Anyone and everyone may help to shuffle the cards. For this game, since there are five decks of cards, it is usually a good idea to have everyone shuffle. After shuffling, it is usually a good idea to divide the pile into two stacks, each being called the stock. Otherwise the pile could fall over.
Unlike Classic Canasta, dealing is a group effort. Each player picks up a stack of card from the top one of the piles of cards. This stack is then dealt into two piles of 11. If a player can draw exactly 22 cards (11 for each pile) in one shot, their team is given a bonus of 100 points. If two players from opposite teams both draw 22 cards neither team gets the bonus. If two players from the same team both draw 22 cards, one bonus of 100 points is added to that team. The two piles that each player dealt are given, face down, to the player to their left.