Hand and Foot scoring

Hand and Foot Scoring

Hand and Foot scores run into the thousands, so it pays to have a clear method. Here are the common point values, the bonuses most families use, and a full round scored step by step.

Before you start: agree the numbers

Hand and Foot has no official rule book, and scoring is where families differ most. The values below are the most widely used. We list the common alternatives so you can match your own table. Whatever you choose, write it at the top of the score sheet.

How a round is scored

At the end of each round, each team works out:

1. Book bonuses for every completed seven-card book.
2. Red three bonuses (and any penalties).
3. The going-out bonus, for the team that went out.
4. The card values of everything melded on the table, including unfinished melds.
5. Minus the card values of everything left in each partner's hand and foot.

Add the result to your running total.

Card values

These are the same values as in Canasta.

Book bonuses

The book bonus is paid on top of the cards' own values. A clean book of seven kings scores 500 + 70 = 570.

Unfinished melds earn no bonus, but their cards still count for you.

Red threes

Unlike Canasta, most Hand and Foot groups do not give an extra bonus for collecting four red threes. With five decks there are ten red threes in play. See red threes and black threes for details.

Going out

• The team that goes out gets 100 points.
• If the stock runs out and the round ends with nobody going out, no one gets this bonus.
• Some groups add 100-point penalties for asking "May I go out?" and then being unable to, or for going out after your partner said no.

Cards left over

This is where Hand and Foot can really sting. Every card left in a player's hand counts against the team. So does every card in a foot that was never picked up. A full, unplayed foot of 11 cards can easily cost 100 to 150 points.

When your opponents are close to going out, it is worth getting into your foot and melding high cards like jokers and aces.

Worked example

Round 2. Team A (Pat and Lou) goes out. Team B (Kim and Joe) is caught short.

Team A (went out)

On the table:

• Clean book of seven kings
• Clean book of seven sixes
• Dirty book: five aces and two 2s
• Dirty book: four nines, two 2s and a joker
• An unfinished meld of four sevens
• Two red threes

Pat went out. Lou is in her foot and still holds a queen, an 8, a 4 and a black 3.

Team B (did not go out)

On the table:

• Clean book of seven queens
• Dirty book: five jacks and two 2s
• A meld of three aces
• One red three

Kim is in her foot and holds a joker, an ace, two kings and a 5. Joe never reached his foot. He holds a 7, a 9 and a black 3. His unplayed foot contains a red three plus ten other cards worth 140 points.

Team B still had a decent round thanks to its two books. But Joe's unplayed foot cost the team 240 points. If your group uses the −500 red three penalty, Team B would have scored only 365.

How long is a game?

The standard game is four rounds, with the first-meld minimum rising each round (50, 90, 120, 150). The team with the highest total after round four wins. There is no extra bonus for winning.

With so many cards in play, rounds can run long, so a full four-round game can easily take a few hours. Totals of several thousand per team are normal.

Some groups play to a target score instead, such as 5,000 or 10,000, and use Canasta-style minimums that rise with each team's score. If you do, pick the target before you start.

Quick scoring checklist

• Clean books × 500, dirty books × 300.
• Red threes on the table × 100; red threes stuck in hand or foot × −100.
• Add 100 if your team went out.
• Add the value of every melded card.
• Subtract every card left in hands and feet.

Need the rules? See how to play Hand and Foot.