Playing "Ponytail"

When I first moved to Kentucky 15 years ago I lived alone and only got to see Paula once or twice a week. 

On the weekends I would go to her house for dinner. As a means of entertaining her father she, her sister, and I would play Canasta with him at the kitchen table. 

I didn't know how to play before I moved to Kentucky but I soon learned. Paula's dad was a real competitor when it came to cards. But it was just a friendly game mostly to give him something to look forward to each week. It also became a social outlet I looked forward to as well. 

In late 2002 when Paula's dad passed away the canasta games stopped. With the exception of playing with people from my church once or twice a year, Canasta became a thing of the past for me. 

Last Saturday night, Paula and I were invited to our friends, Mark and Patty's house, for dinner and to play cards. They taught us a different version of canasta than we were used to playing. It's called "Ponytail."  

The game is like Canasta on steroids. It is the same basic game but there isn't as much strategy (from my perspective that means its a more relaxing game), the luck of the draw plays more of a role, and it's really a race to see who can accumulate what they need first. I won't get into specifics of the game but here are the general rules.  

With four players you play partners, five decks of cards are used. Two sets of cards are dealt to each player. One of 15 cards is called your "hand" and the other of 13 is called your "foot". You have to play all the cards in your hand before you can pick up and play your foot. 

Teams have to accumulate 4 specific groups of 7 cards each. They are called "canastas". Those 4 groups are called your "book". In addition you lay down other cards in groups of 7; aces go with aces, kings go with kings ect. They can also include wild cards (deuces and jokers) but the canastas that include them aren't worth as many points. 

For our first game it was girl against the guys. Mark and I won the 50,000 point game by a rather large margin. But the outcome of the game is not what I enjoyed about this night. 

I like that playing Canasta gives you the opportunity to spend time just talking and enjoying each other's company. It was during the conversation that accompanied this game that I learned about something at our church that came as a complete and pleasant surprise. More about that tomorrow. 

I look forward to many more nights of playing Ponytail Canasta with our friends. The only thing I'm wondering is why did it take us almost 3 years to sit down and play together? I guess it doesn't matter because I'm sure there will be many more nights in the future we'll make up for lost time.