Medium Standard
Buraco
Complete your canastas — then grab the pot.
Buraco is Italy's gift to South America (via immigrants) and is now a national passion in Brazil and Argentina. Two hidden "pot" piles add a dramatic mid-game refill; natural Buracos (7-card pure sequences) earn top bonuses.
🎯 Objective
First team to 3,000 points by building melds, completing Buracos, and going out.
🃏 Setup
- Uses 2 standard decks + 4 jokers (108 cards). 4 players in 2 teams.
- Deal 11 cards to each player. Place two face-down "pot" piles of 11 cards each (one per team) in the centre.
▶ How to Play
- Play is like Canasta: draw one card from stock or take the discard pile, then meld or lay off, then discard.
- When a player empties their hand by discarding, their team immediately picks up their pot pile and continues playing.
- A Buraco is a completed meld of 7+ cards: natural (no wilds) = 200 pts bonus; dirty (includes wilds) = 100 pts bonus.
- A team must complete at least one Buraco before going out.
- Going out (final discard after emptying hand post-pot): 200 pts bonus.
📊 Scoring
Natural Buraco = 200, dirty Buraco = 100. Each card has a point value (similar to Canasta). Going-out bonus = 200. Penalty for cards held when opponents go out. First to 3,000 pts wins.