SUN CITY – It was New Yearâs Eve, 2005, and a foursome in Sun City was celebrating by âdealingâ in its favorite card game, Canasta.
The conversation reportedly went something like this:
Jack: âIâm bored with this game, is there a way we could play it a different way?â
Imelda: âThere may be lots of variations, but Iâm not sure we could all agree on them.â
Sue: Could we change the requirements for the number of Canastas? Or change the way we use the red 3s?â
Ellie: Letâs see what some other Canasta Club members think?â
Most often, such conversations would be quickly forgotten. But this one lived on.
In the dialog above, Sue was Sue Henberger. She became the leader of a process to come up with a variation because of her energetic and enthusiastic personality. After further discussions and some trial-and-error experiments, Sue decided to draw up a new set of rules for a variation of Canasta. Club members embraced the idea, and a new card game was born, right here in Sun City. Itâs called Triple Play.
Bored of regular Conasta, Sun City resident Sue Henberger became the leader of a small group of Conasta players that reinvented the game into the widely popular Triple Play. Pockets of players around the country are now playing the game invented right here hin Sun City. (Photo by Chris LaPelusa/Sun Day)
âWe now play it all the time,â Sue said. âWhen you learn Triple Play, you wonât want to return to the traditional Canasta or Hand and Foot.â
With Sue that fateful night five years ago were Jack and Imelda Chapman and Ellie Young, who are members of Sun Cityâs Canasta Club, now 150-strong.
Triple Play got its name from club member Lillian Bulka. The new game retains the basic scoring and playing structure as Canasta or hand and foot, but livens up the play by requiring formation of additional Canastas, or books, in a single hand, adding a third hand (hence the name) and changing the value of individual and combinations of cards. It can be played by three players individually or by four players in two teams of two each or six players with two teams of three players each.
âSome folks have asked me to copyright or patent Triple Play, but I feel we have adopted it here in our club, and I just want to play and enjoy it,â Sue said.
The Sun Day caught up with Sue last week as she played a game with partner John Martinez against Mopsy Turasky and Ann Bradford. The four gladly explained the new rules as they played to a close win for Turasky and Bradford. Sue is credited with inventing Triple Play, but she describes the development as a club and group effort.
âI play a lot of card games, including cribbage, but not bridge,â she said. âI really like Triple Play because it really is our game. IÂ went online and checked around to see if our variation was being played anywhere else. I didnât find any evidence of that, so I guess itâs our game. Itâs a very social game; you can chat and enjoy conversation and still focus on the game. Triple Play requires some strategy and creative thinking, but itâs not that complicated.â
Triple Play has become so popular with Canasta members, said current President Jerry Arshonsky, that the first annual Triple Play Canasta Tournament now is planned for next weekend, July 23-24, in Prairie Lodgeâs Multi-Purpose Room. Hours will be 10 a.m.-5 p.m. each day. Interested players who arenât club members may sign up by contacting any of the above-named players. Cash prizes ranging from $75 for first place to $5.00 for fourth place will be awarded to the top teams.
Sue and her late husband came to Sun City in August, 1999, making them one of the earliest Sun City residents.
In baseball, a triple play is one of the gameâs most exciting plays. Triple Play card players feel the same way about their game.
31 Comments
Hi There!
I recently played hand & Foot Triple Play, with a friend in Oaklahoma City at a convention .
She sent me a copy of her directions, but I get confused at times with the way the directions are printed out, my friend got the directions from a player, that plays at the Villages, in Florida.
What state is your Sun City located?
I live in California near Roseville’s Sun City.
I would like to get a copy if possible of the way that you at Sun City play, the game.
Crazy about Hand & Foot, I have played for years, but like you after a while it does get boring.
Ann Green
bucketann@gotsky.com
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I have never played cards in my life and truly have no ‘card sense’ but my friends are teaching me to play hand, knee and foot and I’m getting hooked on it. I have so much to learn but have some of the basics down. My question is how to learn the tactics or strategies. Is there anything published that you can send me. Many thanks for this fun game. Judy, judyrummel@msn.com
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We love playing hand knee and foot but sometimes we try to play with 6 people.
We have a debate about how many basic books do you need when play with 6 people(2 teams of 3) in order to go out? Is it the same as with a table of 4?
How can we get a scoring sheet for hand, knee, and foot. Love this game but in desperate need of scoring sheets.