Editing Canasta (section)

=== Miscellaneous variations for Classic Canasta and other types ===
* The discard pile is blocked for canastas. Only non-canasta melds can be used to pick up the discard pile.
* The number of wildcards in a meld must always be less than the number of natural cards.
* Card points inside canastas are counted as well as the canasta score.
* Real jokers can not be discarded and thus can not be used to block the discard pile
* The initial meld must be done before the discard pile can be taken, so the points of 2 natural cards together with the discard top card are not added to the initial meld requirement score.
* There is a special case where any player/team that manages to meld 7 canastas in one hand (natural or mixed) automatically gain 5000 points and thus win the game.
* A number of cards other than 11 may be dealt at the beginning of the game, 13 and 15 being common choices. Some groups vary the number of cards drawn inversely with the number of players.
* To make picking up the discard pile more challenging, require that a natural pair be played on the same turn that the pile is picked up.
* A concealed canasta occurs when a canasta is melded directly from a player's hand. Usually in also going out: going out concealed which earns an extra 100 point bonus over the standard 100 point going out bonus.
* One variant allows melding up to three wild cards in a meld, regardless of the number of natural cards melded.
* When the stock is depleted, consider flipping over the discard pile and turning it into a new stock to extend play.
* Another variation is to only take 10 cards after taking the discard pile. This allows for the game to be much more balanced the further you get into a round.