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Canasta
 Badge tips Be sure to select a room on the 4-player tab for badges that specify 4-player games! Be aware of the one day time limit for Cool Shades and Melded Mail, and the 13 hour time limit for Melding Pot! For Canasta Basket, be sure to select "Players cannot ever pick up discard pile" in the table options! You can play Canasta with humans or Pogobots (or any combination in 4-player games) for any type of Canasta badge. Take turns making badge progress if playing 2-player with a friend or cooperative partner. For badges requiring Canastas with no wilds, 2-player games against a Pogobot partner will go quickly. (If you play against bots in 4-player games, your bot partner will delay your badge by using wilds.) Alternately, you can play with a friend as your partner in 4-player games. For badges that need Canastas, focus on making those by picking up the pile often and don't worry about winning the game. Alternately, for badges requiring you to meld out first, refrain from picking up the pile unless you know you can get rid of its cards - focus instead on going out first. If you're going for Red 3s or Canastas against Pogobots, hands will often last longer if you set table options to require 2 Canastas to meld out. If you're going for Red 3s or working on ranks, you can extend hands by not melding out (even if you can) until all four Red 3s have been dealt. To earn Threes Please or Zippy's Badge faster, always draw new cards and never pick up the discard pile to increase your chances of getting the Red 3s. For badges requiring Canasta points, they're earned in the game and shouldn't be confused with tokens or spins. A game ends when one player or team reaches 5,000 points so this one requires five winning games (possibly four if you get high scores). If you lose, it'll take a few more games. For badges requiring wins or spins, refer to Game tips. Game tips ALWAYS read a game's How to Play, and also check for a Hints or Tips tab and/or Tutorial. They do help! Click to watch the Canasta tutorial. You don't get rank (or badge) credit for your Red 3s until you finish a game. Canastas with no wild cards are worth 500 points versus 300 for Canastas that include wilds, so one or two "natural" Canastas will build your score up fast. Jokers are worth 50 points each if still in your hand when your opponent goes out, so use them for melds before using your wild 2s. Aces and 2s are worth 20 points each so try not to get stuck with them either. These cards will also help you reach a high opening meld requirement if you think your opponent(s) may be getting ready to go out. Example: a simple 3-card meld of two aces and a joker is worth 90 points! When playing with a human partner against two Pogobots and the bots are far ahead (or if they get all the Red 3s), you & your partner can each stand and take the bots' seats. Be sure "Allow players to replace computer players" is checked in the table options, and be sure to stand & change seats one at a time or the table will close. To block your opponent(s) from picking up the discard pile, discard a Black 3 or wild card, then pick up the pile when it comes back to you. If you (or your partner) can't pick it up, continue discarding Black 3s and wilds until you can pick it up (and you'll get all your wilds back). Be careful though: sometimes this backfires and your opponent(s) end up with it all. Pogobots aren't as bright in Canasta as in some games and you can often beat them whether playing 2- or 4-player games. In 4-player games their lack of smarts can work against you though, as your bot partner will often meld out with a lower score than what the opposing team has on the board. Pogobots won't pick up the pile before it has 10 cards in Social or Beginner rooms, and they discard 4s, 5s, 6s and 7s early on. This means you can also discard your low cards and if you pick up the pile before your bot opponent(s), it will often contain ready-to-meld Canastas of those low cards. Three or four Black 3s can be melded, but only if you lay them down when you meld out and have no discard. More about Canasta When playing 4-player games, each person on a team gets credit for Canastas and Red 3s that either player gets. Clicking CTRL and a card will "raise" or highlight all matching cards in your hand. You can toggle all cards in your hand "up" or "down" by clicking SHIFT and any card, which is convenient to check if you have enough points for an opening meld (and to put your cards back again if not). A new table option was added in April 2008, allowing players the ability to pick up the discard pile or not. Be sure to set this option to the game style you prefer when starting a game, and look for a blue "frozen" symbol when joining tables. Many players play differently than the game tips suggest (or the way Pogobots play) when it comes to picking up the discard pile, holding cards versus melding them, etc. Even if you can beat the bots every game, you'll be up against tougher competition against humans. Play some friendly, unrated games with humans before deciding to work on upping your Canasta rating. Some Canasta partners will use instant messages to let each other know what cards they have or need. This is considered cheating by Pogo rules, but it's not reportable as it can't be proven. At best it's unethical, but there's no need to raise a stink and name the players in the lobby. If you feel your opponents are secretly communicating, simply finish the game, leave the table and find another. If you experience freezing or if your cards start to disappear, clear your browser's cache & cookies, and/or reboot your computer. Don't run any other programs than necessary when playing this game. Adding RAM or upgrading your graphics card can also help. Pogo's Help section has additional suggestions and system settings for smoother game performance. It's possible to finish a game even with invisible cards. When it's your turn, click the area where the Draw pile sits, then click anywhere in the area of your hand and the Discard button. It's tough to win like this, but at least you can make it to the end and get credit for your Red 3s. This game's How to Play shows canastas with wilds as being worth 100 points, but they tally up as 300 in the game. This game ranks up evenly at 100 Red 3s per rank thru Rank 45. Rank 46 requires 1,500, and the next four ranks require 1,000 each. 50 additional ranks and five rank badges were added to this game in August 2007. Once the Soap Opera Premium badge was won, you could earn it repeatedly (and its accompanying tokens) with each winning hand if you remained at the same table and kept playing. Thanks to swimming for sending additional Canasta tips! |
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Canasta Groove
Lost Your Marbles
Hair Dryer
Cake
Scooter
Bongo Drums
Juke Box
Canasta Diner
Cruisin' Dice
Super Scooper
Rank 1 - Beret & hair
Canastavision (9/1/04)
Fantasta Canasta (1/5/05)
Canasta Club (8/10/05)
Canastaville (12/14/05)
Cool Cat (3/15/06)
Threes Please (1/24/07)
Freeze 3s (7/11/07)
Canasta Master (12/19/07)
Tune In and Meld Out (4/16/08)
Melding Ice (12/17/08)
Wild Canasta (5/27/09)
Hooray Beret (12/16/09)
Hip Cat (4/7/10)
Zippy's Badge 
Cool Hand 
Melded Mail
Soap Opera 
Housewarming 
Love Scene 
7000 Calorie 
Canasta Basket 
Cool Shades 
Melding Pot 
Red Turtleneck
Canasta Carnival
Red Beret
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