Hand and Foot
§1Number of Players
4 or more, in fixed partnerships of two. Partners sit across from each other.
§2The Pack
1 deck per person, plus one additional deck. Each deck contains 2 Jokers (e.g. 4 players = 5 decks).
§3Rank of Cards
A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2
§4Values of Cards
- Jokers: 50
- Aces & 2s: 20
- King through 9: 10
- 8 through 4: 5
- Black 3s: -5
- Red 3s: 300 (see Scoring)
§5The Draw, Shuffle, and Cut
Shuffle all the decks of cards together. Each player then cuts the deck to reveal a card; highest card goes first. If you cut a joker, re-cut.
§6The Deal
Each player takes a portion of the shuffled pack and deals him/herself two stacks of 11 cards each -- one is the hand, the other is the foot. All remaining cards are stacked into two draw piles.
§7Object of Play
To get rid of all your cards (both hand and foot), scoring as many points as possible by laying down sets of 3 or more and building them into books of 7 or more cards each. Books are clean (all natural cards, marked by placing a red card on top of the closed book) or dirty (containing wild cards, marked by placing a black card on top). To go out, your partnership needs a minimum of 2 clean books and 3 dirty books. Before you may begin laying down sets, you must first meld the required number of points for that round:
- 1st round: 50 points
- 2nd round: 70 points
- 3rd round: 90 points
- 4th round: 120 points
Partners must each meld the required number of points independently -- you may not use the same rank as your partner used for their own initial meld (e.g. if your partner melds 3 Aces for 60 points, you may not also use Aces toward your own 50-point meld). Hint: if you meld first, meld as few sets as possible so your partner has more options left for their own meld.
§8Wild Cards
Jokers and all 2s are wild and may stand for any rank. Any set must always contain more natural cards than wild cards. Wild cards can never be melded as a set on their own.
§9Special Cards
Threes count against whoever is caught holding them. Black 3s cannot be melded and count against the partnership holding them when an opponent goes out -- 5 points are subtracted from that partnership's score for the round. A red 3 is worth 300 points: if it came from an opponent's hand when someone goes out, it is added to your side's book score; if it came from your own partner's hand, it is subtracted from your side's book score. Threes can never be melded, so the best use for them is as discards.
§10The Play
Each game consists of 4 rounds. To begin play, choose one of your two dealt stacks to be your hand -- pick it up and arrange it in rank order. The other stack is your foot and must stay face down until your hand is completely played. Once your hand is empty you immediately pick up your foot (if your hand's last card was played, you continue playing right into your foot; if your hand's last card was discarded, you must wait until your next turn to play from your foot).
To begin your turn, draw two cards from the draw pile. If you can meld, lay your set(s) of at least 3 cards down in front of you or your partner -- one partner displays all of that partnership's sets so both can see how many cards are in each. Once you've melded, you may also add any of your other cards to any of your partnership's existing sets, including closed books (only natural cards, never wild cards, may be added to an already-closed book). When a set reaches 7 or more cards it becomes a completed book and must be closed (stacked into a pile) and set aside. Finish your turn by discarding one card; no one may draw from the discard pile. Play passes to the left.
Play continues until one partnership has completed its required books (2 clean and 3 dirty) and plays their last card -- you must play every card in your hand and foot to go out; no final discard is allowed. The opposing partnerships must then give up all cards remaining in their hands and feet, except for any black 3s, to the partnership that went out. The going-out player's partner discards all remaining cards in their own hand except for any 3s they may be holding.
§11Scoring
Scoring happens at the end of each of the 4 rounds, in two phases:
1. Base (book) score -- clean books are worth 300 points each, dirty books 200 points each. The partnership that went out adds a 100-point bonus to their base score. Red threes are added to the base score if they came from an opponent, or subtracted if they came from your own partner. Record the base score. 2. Card points -- count every card in your completed books, open sets, and any cards received from other players, using each card's assigned point value, and add the total to your base score. Any black 3s still held at the end of the round are -5 points to the partnership holding them.
§12Winning the Game
The partnership with the highest total score after all 4 rounds have been scored wins.