How to Play

Tranca is a Brazilian partnership rummy from the Canasta family. Meld sets of same-rank cards, build a seven-card canasta, then pick up your team's reserve hand (morto) to finish the deal.

Tranca is a Brazilian partnership rummy game of the Canasta family played with two decks plus four jokers. Each partnership builds melds of same-rank cards (called jogos or 'games') and races to finish a canasta, the seven-card meld that gives the game its structure. The word tranca means 'lock' in Portuguese and refers to the rule that a certain kind of card (a black 3 or a wild) freezes the discard pile against capture. After a player runs out of their first hand of eleven cards, they pick up the partnership's reserve hand (the morto) and keep playing. The partnership that has finished a canasta and gone out claims the scoring bonus for the deal.

Players

Tranca is played by 4 players in two fixed partnerships of two, sitting opposite each other around the table. Three-player and two-player versions exist where each player plays for themselves (each with their own morto), but the classic Brazilian game is the 2-v-2 partnership form described here.

Card Deck

Use two standard 52-card decks plus four jokers (108 cards total). The cards rank high to low A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, with Aces and 2s usable as wild cards alongside the jokers (see Gameplay for exact wild rules). Three special categories matter in Tranca: natural cards (all 4s through Aces and non-wild 2s), wild cards (jokers and 2s), and red/black 3s (which have special rules separating them from the regular 3s).

Objective

Score more points than the opposing partnership across a match to a target score (usually 3,000 or 4,000). Each deal you score positive points for your melds and negative points for cards left in your hand, with large bonuses for finishing a canasta and for going out.

Setup and Deal

1. Partners sit opposite each other. Choose a first dealer by cutting for high card; the deal rotates clockwise after each hand.
2. Shuffle both 52-card decks and the four jokers together into one 108-card pack.
3. Deal 11 cards to each player, one at a time clockwise.
4. Deal two face-down reserve hands of 11 cards each, one for each partnership. These are the mortos (dead hands).
5. Place the remaining cards face-down as the stock in the centre of the table.
6. Turn the top card of the stock face-up beside it to start the discard pile.
7. If the turned-up card is a wild (joker or 2) or a red 3, bury it in the middle of the stock and turn a new card.
8. The player to the dealer's left leads the first turn.

Gameplay

1. Your turn has three phases: draw, meld, discard. You must draw first and discard last; melding in the middle is optional.
2. Drawing: Either take the single top card of the stock, or take the entire discard pile (the pile is called the morto when captured).
3. Conditions to capture the discard pile: The top card must be able to form a legal meld immediately with two cards from your hand (or extend an existing meld of yours or your partner's). You then take the whole discard pile into your hand. If the pile is 'locked' (see below) the top card must match exactly to an existing natural-only meld your side already has.
4. Locking the pile (tranca): The discard pile is locked whenever a wild card (joker or 2) or a black 3 is on top. A locked pile can only be taken by a player who already has a meld of that exact rank consisting entirely of natural cards. Locked piles are the defensive core of the game.
5. Red 3s: If you draw a red 3, place it face-up immediately in front of you and draw a replacement. Each red 3 is worth 100 bonus points at scoring if your side has melded at least one canasta; otherwise it scores -100.
6. Black 3s: Black 3s cannot be melded normally. They are used as stoppers: discard a black 3 to lock the discard pile against the next player. A partnership may meld black 3s only on the turn they go out, and then only as a pure set of 3 or 4 blacks with no wilds.
7. Melding: A meld is three or more cards of the same rank. Cards may be all natural, or may include up to two wild cards (jokers and 2s combined) but must always contain at least two natural cards of the meld rank.
8. Canasta: A meld of seven or more cards. A canasta limpa (clean canasta) is seven naturals with no wilds and scores 200 bonus. A canasta suja (dirty canasta) is seven cards including one or two wilds and scores 100 bonus. Squaring a canasta is done by stacking the completed meld face-down with a red card on top (clean) or black (dirty) as a reminder.
9. Partnership melds: You and your partner share all melds on the table. Either of you may add cards of the correct rank to an existing meld.
10. Picking up the morto: A partnership picks up its morto the first time one of its players empties their hand, either by melding every card or by discarding their last card (without first having closed out). The player draws the 11 cards of the morto and continues their turn (no further draw from stock on that turn). Each partnership gets its morto exactly once per deal.
11. Going out: A partnership ends the deal by one player getting rid of all cards. This is only legal after the partnership has completed at least one canasta AND has already taken its morto. The final card may be melded or discarded.
12. Stock exhaustion: If the stock runs out, play continues without drawing until a player either goes out or cannot legally play, at which point the deal ends and all held cards count against the holder.

Scoring

• Card values: Ace = 20, K/Q/J/10/9/8 = 10, 7/6/5/4 = 5, black 3 = 5, natural 2 = 20, red 3 = 100 (if canasta made) else -100, joker = 50.
• Canasta bonuses: Clean canasta (all naturals) = 200, dirty canasta (with wilds) = 100. Each canasta counts once per partnership; multiple canastas each score their own bonus.
• Going out bonus: 100 points for the partnership that goes out cleanly, or 200 if the going-out player had not yet melded any card this deal before going out (a rare 'em cima' finish).
• Morto not picked up penalty: If a partnership finishes the deal without ever claiming its morto, subtract 100 from their score.
• Hand penalties: At the end of the deal, each partnership subtracts the point value of any cards still in their hands (including the unclaimed morto if relevant).
• Match target: The first partnership to reach the agreed match score (typically 3,000 or 4,000 points) across multiple deals wins the match.

Winning

A deal is won by the partnership with the higher net score after all bonuses and penalties are applied. A match is won by the first partnership to reach the agreed cumulative total (commonly 3,000). If both partnerships cross the threshold on the same deal, the higher score wins; a dead tie is broken by an extra deal.

Common Variations

• Tranca Aberta (Open Tranca): The mortos are dealt face-up instead of face-down; both sides know what is waiting.
• Tranca Paulista: Played in São Paulo with a higher match target of 5,000 and stricter rules about wild-card minimums.
• Two-handed Tranca: Each player plays solo with a personal 11-card morto. Hands are often shrunk to 9 or 10 cards to balance.
• Three-player Tranca: Three individuals each with their own morto; canasta bonuses and match target halved.
• Tranca Carioca: A Rio de Janeiro variant allowing sequence melds (three or more consecutive cards in one suit) in addition to same-rank melds; a half-step toward Buraco.

Tips and Strategy

• Time your morto pickup. Picking up early gives your side two hands' worth of cards to work with but also starts the clock toward the end of the deal; picking up late keeps defensive flexibility but can strand cards.
• Lock the discard pile with a black 3 when the top card would complete an opposing meld. Black 3s are low-value defensive cards; use them.
• Push for a clean canasta before a dirty one. The 100-point bonus gap between dirty and clean is usually worth delaying a single turn to find a natural card.
• Keep one wild card in reserve as a meld-starter against the locked pile rule. A wild on top means the pile is frozen for everyone, so use it only when you are closing in on going out.
• Track red 3s. Four red 3s worth 400 points are in the deck; knowing how many have been drawn helps judge the pace of the hand.
• Coordinate with your partner by pinning rank selections early. If you start a meld of Kings, your partner should avoid starting a second meld in the same rank and should feed cards to yours.

Glossary

• Tranca: A 'lock' that freezes the discard pile against capture (a wild card or black 3 on top).
• Morto: The 11-card reserve hand that a partnership picks up when one player goes empty; literally 'the dead one'.
• Canasta: A meld of seven or more cards; clean (limpa) if all natural, dirty (suja) if wilds included.
• Jogo: Portuguese for 'game'; the informal word for any meld on the table.
• Natural card: Any 4 through Ace (not a wild, not a 3); may form melds without restriction.
• Wild card: Jokers and 2s; usable in melds up to two per meld, never forming a pure set alone.
• Red 3: Diamonds or Hearts 3; a bonus card placed on the table immediately when drawn.
• Black 3: Clubs or Spades 3; a defensive discard only, cannot be melded until the going-out turn.
• Pinta: The cut that determines dealer; also used informally for turning the first discard.
• Bater (go out): To play or discard the last card of your hand and close the deal, legal only after a canasta and after taking the morto.