Take up to seven cards
In this version of Hand & Foot, an eligible pickup takes the top card and up to six more cards beneath it. You need two hand cards matching the top card's rank. The top card must be used in a valid meld before the buried cards become available.
Threes on top block pickup. A top joker requires two jokers from your hand, and a top two requires two twos. Mixed wild cards do not replace that matching-rank requirement for taking the pile.
Your opening still has to qualify
Suppose the top card is a King and you hold two Kings. Their group is worth 30 points. In round one, with a 50-point opening minimum, that group alone cannot open your team. Additional eligible groups from your existing hand can be included in the same pickup plan.
The unknown cards under the King cannot be counted toward your opening. The opening minimum rises to 90, 120 and 150 in later rounds, even if your running score is negative.
Do not overfill a book
Books stop at seven cards. If your matching table meld is nearly full, all the cards you promise for the pickup must still fit into legal combinations. This may require completing one book and starting another with enough available cards. A single spare card cannot become a new one-card meld.
For example, a six-card book has room for one more card, not all three pickup cards together. The application checks the entire plan before granting access to the buried cards. If it cannot form valid groups, draw from stock or prepare a different plan.
Using the pickup controls
Select the matching cards from your hand and tap Take pile. If you need additional groups for the opening, prepare those extra groups with Add meld first, then select the pickup pair. Choose an existing destination using the selector below the melds when appropriate.
The server checks the top card, selected cards, opening total and any going-out restrictions together. If the move is rejected, none of the proposed cards leave your hand. The message describes the failed condition so you can revise the plan.
A legal pickup is not always a useful pickup
Taking the pile can bring valuable matching cards, but it can also leave you with a large hand. Consider whether your team can play those cards before an opponent ends the round. The visible top card tells you whether a pickup is possible; it does not reveal the quality of every buried card.
A decision you can make from the visible cards
Check the top rank, the two matching cards in your current playable hand and the available space in your team's groups. Two Kings match a top King. A King and a Joker do not satisfy the two-matching-card requirement even though a Joker can be used in some ordinary mixed melds. A top Joker specifically needs two Jokers, and a top 2 specifically needs two 2s.
The reward is the top card plus at most six more, not the entire stack. If only three cards are in the pile, an eligible pickup takes those three. If twenty are there, most remain for later turns. Do not estimate the size of your future hand using Classic Canasta's whole-pile rule.
Why an apparently matching pickup can fail
Matching the top card is one test, not the whole move. An unopened team must meet its point minimum with a complete legal plan. A proposed meld must obey the limits on wild cards and the size of completed combinations. The resulting hand must also respect the conditions for ending a turn or going out. Satisfying one of those tests does not override another.
Read the rejection as a statement about this proposed action. If it says the opening is too small, review the points in your current hand and the visible top card. Do not add guessed values for hidden cards beneath it. If the plan would empty your hand illegally, keep enough cards or use a different plan. A rejected proposal does not spend your turn or change the saved cards.
Try a small table exercise
Place a Queen face up and imagine two Queens in your hand. Ask whether your team is open, whether any relevant pile restriction applies, and whether the resulting group can be used legally. Now replace one hand Queen with a Joker and ask the questions again. The change is small visually, but it can remove the specific qualification needed for pickup.
Finally imagine that the pile contains many cards. Ask a different question: would taking them help your team finish combinations before the round ends? Legal access is a rules question; whether to use it is a strategy question. If you cannot justify both, drawing from the stock is a valid way to continue learning without forcing a pickup.