Canasta is a game that first appeared in Uruguay and then ended up being a tremendously popular card game. It has even reached the status of classic card game. It reached USA around the late fifties and instantly became a hit. The term Canasta basically means basket in the Spanish language and this first appeared because of the fact that a basket was used for the discarded cards when the game first appeared.

Canasta was invented by two people. They were not known until the game already reached incredible popularity in USA. The two that are responsible for the invention of canasta are attorney Segundo Santos and architect Alberto Serrato. The story of how the game was invented only appeared in 1953 and shed light on the roots of this game. The original canasta game (now known as Classic Canasta) first appeared in the year 1939. At the time when the inventors of the game were recognized the most popular variation of Canasta that was played was Contract Bridge.

The popularity that canasta had at the time was really huge. By the year 1953 there were already 30 books that were written about it. Most of them actually managed to be on the list of best sellers according to New York Times. The global spread of the game was waiting to happen. Soldiers that were stationed in Germany and Japan brought the game with them and this meant that the game managed to spread in both Europe and Asia. It is now known that even Soviet Olympic athletes were playing it even if there was a clear aversion between the Soviet Union and USA.

As time passed it was only normal that new variations of the game appeared. One of them, 2 players canasta, became highly popular in the online world, especially as it was perfect for a game that was faster and could be played in the online environment. This is the level at which we are today. The popularity of Canasta is still really high and hundreds of thousands of people are playing canasta games for entertainment and fun.

In the future we can expect more people to start playing canasta games, both in the online and offline worlds. The reason for this is the fact that we now have many variations that are available and it is quite impossible not to find one that is suitable for your personal leisure card game activity needs.

If you are thinking about playing canasta you will need to first understand basic canasta strategy and all the rules that are associated with the specific canasta version that you want to play, like for example the 3 players canasta. You will need to be really attentive to what happens at the table and we do recommend that you also practice online in order to gain experience at a much faster pace. If you just want to play with family or friends you can easily just learn the rules and then start playing. Strategy will be less important and as time passes you will still become a better player. Give a look to rummikub history – it is really interesting to learn how it all began.