding wild cards after the initial meld requires at least 5 natural cards. This applies to any Solitaire and Duplicate games.

Before the game starts, we suggest using the audio chat or the text chat to ask the host how the game is settled (base of 5 or base of 3)

In LIVE PLAY games, when the host creates a game, through the Table Options button, they can decide the following:

BASE OF 5 (five) NATURAL CARDS (checked by default):

Option Required 5 natural cards to add more wild cards: CHECKED ✅️

BASE OF 3 (three) NATURAL CARDS:

Option Required 5 natural cards to add more wild cards: UNCHECKED ⬜️

We are aware that this can be a bit confusing for some users, for that reason, we will work on improving this section in a way it's clearer for all users to know how this table rule is settled, without the need to ask the host.

Additionally, you have another option that will allow you to Go out with a pair and a wild card, regardless of what was selected in the above option.