We always played Canasta for entertainment.
Whenever the family came together, we would enevitable pick partners and settle down to a good double deck Canasta tounament.
I had not seen my cousin Ginger for about 30 years, but when we hooked up after all that time, the evening ended with a game of Canasta. Ginger and I were partners against her sister, Mary, and Uncle Fred.
It was like a trip back in time. Thirty years evaporated as soon as the cards hit the table. We were back on the farm, and things had not ever changed. If you were real patient, Fred would make a bad discard, but Mary would pick up the pile at the smallest excuse. Ginger and I played for the long term.
The only point of discussion was Uncle Watson Rules.
Uncle Watson was a relative from Kentucky who came out one summer and spent some time with the family. Of course he was involved in the family Canasta tournaments.
He quoted special "Rules" that he invented as the occasion arose.
For instance, if you cut the deck at the exact amount of cards that were dealt out, you got an extra 100 points. Or if you had three red threes it was worth an extra 100, but you get the idea.
I don't think that his rules ever made any difference in the outcome of the game. Strategy and partnership always won out over special "Rules".
It came to mean that if you could think up a rule which sounded logical, and benefitted you, you could invoke it.
Not quite cheating, but an interresting side game to play.
So do you play by "Uncle Watson Rules" ?
4 comments:
Ah yes...the "lets get one on Uncle Fred now that he is 84" card game. We could never win at Canasta when we were younger, and Uncle Fred was playing. It was such a boon the even lead during the game, even if only for a hand or two. I really think that Uncle Watson and Uncle Fred were in kahoots, because they always remembered the extra points when they played by the special rules but never noticed if we had the 3 red threes, or cut the deck just right. Of course, what did 100 points matter when it was Uncle Fred 200 Kagilion points to 200 (and that was the total points of all of the cousins playing against him!). Rats, but I miss playing canasta like that. Ginger
I don't know what made me flash on the Uncle Watson rules. It just hit me on Friday night, and I figured I had better get it down before I forgot.
I used to know how to play canasta...you had to use two decks ( hence the three red threes). We had that same rule too. I never heard about the "exact cards when dealing" rule though.
PQ: We always asked at the beginning of the game "Are we playing Uncle Watson Rules?" That meant cuthroat read em' and weep, anything goes if you don'r get caught.
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