Wednesday, June 17, 2015
The shimmy!
Hi Canasta Goddesses,
Anyone who has ever taken a bridge lesson from the irreplaceable Roberta Salob will remember her standing up in front of a ballroom filled with beginner bridge players and shimmying to "Use up the honors from the short side first!" No matter how poor your bridge skills might be you will always use up the honors from the short side first. I have been trying to come up with a " Roberta-Worthy"
catch phrase for my canasta rookies, so try to imagine me shimmying to "Three, Five, Seven I am in Canasta Heaven!"
Why three, five seven? I'm sure your asking yourself. To me they are the most important numbers in our beloved game. Three? Threes are very valuable commodities. If you can collect and cover all eight of them you will be rewarded with 2000 points. Three is also the minimum number of cards you need in each individual meld.
Five as in five card base (the way we play here in Paradise). Five is the amount of face cards you must show before you can add a wild card to your meld.
Seven, ah sevens! Seven is the number of cards in every canasta. Sevens, if you can collect seven of them, your team will be rewarded with 2500 points. Sevens, if you try to collect all seven and cannot your team will be penalized that same 2500 points. If at the end of the hand you have more than two sevens (or aces) in your hand you will be penalized 1500 points.
So c'mon shimmy everybody, Three, Five, Seven I am in Canasta Heaven!
Well they have certainly turned up the heat here in Paradise. When it is this hot outside I do a lot of reading inside. I've recently come across a very prolific writer name John Lescroat. His newest book is called The Fall. If you like law procedural novels you might want to try one of his.
Lastly, my daughter mentioned that though I often write about my friends I never mention her. My daughter Erin is a wonderful young woman who makes me proud every single day. Next week she is going back to practicing law full time after a long mommy-break. I know it will be a wonderful and rewarding experience for her and her new firm. Good luck baby!
Stay cool and in touch Canasta Goddesses,
Love, Barbara
Monday, April 27, 2015
A Written Down Rule
Hi Canasta Lovers,
I bumped into Lissy at Publix last week (Paradise is a very small town.) Lissy usually comes up with some pretty interesting card concerns to discuss and, as usual, she didn't disappoint. She related to me that she was playing at a table where one team needed 155 points to meld. Player A melded incorrectly with 150 points but showed three wild cards on her various melds before she had to pick up her cards. She was penalized the usual 10 points for her mistake. When her partner, Player B's turn came around she picked a card and then laid down six wild cards (two big jokers and four deuces). The other team said that she was cheating and that move was not allowed because she knew from her partner's mistake that she could complete the canasta. My initial thought was that is not illegal, who would not lay down 6 wild cards and worst case, she was making lemonade out of lemons.
It was an interesting enough issue, however, that I started asking random goddesses what they thought. The results were mixed, about half saying it was a legit move and the other half saying it shouldn't be allowed. One goddess told me it was a "written down rule!" " Written down where?" I asked. Nobody knows. My suggestion to break the tie would be to make it a table rule to be discussed before playing. BTW if it goes for joker canastas it should hold true for clean aces also.
What perplexed me even more, though, was thinking your opponents were cheating. I like to think that all the Canasta Goddesses here in Paradise and beyond are nice, honest girls who just want to get together for an afternoon of canasta and conversation. We do not play for big enough stakes or celebrity to sully our reputations at a card table.
Whew, now I will get down off my soapbox in time to wish all of my followers, their mothers, daughters, aunts and friends a very happy Mother's Day and a healthy summer season beyond.
With much love,
Barbara
I bumped into Lissy at Publix last week (Paradise is a very small town.) Lissy usually comes up with some pretty interesting card concerns to discuss and, as usual, she didn't disappoint. She related to me that she was playing at a table where one team needed 155 points to meld. Player A melded incorrectly with 150 points but showed three wild cards on her various melds before she had to pick up her cards. She was penalized the usual 10 points for her mistake. When her partner, Player B's turn came around she picked a card and then laid down six wild cards (two big jokers and four deuces). The other team said that she was cheating and that move was not allowed because she knew from her partner's mistake that she could complete the canasta. My initial thought was that is not illegal, who would not lay down 6 wild cards and worst case, she was making lemonade out of lemons.
It was an interesting enough issue, however, that I started asking random goddesses what they thought. The results were mixed, about half saying it was a legit move and the other half saying it shouldn't be allowed. One goddess told me it was a "written down rule!" " Written down where?" I asked. Nobody knows. My suggestion to break the tie would be to make it a table rule to be discussed before playing. BTW if it goes for joker canastas it should hold true for clean aces also.
What perplexed me even more, though, was thinking your opponents were cheating. I like to think that all the Canasta Goddesses here in Paradise and beyond are nice, honest girls who just want to get together for an afternoon of canasta and conversation. We do not play for big enough stakes or celebrity to sully our reputations at a card table.
Whew, now I will get down off my soapbox in time to wish all of my followers, their mothers, daughters, aunts and friends a very happy Mother's Day and a healthy summer season beyond.
With much love,
Barbara
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
No Good Deed....
Hi Canasta Lovers,
A few weeks ago I bumped into my first canasta student (see Lissy's Lesson 4/12/13) at the hair salon. As we both getting "beautified" we started talking about our favorite game. Lissy mentioned that she had taken on the thankless task of scorekeeping and suggested that I talk about the ins and outs, the ups and downs and the rights and wrongs of scorekeeping.
It is important, obviously, that the scorekeeper can add and subtract quickly. She should also have very acute hearing as many numbers are called out to her at the same time as cards are being shuffled and dealt, the previous hand is being heatedly dissected, phones are ringing and candies are being unwrapped.
It is also important that the scorekeeper is well acquainted with the table rules used by her particular group. It is important to know which special hands are acceptable and how much it is worth. Score pads can be made up with the value of the special hands, the value of the threes, etc. Is a regular pairs hand the same value as a pairs hand made with wild cards (AKA Palm Beach Pairs)?
The scorekeeper must also keep track of who the next dealer is. Many score pads have a column where you can write in the dealers initials ahead of time which is great if you are only playing with four players, it gets a little sticky with five or six players. For the scorekeeper playing with more than four players can become a scorekeeping nightmare, hence the Whip Out! If a special hand is made when playing with only four players a check mark is made on that team's side of the score pad, at the end of the game the check marks are added into the base score. When playing with five or six players you should bring lots of singles, that way only the players involved in that hand will "whip out" their dollars to pay the other team and the score keeper doesn't have to do anything but smile.
The scorekeeper must have a thick skin! Someone is always looking over your shoulder for a mistake or to make a correction. It is very annoying and unnerving. I like to equal out the scores after each hand, that way you don't carry a mistake for the whole game or God forbid the whole afternoon because when the girls are done playing they want to collect their winnings and go home. If scorekeeping becomes too much for your delicate sensibilities (and it can) the only thing to do is hand your pad and pen to another player and relax for the rest of the game. Then they, too, will learn that no good deed goes unpunished.
It is the time of the year to wish all my Jewish followers a sweet Passover and all my Christian followers a Happy and Blessed Easter., and to all Canasta Goddesses, their families and friends I wish Peace on Earth.
Much love to all, Barbara
A few weeks ago I bumped into my first canasta student (see Lissy's Lesson 4/12/13) at the hair salon. As we both getting "beautified" we started talking about our favorite game. Lissy mentioned that she had taken on the thankless task of scorekeeping and suggested that I talk about the ins and outs, the ups and downs and the rights and wrongs of scorekeeping.
It is important, obviously, that the scorekeeper can add and subtract quickly. She should also have very acute hearing as many numbers are called out to her at the same time as cards are being shuffled and dealt, the previous hand is being heatedly dissected, phones are ringing and candies are being unwrapped.
It is also important that the scorekeeper is well acquainted with the table rules used by her particular group. It is important to know which special hands are acceptable and how much it is worth. Score pads can be made up with the value of the special hands, the value of the threes, etc. Is a regular pairs hand the same value as a pairs hand made with wild cards (AKA Palm Beach Pairs)?
The scorekeeper must also keep track of who the next dealer is. Many score pads have a column where you can write in the dealers initials ahead of time which is great if you are only playing with four players, it gets a little sticky with five or six players. For the scorekeeper playing with more than four players can become a scorekeeping nightmare, hence the Whip Out! If a special hand is made when playing with only four players a check mark is made on that team's side of the score pad, at the end of the game the check marks are added into the base score. When playing with five or six players you should bring lots of singles, that way only the players involved in that hand will "whip out" their dollars to pay the other team and the score keeper doesn't have to do anything but smile.
The scorekeeper must have a thick skin! Someone is always looking over your shoulder for a mistake or to make a correction. It is very annoying and unnerving. I like to equal out the scores after each hand, that way you don't carry a mistake for the whole game or God forbid the whole afternoon because when the girls are done playing they want to collect their winnings and go home. If scorekeeping becomes too much for your delicate sensibilities (and it can) the only thing to do is hand your pad and pen to another player and relax for the rest of the game. Then they, too, will learn that no good deed goes unpunished.
It is the time of the year to wish all my Jewish followers a sweet Passover and all my Christian followers a Happy and Blessed Easter., and to all Canasta Goddesses, their families and friends I wish Peace on Earth.
Much love to all, Barbara
Friday, February 20, 2015
The Stars Aligned
Hi Canasta Lovers,
It is chilly here in paradise today. Record breaking cold temperatures in south Florida according to my favorite weatherman, Al Roker. I'm not complaining, goddesses, the sun is shining, the temperature will warm up into the sixties and unlike our friends up north we have no need for shovels, snow blowers, boots or gloves.
Last time I wrote I promised an interesting hand. Well, the stars aligned for this beginner group last week. Nicki and Mickey were the lucky partners playing against Katie and Suzy*. It was the second hand of the lesson and Nicki and Mickey had already amassed 2025 points. Early in the hand Nicki tried for a wild card canasta, laying down three big jokers and two deuces. Mickey's turn, she closes it up with a fourth big joker and another deuce. 2500 beautiful points! Across the table Katie and Suzy were struggling to open with 125. In order to keep more points in her hand Suzy split her sevens (my students will tell you how I feel about that move). Play goes on, the pack gets bigger and bigger. Nicki and Mickey are still sitting with their big joker canasta and 1100 points in threes. They are watching the other teams discards very carefully. They know where seven sevens are and are salivating for the pack. Turn card...opponent Suzy throws her third ace into the discard pile and Mickey takes that big, juicy seven laden, virgin pack with her pair of aces. Wow !!! The aces and sevens cancel each other out but they covered the five threes with three clean canastas (1500 points) and over seven hundred points in count. One hand, a very classy 5800 points!!! The next hand was a little anticlimactic, Nicki and Mickey only made a regular wild card canasta, a final score after three hands of 10,355 points. After I regained my voice I told them to get in their car and hurry down to the Hard Rock Casino. That kind of luck doesn't come around every day.
Classes are continuing with two new groups, learning to play our favorite game. Hope something as interesting and fun happens for them.
Stay warm canasta Goddesses, it will hit eighty degrees again before you can shout PAIRS!
Sending love to all,
Barbara
*Don't try to figure out who's who. I change the names to protect the innocent!
It is chilly here in paradise today. Record breaking cold temperatures in south Florida according to my favorite weatherman, Al Roker. I'm not complaining, goddesses, the sun is shining, the temperature will warm up into the sixties and unlike our friends up north we have no need for shovels, snow blowers, boots or gloves.
Last time I wrote I promised an interesting hand. Well, the stars aligned for this beginner group last week. Nicki and Mickey were the lucky partners playing against Katie and Suzy*. It was the second hand of the lesson and Nicki and Mickey had already amassed 2025 points. Early in the hand Nicki tried for a wild card canasta, laying down three big jokers and two deuces. Mickey's turn, she closes it up with a fourth big joker and another deuce. 2500 beautiful points! Across the table Katie and Suzy were struggling to open with 125. In order to keep more points in her hand Suzy split her sevens (my students will tell you how I feel about that move). Play goes on, the pack gets bigger and bigger. Nicki and Mickey are still sitting with their big joker canasta and 1100 points in threes. They are watching the other teams discards very carefully. They know where seven sevens are and are salivating for the pack. Turn card...opponent Suzy throws her third ace into the discard pile and Mickey takes that big, juicy seven laden, virgin pack with her pair of aces. Wow !!! The aces and sevens cancel each other out but they covered the five threes with three clean canastas (1500 points) and over seven hundred points in count. One hand, a very classy 5800 points!!! The next hand was a little anticlimactic, Nicki and Mickey only made a regular wild card canasta, a final score after three hands of 10,355 points. After I regained my voice I told them to get in their car and hurry down to the Hard Rock Casino. That kind of luck doesn't come around every day.
Classes are continuing with two new groups, learning to play our favorite game. Hope something as interesting and fun happens for them.
Stay warm canasta Goddesses, it will hit eighty degrees again before you can shout PAIRS!
Sending love to all,
Barbara
*Don't try to figure out who's who. I change the names to protect the innocent!
Friday, January 30, 2015
Resolutions and Rewards
Hi Canasta Lovers,
We have just about made it through January, 2015. By now most of our New Year's resolutions have either been forgotten or fulfilled. Mine was to write my blog more often, now I'm trying to get it in under the wire.
In the weeks since my last observations I have been very busy teaching our favorite game to three tables of newbies. It is so interesting to watch the expressions on the faces of these beginners. They usually come in thinking "this is going to be a breeze" (after all, it's not bridge!) Well, we start by learning how to count our USABLE points (Yes I know those adorable aces are worth twenty points each BUT you need a wild card in order to USE them.) Uh oh, a little confusion starts to show on their faces. Next we go on to melding, 125 points and a clean triple, confusion deepens. We play the first hand open, I walk around the table helping each player count her points, point out the clean triples and hope someone is able to meld. With all 108 cards laying face up on the table panic ensues. We usually play two more closed hands and then call it a day. The newbies go home with a booklet of notes, rules and quizzes.
The second week we talk about the tricky threes, the adorable aces and those sexy sevens. We start to play and as I walk around the table I can see the players are arranging their hands with more confidence, anxious to begin to play. One of the nicest parts for me is watching these four women who were strangers the week before get to know each other and start to cheer each other on. Partnership is a beautiful thing! The following week after a lesson on special hands and more supervised play, the women make plans to play on their own. When they come back for the fourth lesson, after an afternoon of playing on their own, it is easy for me to see what is written on their faces. THEY GET IT!!!
After the fourth session all of the newbies are ready to join the ranks of Canasta Goddesses. Many of these new Goddesses find their way to the card rooms of Paradise and play canasta happily ever after. Many others continue with supervised play, honing their skills, as we delve deeper into strategy and timing. Everyone seems to enjoy this and it is very rewarding to me.
Next time I hope to have some interesting hands to talk about. Let me know if you've played one recently.
Goddesses, if you are not into football this weekend, play Canasta instead.
Love, Barbara
We have just about made it through January, 2015. By now most of our New Year's resolutions have either been forgotten or fulfilled. Mine was to write my blog more often, now I'm trying to get it in under the wire.
In the weeks since my last observations I have been very busy teaching our favorite game to three tables of newbies. It is so interesting to watch the expressions on the faces of these beginners. They usually come in thinking "this is going to be a breeze" (after all, it's not bridge!) Well, we start by learning how to count our USABLE points (Yes I know those adorable aces are worth twenty points each BUT you need a wild card in order to USE them.) Uh oh, a little confusion starts to show on their faces. Next we go on to melding, 125 points and a clean triple, confusion deepens. We play the first hand open, I walk around the table helping each player count her points, point out the clean triples and hope someone is able to meld. With all 108 cards laying face up on the table panic ensues. We usually play two more closed hands and then call it a day. The newbies go home with a booklet of notes, rules and quizzes.
The second week we talk about the tricky threes, the adorable aces and those sexy sevens. We start to play and as I walk around the table I can see the players are arranging their hands with more confidence, anxious to begin to play. One of the nicest parts for me is watching these four women who were strangers the week before get to know each other and start to cheer each other on. Partnership is a beautiful thing! The following week after a lesson on special hands and more supervised play, the women make plans to play on their own. When they come back for the fourth lesson, after an afternoon of playing on their own, it is easy for me to see what is written on their faces. THEY GET IT!!!
After the fourth session all of the newbies are ready to join the ranks of Canasta Goddesses. Many of these new Goddesses find their way to the card rooms of Paradise and play canasta happily ever after. Many others continue with supervised play, honing their skills, as we delve deeper into strategy and timing. Everyone seems to enjoy this and it is very rewarding to me.
Next time I hope to have some interesting hands to talk about. Let me know if you've played one recently.
Goddesses, if you are not into football this weekend, play Canasta instead.
Love, Barbara
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Jingle, jingle!
Hi Canasta Lovers
It is holiday season once more in Paradise. The store windows are all aglitter with holiday decorations, the sounds of joyful music in all the stores, there are Christmas trees and poinsettia, Chanukah bushes and menorahs all up and down the streets of Palm Beach. For me it is such a happy time of year.
Today, as I am replacing my 2014 desk calendar with the new 2015 version I like to take a little time to look back over the past year to see what I have accomplished. I continued my second season of introducing our favorite game to beginners and to refreshing and strategizing with some more experienced players. I continue to meet and play with so many interesting and accomplished women. In between hands we often talk about their exotic travels, their love of the arts and the movies we've seen. Not to mention all those adorable and brilliant grandchildren.
Steve and I traveled up to Boston in February for a family Bar Mitzvah (Mazel Tov to Aaron). In the spring we flew out to fabulous Palm Desert to meet up with our fabulous friends Roni and Phil. This summer Leni, Steve and I flew to New York for our annual Canasta marathon at the only dude ranch in Amagansett (thanks, as always, Maralin and Rick).
Steve spent much of September and October battling a nasty case of vertigo, but thank G-d that's past now and we are again out and about, having fun in PB.
One of the nicest things to happen to us this year was reconnecting with our very old friends (the friendship, not the friends) Judi and Steve. We all met in college, dated, married, had children and lost touch for about thirty-five years. We found each other again on Facebook and picked up our friendship without missing a beat. Lucky for us they live in South Florida too.
Our children and grandchildren continue to thrive and we count our blessings everyday that they live so close and we can see them so often.
Okay, so what's up for 2015? I have already started three classes. The first, a beginner group who has successfully made it through two classes and are starting to understand those sexy sevens, crazy aces and tricky threes. The other two groups are returnees who are reviewing and polishing their skills after a very busy summer.
I want to wish all of you Canasta Goddesses and your dear ones a happy holiday season and a wonderful, healthy and prosperous New Year. Jingle, jingle.
With much love,
Barbara
It is holiday season once more in Paradise. The store windows are all aglitter with holiday decorations, the sounds of joyful music in all the stores, there are Christmas trees and poinsettia, Chanukah bushes and menorahs all up and down the streets of Palm Beach. For me it is such a happy time of year.
Today, as I am replacing my 2014 desk calendar with the new 2015 version I like to take a little time to look back over the past year to see what I have accomplished. I continued my second season of introducing our favorite game to beginners and to refreshing and strategizing with some more experienced players. I continue to meet and play with so many interesting and accomplished women. In between hands we often talk about their exotic travels, their love of the arts and the movies we've seen. Not to mention all those adorable and brilliant grandchildren.
Steve and I traveled up to Boston in February for a family Bar Mitzvah (Mazel Tov to Aaron). In the spring we flew out to fabulous Palm Desert to meet up with our fabulous friends Roni and Phil. This summer Leni, Steve and I flew to New York for our annual Canasta marathon at the only dude ranch in Amagansett (thanks, as always, Maralin and Rick).
Steve spent much of September and October battling a nasty case of vertigo, but thank G-d that's past now and we are again out and about, having fun in PB.
One of the nicest things to happen to us this year was reconnecting with our very old friends (the friendship, not the friends) Judi and Steve. We all met in college, dated, married, had children and lost touch for about thirty-five years. We found each other again on Facebook and picked up our friendship without missing a beat. Lucky for us they live in South Florida too.
Our children and grandchildren continue to thrive and we count our blessings everyday that they live so close and we can see them so often.
Okay, so what's up for 2015? I have already started three classes. The first, a beginner group who has successfully made it through two classes and are starting to understand those sexy sevens, crazy aces and tricky threes. The other two groups are returnees who are reviewing and polishing their skills after a very busy summer.
I want to wish all of you Canasta Goddesses and your dear ones a happy holiday season and a wonderful, healthy and prosperous New Year. Jingle, jingle.
With much love,
Barbara
Thursday, October 16, 2014
"Stuff your sorries in a sack"
Hi Canasta Lovers,
One morning last week I watched a segment on Today dealing with how often women say, "I'm sorry!" As an example a young woman opens her boss' door and says I'm sorry, I have a question" What is she sorry about? Why not just say "Good morning, I have a question"? Another great example showed a woman sitting on a bus, a man sits down on the empty seat beside her and invades some of her space. The woman moves further away and says, "Sorry" What? What is she apologizing for?
Playing our favorite game that same afternoon I noticed how often "I'm sorry" was said at the Canasta table. If you meld with too many of the same cards as your opponent, why apologize? You and your partner should be happy that you melded. If, having no safe discard, you give the pack, don't apologize I'm sure you had no choice. If you pick a pack and get stuck with aces, don't say you are sorry, think of all the canastas you made and the threes you covered. If you lay down six sevens and your opponent goes out before your partner can close, you don't have to apologize, you were going for the gold!
As I often say, in the scope of our lives Canasta is just a game, albeit, a fantastic one and there is little room at the card table for apologies (unless you spill you coffee on your opponent's new white jeans.) So follow George Costanza's advice to Jerry Seinfeld in November, 1997 and "stuff your sorries in a sack, Mister."*
We are enjoying a cool day today here in Paradise. The roads and restaurants are getting crowded and season is almost upon us. If you or any of your friends are interested in learning Canasta or taking your game to the next level, give me a shout at 561-818-3131 or email me at canastagal8500@gmail and we will set something up. If you already have a group and would like to have some supervised play, I can do that for you too.
Stay in touch, you gorgeous goddesses.
Love, Barbara
*also said by Oscar Madison on The Odd Couple, October, 1974.
One morning last week I watched a segment on Today dealing with how often women say, "I'm sorry!" As an example a young woman opens her boss' door and says I'm sorry, I have a question" What is she sorry about? Why not just say "Good morning, I have a question"? Another great example showed a woman sitting on a bus, a man sits down on the empty seat beside her and invades some of her space. The woman moves further away and says, "Sorry" What? What is she apologizing for?
Playing our favorite game that same afternoon I noticed how often "I'm sorry" was said at the Canasta table. If you meld with too many of the same cards as your opponent, why apologize? You and your partner should be happy that you melded. If, having no safe discard, you give the pack, don't apologize I'm sure you had no choice. If you pick a pack and get stuck with aces, don't say you are sorry, think of all the canastas you made and the threes you covered. If you lay down six sevens and your opponent goes out before your partner can close, you don't have to apologize, you were going for the gold!
As I often say, in the scope of our lives Canasta is just a game, albeit, a fantastic one and there is little room at the card table for apologies (unless you spill you coffee on your opponent's new white jeans.) So follow George Costanza's advice to Jerry Seinfeld in November, 1997 and "stuff your sorries in a sack, Mister."*
We are enjoying a cool day today here in Paradise. The roads and restaurants are getting crowded and season is almost upon us. If you or any of your friends are interested in learning Canasta or taking your game to the next level, give me a shout at 561-818-3131 or email me at canastagal8500@gmail and we will set something up. If you already have a group and would like to have some supervised play, I can do that for you too.
Stay in touch, you gorgeous goddesses.
Love, Barbara
*also said by Oscar Madison on The Odd Couple, October, 1974.
Monday, September 22, 2014
When You're HOT You're HOT!
Hi Canasta Lovers,
Have you ever noticed how on some days you can lay down three big jokers and a deuce and on your partner's next turn she will close that canasta with the fourth big joker and two deuces? When that happens there is a good chance you're HOT!
Have you ever noticed that on other days you can lay down six wild cards on your first turn and you and your partner can wait the whole game and never see another wild card? When that happens, chances are you're NOT!
How about when you open your hand with 180 beautiful points? You are HOT! How about when you need 125 points and can't pick a clean three? You are NOT!
I find that these HOT and NOT days happen often. How to deal with them? This is not a canasta teacher speaking now but a superstitious card player thinking aloud. When I feel I am having a HOT day I am a much more aggressive player. I will try for those joker canastas. I am much more apt to pick a huge pack with 6 sevens in it (hope my partner is also having a HOT day too). On a NOT day I don't even like to lay down four wild cards at the beginning of the hand. I will play a very conservative game, try to stay out of trouble and wait for Lady Luck to reappear. She will, if you have patience!
With summer ending (although it is hard to tell here in Paradise) and fall beginning tomorrow, it is time for many of us to start to focus on the Jewish High Holidays. I want to wish all of my friends and followers a very sweet, very healthy, and very prosperous New Year and may we all be inscribed in the Book of Life for another year.
See you soon Canasta Goddesses.
Love, Barbara
Have you ever noticed how on some days you can lay down three big jokers and a deuce and on your partner's next turn she will close that canasta with the fourth big joker and two deuces? When that happens there is a good chance you're HOT!
Have you ever noticed that on other days you can lay down six wild cards on your first turn and you and your partner can wait the whole game and never see another wild card? When that happens, chances are you're NOT!
How about when you open your hand with 180 beautiful points? You are HOT! How about when you need 125 points and can't pick a clean three? You are NOT!
I find that these HOT and NOT days happen often. How to deal with them? This is not a canasta teacher speaking now but a superstitious card player thinking aloud. When I feel I am having a HOT day I am a much more aggressive player. I will try for those joker canastas. I am much more apt to pick a huge pack with 6 sevens in it (hope my partner is also having a HOT day too). On a NOT day I don't even like to lay down four wild cards at the beginning of the hand. I will play a very conservative game, try to stay out of trouble and wait for Lady Luck to reappear. She will, if you have patience!
With summer ending (although it is hard to tell here in Paradise) and fall beginning tomorrow, it is time for many of us to start to focus on the Jewish High Holidays. I want to wish all of my friends and followers a very sweet, very healthy, and very prosperous New Year and may we all be inscribed in the Book of Life for another year.
See you soon Canasta Goddesses.
Love, Barbara
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Barbara and Leni's Great Hamptons Adventure
Hi Canasta Lovers,
Leni and I are just back from our great adventure to the only dune ranch in Amagansett, New York. As most of my followers know every summer the girls of Rho Kappa (our 40 year old canasta group) meet up at Maralin's wonderful house at the beach. After settling in and having a delicious lunch, the five of us picked teams and sat down at the card table to begin the Canasta Marathon of 2014. Unfortunately, the Canasta Gods were not sitting on this girl's shoulder this trip. I could barely make 125 points. If ever I did make it and melded with SIX wild cards, my partner could not close the canasta. Woe is me, it's a good thing I love my friends and love the game.
My New York friends play different table rules than we play in Paradise. The biggest difference is here in Paradise we play a five card base, in New York the girls play with a three card base (the way we learned all those years ago.) For those of you who don't know about the five card base, the rule is that after your initial meld you MUST have at least five of the same face cards showing before you can add a face card to your meld.
Example: King, king, king, king, sorry no wild cards allowed.
King, king, king, king, king, wild cards welcomed.
With the five card rule in place, it is much more difficult to "go out" because you cannot lay your wild cards off on existing melds, you also can not put you pairs down with a wild card unless it is your last pair and you are "going out."
As we are all getting just a little bit older and our memories are not what they use to be, a few of the girls like to look back in the discard pile ALOT. They had to be reminded that you can only look back once a hand, four cards at your turn.
What else did we do at the ranch? Lots and lots of talking, lots and lots of eating, including our old standby Bobby Vans for lobster on Tuesday night, Wednesday, it was the East Hampton Grill (yummy ribs). Max's delicious soft shelled crabs on the menu Thursday. Friday night, a fabulous clam bake at the ranch including a birthday celebration for the guys who all turned OMG seventy this year. Saturday night at Muse in Sag Harbor ended a week of great picks. Thank you Mar.
After all that eating I must mention our morning power walks into the town of Amagansett, then a few hours at the beach with a good book and canasta before and after dinner. I may live in Paradise but our week at the ranch is always heaven!
Stay cool, goddesses, Season will be here before you know it.
Love to all, Barbara
Leni and I are just back from our great adventure to the only dune ranch in Amagansett, New York. As most of my followers know every summer the girls of Rho Kappa (our 40 year old canasta group) meet up at Maralin's wonderful house at the beach. After settling in and having a delicious lunch, the five of us picked teams and sat down at the card table to begin the Canasta Marathon of 2014. Unfortunately, the Canasta Gods were not sitting on this girl's shoulder this trip. I could barely make 125 points. If ever I did make it and melded with SIX wild cards, my partner could not close the canasta. Woe is me, it's a good thing I love my friends and love the game.
My New York friends play different table rules than we play in Paradise. The biggest difference is here in Paradise we play a five card base, in New York the girls play with a three card base (the way we learned all those years ago.) For those of you who don't know about the five card base, the rule is that after your initial meld you MUST have at least five of the same face cards showing before you can add a face card to your meld.
Example: King, king, king, king, sorry no wild cards allowed.
King, king, king, king, king, wild cards welcomed.
With the five card rule in place, it is much more difficult to "go out" because you cannot lay your wild cards off on existing melds, you also can not put you pairs down with a wild card unless it is your last pair and you are "going out."
As we are all getting just a little bit older and our memories are not what they use to be, a few of the girls like to look back in the discard pile ALOT. They had to be reminded that you can only look back once a hand, four cards at your turn.
What else did we do at the ranch? Lots and lots of talking, lots and lots of eating, including our old standby Bobby Vans for lobster on Tuesday night, Wednesday, it was the East Hampton Grill (yummy ribs). Max's delicious soft shelled crabs on the menu Thursday. Friday night, a fabulous clam bake at the ranch including a birthday celebration for the guys who all turned OMG seventy this year. Saturday night at Muse in Sag Harbor ended a week of great picks. Thank you Mar.
After all that eating I must mention our morning power walks into the town of Amagansett, then a few hours at the beach with a good book and canasta before and after dinner. I may live in Paradise but our week at the ranch is always heaven!
Stay cool, goddesses, Season will be here before you know it.
Love to all, Barbara
Monday, July 14, 2014
Summer Lovin
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
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
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