Samba is a rummy style game with the objective to score points by melding cards.
Find the video tutorial and written explanation for how to play Samba below. Be sure to keep the Samba quick guide close while playing for a quick reference to help you learn as you play.
Samba Tutorial
Needed
Two to six players; Three 52 card decks with a total of six jokers.
Deal
Each player is dealt 15 cards, one card at a time. After the deal, the remaining cards in the middle form a draw deck, and the top card is flipped face up to start a discard pile.
Setup
When playing with four or six players, players will play with a partner. When playing with two, three, or five players, players will play individually.
Objective
The objective of the game is to be the first team to score 10,000 points. Points are scored by melding cards into sets. A set of three cards starts a meld and can be added to throughout gameplay.
A set can be a group or sequence. A group is three or more cards in the same rank. A sequence is a run of three to seven cards in the same suit. A group of at least seven cards is known as a canasta. A sequence of seven cards is known as a samba.
The jokers and 2s are wildcards. Wildcards can be added to a group of cards as long as there are twice as many natural cards as wildcards. A group cannot have more than two wildcards. Wildcards cannot be used in sequences.
Game Play
The player left of the dealer is first to play. A player's turn consists of three phases: drawing, melding, and discarding.
The Draw
A player can draw the top two cards from the draw deck to start their turn.
A player may draw from the discard pile if they are able to immediately meld the drawn card into a group with two natural cards from their hand, or add the drawn card to a sequence that has already been melded. Once the initial card is melded, the player will take the rest of the discard pile into their hand.
Melding
After the draw, a player can choose to create melds, if possible.
Each card has a value:
Jokers = 50 points
Aces/2s = 20 points
Kings to 8s = 10 points
7s to 4s = 5 points
Black 3s = 5 points
The first melds laid by a team need to have a combined card value of 50 points when starting the game.
Once a team hits 1500 game points, the first melds need to have a combined card value of 90 points.
Once a team hits 3000 game points, the first melds need to have a combined card value of 120 points.
Once a team hits 7000 game points, the first melds need to have a combined card value of 150 points.
The value can come from multiple melds in the same turn.
If a team has negative game points, the first melds need to have a combined card value of 15 points
The Discard
A player’s turn ends with a discard. If a 3 or wildcard is discarded, the discard pile is blocked. A player cannot draw from a blocked pile.
Going Out
A player can end the round if they have melded two canastas, or two sambas, or one of each.
The round ends when a player is able to get rid of all the cards in their hand by melding or discarding their last card. A player is allowed to ask their partner if they should go out. Depending on what is left in the partner’s hand, the partner may want the round to continue.
Scoring
There are four areas where points are scored.
Card Values: Using the card values from above, teams score the points from the cards in their melds, minus the points from the cards left in their hands.
Red 3s: Can be melded as a single card. Each red 3 melded is worth 100 points if the team has at least 2 sambas, or 2 canastas, or one of each. If a team has melded red 3s without the required sambas or canastas, each red 3 melded is negative 100 points. If a player has a red 3 still in their hand at the end of a round, the penalty is negative 750 points no matter how many red 3s are still in hand. If a team/player melds all six red 3s, they score 1000 points instead of 600 points.
Sambas: A team gets 1500 points for each samba.
Canastas: A team gets 500 points for each pure canasta and 300 points for each mixed canasta. If the canasta does not include a wild card, it is considered a pure canasta. If the canasta does include a wild card, it is considered a mixed canasta.
Going Out: The team/player who ended the round gets 200 points.
Rules
A meld can have more than seven cards, but the only additional points come from the value of the card added.
Black 3s can be melded if the player melding them is going out to end the round.