Canasta: Picking up the Discard Pile

Factual Questions
1

I’m new to Canasta, having started playing it on the computer recently, and something I can’t figure out is how to pick up the discard pile.

The site I play at (Pogo) allows you to pick up the discard pile if you’ve melded and if you have a pair of the top card in your hand. For example, if the card on the top of the discard pile is a Jack, you can only pick up the discard pile if you have a pair of Jacks in your hand.

Whenever anyone places a wild card (Duece or Joker) on the discard pile, then the pile is “frozen,” and can only be picked up if… you have a pair of the top card in your hand. :confused:

I don’t get it. It seems to me that if you have a pair of the top card, you can pick up the discard pile, frozen or not. Am I missing something here?

2

If it’s not frozen, you can pick it up with one card and a wild, or if you have a meld (but not a canasta) of those cards laid down.

3

I play a lot of canasta and can walk you through some of the nuances. Just message me.