Hi Canasta Lovers,
Here in Paradise we have to pay for our fabulous winters with the hot and rainy days of summer. In July and August after my morning walk on the lake trail I tend to stay inside after lunch, and what better way to pass a triple H (hazy, hot and humid) afternoon than sitting down with friends to play our favorite game? A few interesting things have come up around the card table recently that I would like to share with you.
First, the change I've been hoping for: the "one to hold and one to throw" rule seems to be phasing out. I have long felt that if you can pick a talon after your discard you will have at least one card with which to keep playing. While we are talking of talons I am finding that many really good players often forget to take their talon after melding with wild cards. I don't know why this happens so often but it does. Are we too busy patting ourselves on the back? Is it the adrenaline rush that comes from attempting a joker canasta? Could it be the distraction of the moans and groans of our opponents? Whatever the reason, it happens so often that we must really try to be more cognizant of it.
Next, in the middle of a hand last week, my team had already closed a canasta and was working on our second when one of my opponents realized she only had 12 cards, her partner counted hers and found she also was short. " It's a misdeal!" she cried. Well, nooooo, it's not. Each player is responsible for counting her own cards before play begins. If she does not, them's the breaks kids!!!
Finally, I have often wondered where the term "Whip Out" came from. When a special hand is made the team that makes it earns a dollar from the other team.. It is easy to score this with a check mark when you are playing with four people. It becomes a score keeping nightmare when playing with five or six. Last week I was at a table of five when one of the teams made Pairs! The two opponents that were playing the hand "whipped out" their dollars and paid off right on the spot! Now I know the origin of "Whip Out" and so do you.
Hope I learn as much this week. Keep playing Canasta Goddesses and stay cool.
Love, Barbara
