Canasta is a card game of the rummy family, usually played by two partnerships with two standard decks plus jokers, in which players build melds of seven or more cards of the same rank, called canastas, to score points. The game originated in Uruguay in the 1930s, is credited to a small group of Montevideo card players, and spread through South America before becoming an international fad in the United States and Europe in the early 1950s, at one point rivaling contract bridge in popularity among home card players.
Facts
Partially Attested
Governing BodyCanasta League of America 1 The Canasta League of America is described as a standardizing body for the most common rules in North America; the source names no international governing body for canasta. Originating Region Classification
Player CountSmall Group (3-6 Players) 1 Sport
Game Type (category) Connections
Associated With
Derived From
Rummy, Games Canasta, developed in Uruguay in the 1930s, is a member of the Rummy family of card games.
Source The Oxford Guide to Card Games
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Canasta, Wikipedia
Lead section
Canasta (pronounced as in Spanish for basket) is a card game of the rummy family of games believed to be a variant of 500 rum.
History section
The game of Canasta was devised by attorney Segundo Sanchez Santos and his Bridge partner, architect Alberto Serrato in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1939
Variations, Modern American Canasta
The Canasta League of America, founded in 2011, has been focused on standardizing the most common rules played in North America.
Wikipedia, article summary lead
Canasta (; Spanish for "basket") is a card game of the rummy family of games believed to be a variant of 500 rum. Although many variations exist for two, three, five or six players, it is most commonly played by four in two partnerships with two standard decks of cards. Players attempt to make melds of seven cards of the same rank and "go out" by playing all cards in their hands.
View the SourceWikidata: Canasta
Wikidata Q278854, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Rummy, Wikipedia
Associated With: Rummy, Related games section, canastaQuote, Associated With: Rummy, Related games section, canasta
Although in North America the word rummy is often used interchangeably for gin rummy, the term is applicable to a large family of games, including canasta, mahjong and Rummikub.
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