How To Play Hand & Foot Card Game

To play Hand & Foot, you need multiple decks of cards, form teams, and collect sets, aiming to be first to reach a set score by going through a hand and foot of cards.

Ever heard of a card game that combines strategy, teamwork and a whole lot of fun? That’s precisely what Hand & Foot is all about. It’s a rummy-style game that requires a bit of card-collecting skill and a good partnership to win. You might be wondering exactly how to play hand & foot card game, and I’m here to guide you through it step by step.

How to Play Hand & Foot Card Game

Okay, everyone! Let’s dive into the super fun card game called Hand & Foot! It might sound a little tricky at first, but trust me, once you get the hang of it, you’ll be hooked. This game is all about teamwork, making sets of cards, and scoring lots of points. Get ready to shuffle and deal!

What You Need to Play

Before you start playing, it’s good to make sure you have all the right stuff. It’s like gathering your ingredients before baking a cake! Here’s what you need:

Two or More Decks of Cards: You’ll need multiple decks, usually four or six, depending on how many people are playing. This helps make sure you have enough cards for everyone.
A Group of Players: This game is best with four or more players, usually in teams of two. You can play with more or less, but just make sure to change rules as needed for team size.
Paper and Pencil: You’ll need to keep score! Make sure you have something to write on and something to write with.
A Large Playing Surface: You need a big enough space to spread out all the cards. A big table or a cleared floor space is perfect.

The Goal of the Game

The main goal of Hand & Foot is to be the team that scores the most points by making sets, or “books” of cards and then going out by getting rid of all your cards in your hand. You work as a team to gather cards that match and put them into sets or “books”. So it’s not just about being the first to go out; it’s about collecting points along the way, and having a winning score at the end of the game.

Understanding the Cards

Let’s take a moment to understand what each card means in this game. It’s like learning the alphabet before you can read a book!

Card Values:

Number Cards (4-9): These cards are worth 5 points each when you collect them in books.
Tens, Jacks, Queens, and Kings: These face cards are all worth 10 points each.
Aces: Aces are very special! They are worth 20 points each.
Red Threes: These cards are amazing! If your team can collect them, you can get 100 points each, but they must be put into your team’s score pile right away. If you have red 3’s in your hand, put them in your score pile as soon as you get them, but do not pick up a red 3 from the discard pile.
Black Threes: Black threes are not good news. They are worth minus 5 points each at the end of a round, so try to avoid them!
Jokers: Jokers are wild cards! They are worth 50 points each and can be used as any other card. But remember, you can only use jokers as part of a set when a set has already been started (which we will get to later).

Wild Cards:

Jokers and twos are considered wild cards. They can stand in for any other card when you are trying to build sets.

How to Deal

Dealing in Hand & Foot is very specific. It’s not just about giving out random cards; it’s about getting everyone ready for the game! The deal changes in each round, so always be alert on who the dealer is.

First Dealer: For the first game, you can decide the first dealer in any way you like! You can roll dice, flip a coin, or anything else you like. For all the next games, the dealer will be the person on the left of the previous dealer.
Dealing Hands: The dealer shuffles the cards and deals 11 cards to each player. These are called “hands”. They should be kept hidden from other players.
Dealing Feet: The dealer then deals another 11 cards to each player. These are called “feet.” These cards should be placed face down, do not look at them! They will be used when all your cards in your “hand” are used.
The Stockpile: The remaining cards are placed face down in the middle of the table, forming the stock pile.
The Discard Pile: The top card of the stock pile is turned face up next to the stock pile, and that will be the start of the discard pile.

The Gameplay: Round by Round

The game is played in rounds, and each round has a specific goal. Each round will have a certain set of rules for making books, or sets. These requirements are the same across the rounds, but the amount you need of each type of book changes. Each player takes their turn to draw or discard a card, and then try to start and build books with their hands. Let’s break it down:

Taking a Turn

Drawing a Card: To start a turn, each player draws one card from either the top of the face down stockpile or the top of the discard pile. This card is added to their hand.
Making Books: During your turn, you can start a new set by laying down the minimum amount of cards of the same type needed, as required by the round you are on. You can continue to lay down more cards of the same type during your turns.
Discarding: When you have made your plays, you will end your turn by discarding one card from your hand face up onto the discard pile.

Starting a Book

Before you can lay down any cards for points, you must start your books! You must complete certain requirements based on the round in order to start laying cards down. You are allowed to have multiple books of each type, so don’t worry if you get many of the same card!

Required Books

In each round, certain types of books must be created in order for your team to “go out” of the round and get extra points. We will talk more about that later!

Clean Book: A clean book is a set of cards with no wilds. That means they are all of the same type of number card.
Dirty Book: A dirty book is a set of cards that has wild cards mixed in, along with same numbered cards.

Playing Your “Foot”

Remember those “foot” cards you were dealt at the beginning? The foot is not used until all your cards in your “hand” are finished. When all of your “hand” cards are done, you pick up your “foot” cards and continue on playing until they are done as well.

Using Your Foot:

Once a player has gotten rid of all the cards in their hand, they then get to turn over the foot and play with these cards. Once you pick up your foot, you should keep playing with it until your team “goes out”.

Going Out and Ending a Round

A round ends when one team has laid down all the required books, and then gotten rid of all of their cards in their hand and foot. This is called “going out”. The requirements for going out change with each round.

Going Out Rules:

When a team goes out, they get to get extra points for ending the round.
In order to go out, you must create a clean and a dirty book, as well as completing any other requirements of the round.
A team can only go out if both teammates have played all of their cards, either from the hand or from the foot.
After going out, you can’t lay down any more cards or build more books.

The Different Rounds

Hand & Foot has multiple rounds and each round will have different requirements to start books, make the team “go out”, and different amount of required books.

Round One

Initial book requirement: In round one, you need 3 of a kind to start a clean or dirty book.
Going Out Requirement: To end the round by “going out”, the team needs to complete 2 clean books and 2 dirty books.

Round Two

Initial book requirement: In round two, you need 4 of a kind to start a clean or dirty book.
Going Out Requirement: To end the round by “going out”, the team needs to complete 2 clean books and 2 dirty books.

Round Three

Initial book requirement: In round three, you need 4 of a kind to start a clean or dirty book.
Going Out Requirement: To end the round by “going out”, the team needs to complete 3 clean books and 3 dirty books.

Round Four

Initial book requirement: In round four, you need 5 of a kind to start a clean or dirty book.
Going Out Requirement: To end the round by “going out”, the team needs to complete 3 clean books and 3 dirty books.

Keeping Score

Scoring in Hand & Foot is important. It’s how you know who wins the game! Keep a running total of the points earned in each round.

End of Round Scoring

Cards in Books: Add up the point values of all the cards in the books your team has laid down on the table.
Red Threes: If your team collected red threes, add 100 points per each. Remember, Red 3’s have to go directly to the score pile.
Going Out Bonus: The team that goes out gets an extra 100 points!
Cards Left In Hand: Teams will lose points for every card left in their hand or foot at the end of the round.
- Black Threes: Deduct 5 points for each black three remaining in their hand.
- Number Cards: Deduct 5 points for each 4-9 card remaining in their hand.
- Face Cards and Tens: Deduct 10 points for each face card or ten remaining in their hand.
- Aces: Deduct 20 points for each ace remaining in their hand.

Example of Scoring:

Let’s look at an example:

Team A has a book of six 5’s, which is worth 30 points.
Team A has a book of three Kings, which is worth 30 points.
Team A has a book of two Aces and one Joker, which is worth 90 points.
Team A has four Red 3’s, which is worth 400 points.
Team A went out, so they get 100 points.
Team B has three black 3’s in their hands, which is minus 15 points.
Team B has four 9’s in their hands, which is minus 20 points.
Team B has an ace in their hands, which is minus 20 points.

In this case, Team A gets 650 points, and team B gets -55 points.

Tips for Winning

Now that you know the rules, here are a few tips to help you play the best Hand & Foot game you can:

Communicate With Your Partner: Talk to your teammate about what cards you need to collect and what books you are planning on building.
Be Mindful of the Discard Pile: Pay attention to what cards are being discarded to help you with what cards you need, and what cards that you might not want your opponent to have.
Save Your Wild Cards: Don’t use your wild cards too early, it may be good to save them for later in the round.
Aim to Go Out: Focus on building the required books so that your team can “go out” and gain extra points.

That’s the basics of Hand & Foot! It might seem like a lot at first, but with a little practice, you will become a pro! Remember to have fun and work together with your teammate. Happy gaming!

How To Play Hand and Foot

Final Thoughts

To summarize, players form teams and work to meld cards into books. They use two decks to start, drawing and discarding. Picking up the discard pile requires a natural (a card that matches the top of the discard pile).

Points are earned by melding books of the same rank, and going out finishes a hand. The game continues until a team hits a set point total. Now you know how to play hand & foot card game; it is a cooperative, strategic game.