Hand and Foot Rules

This summer we had a lot of fun playing this game with our family, and since I typed up the rules for Grandma & Grandpa Christensen a while ago, I figured that I'd post them on my blog as well so I can always find them in the future:

Hand and Foot Rules and Scoring

Equipment:

8 decks of playing cards, including jokers

Object of the Game:

The aim is to get rid of cards from your hand (11 cards), and then from your foot (11 cards), by melding them. A Meld is a set of three to seven cards of equal rank placed face up on the table. A Meld cannot have fewer than three cards.

After a Meld of three or more cards has been started, you can add further cards to it until there are seven. Then it becomes a Book. You can meld cards of any rank from A, K, Q, … down to 4.

Deuces (twos) and Jokers are wild cards and can be used in melds, as long as there is at least one more real card than wild cards. You cannot meld wild cards alone.

There are two types of melds:

A Clean Meld has no wild cards and may become a Red Book.

A Dirty Meld has wild cards and may become a Black Book.

A Meld of seven cards is complete and is called a Book.

While melds are laid out face up for everyone to see, completed Books are piled up and the card placed on top shows the type – a red card for a Red Book, a black card for a Black Book. Cards of equal rank can be played on completed Books. Wild cards can be played on Black Books only if the addition of a wild will keep the ratio of real cards higher than wild cards.

You score points for cards you have melded and for each Book. If you did not go out, you lose points for any cards left in your Hand and/or Foot at the end of the play. The round ends when someone gets rid of all the cards in their Hand and Foot, by melding/booking or discarding them.

In order to go out, you must:

Have reached your Foot and played it completely.

AND

Have at least three Red Books.

Card Values:

Jokers = 50 points (Wild Card)

Deuces = 20 points (Wild Card)

Aces = 20 points

Eight through King (8-K) = 10 points

Four through Seven (4-7) = 5 points

Black Threes (3) = 0 points

Red Threes (3) = -300 points 

Beginning Points Needed to Meld: (50/75/100/125)

Round 1, cards points must total at least 50 to play

Round 2, cards points must total at least 75 to play

Round 3, cards points must total at least 100 to play

Round 4, cards points must total at least 125 to play

Book Points: (100/300)

Red Book = 300 points

Black Book = 100 points

The Scores:

You receive two scores per hand. One for the books, then the combined face value of all cards played on the board, booked or not. Once your books have been counted then all the cards you played, including those in the books, are added up at the card point value (Seven Aces will count as 300 for a Red Book as well as 140 points for the Aces).

This applies to all players, not just the person going out. If you did not go out, and are caught with cards in your Hand and/or your Foot, those points count against you. If you did not go out and you have books and or cards on the board, those points count for you.

The person with the most points at the end of the rounds is declared the winner.

The Play:

• Play in pairs. Both players play on the same meld piles and tally your scores together.

• Each play should deal 22 cards into two piles of 11. One pile is your hand and one is your 

foot.

• To begin play, draw two cards from the deck.

• Meld your cards if you can. To begin melding, your board points must match or exceed the points required for that round. After one player in a pair has melded, the other player can begin melding as well.

• Discard one card (any card) to end your turn.

• As the play comes back to you, continue to draw two cards, play on your books as you draw cards that play, then discard one card, until you get rid of your Hand.

• Picking up your Foot can be done two ways:

1. Going straight to your Foot, means all the cards in your Hand play without a discard. You may pick up your Foot and play out of it immediately.

2. You play all the cards in your Hand except one, then discard. You will be able to play out of your Foot on your next turn.

            • Play continues until a player goes out. You cannot go out until you have at least three Red 

            Books.