Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (19 page)

USING YOUR STOCK PILE
Any time you cannot move or build cards on the tableau, expose the top card of your stock pile. If the card can be played anywhere on the tableau, do so immediately, like so:

If the card cannot be played, you must toss it into a separate garbage pile. In Klondike and most other Solitaire games, you are allowed to play the topmost “garbage” card at any time.

Continue turning up cards from your stock pile, one at a time, as needed. But remember: You may shuffle through the stock pile only once. That’s the official rule, despite protestations from loosey-goosey Solitaire players who claim it’s OK to shuffle the garbage pile when your stock pile is exhausted.

The game ends when you build all cards from the tableau to the appropriate ace foundations, or, more likely, you exhaust the stock pile and run out of moves.

VARIATION 1: DOUBLE KLONDIKE

This is a superb two-deck variant (hence the “double” in the title) of the standard Solitaire game, with plenty of scope for skill. Like the standard game, Double Klondike is not easy to win. You’re doing well to win 1 in every 50 games.

Start with two fifty-two-card decks (104 cards total), and deal nine tableau piles from left to right: one card in the first pile, two cards in the second pile, etc. The top card in each pile should be face up. The remaining cards are your stock.

Double Klondike does have one nasty little twist: even with two decks of cards in play, there are only four foundation piles—one ace from each suit. As the first four aces become available, move them to a foundation pile and continue building by suit in ascending rank (A-2-3 etc.). You may play the second ace of that suit only when each foundation pile has its first king (A-2-3…Q-K-A), then you may continue building up to the second and final king. The game is won when all four foundation piles have been built from ace to king twice.

The topmost tableau cards (as well as the topmost card in the waste pile) may be played either to a foundation or to another tableau pile. As in standard Klondike, build tableau piles in
descending
rank in alternating colors (suits do not matter). Fill empty tableau piles with the topmost card from any tableau or waste piles. It is OK to fill empty tableau piles with cards other than kings.

Whenever you run out of moves, deal three cards from the stock and flip them over as a set, playing the topmost card if possible. When the stock is empty, recycle the waste pile by turning it over (do not shuffle). Redeal as many times as you like.

VARIATION 2: BLOCKADE

If Klondike is too simple for you, try Blockade. It’s essentially the same game but with two decks of cards. This makes the game play longer and—if you’re into that sort of thing—much, much harder to win.

Start with two fifty-two-card decks (104 cards total), and deal twelve cards, face up. These are your tableau piles. All other cards are set aside as the reserve. The goal is to build up eight foundation piles by suit, from ace to king.

The top card from each tableau pile may be used to build on foundation piles by suit in
ascending
rank (A of hearts-2 of hearts-3 of hearts…Q of hearts-K of hearts) or on other tableau piles by suit in
descending
rank (8 of clubs-7 of clubs-6 of clubs…). If one of your tableau piles becomes empty, fill it immediately with a card from your reserve. You are allowed to fill vacancies with the top card from a tableau pile only once your reserve is exhausted.

Once you move or build all available cards, you must deal one card to each of your twelve tableau piles. There are no exceptions to this rule. When this happens, you may not move the underlying sequence among your tableau piles until the off-suit or off-rank card on top is moved or played. In other words, if your Q of hearts-J of hearts-10 of hearts-9 of hearts sequence becomes buried beneath 4 of clubs dealt from the reserve, you may not move the Q of hearts-J of hearts-10 of hearts-9 of hearts sequence as a unit until the 4 of clubs is played or moved. The game is over once the reserve is exhausted. There is no redeal.

VARIATION 3: WESTCLIFF

This is another common Klondike variation. Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and deal ten tableau piles with three cards each, with the topmost card of each pile face up. All other rules are the same. There is no redeal in Westcliff. The game ends when the stock is exhausted.

1. DIFFICULTY
   :
   medium
   
2. TIME LENGTH
   :
   short
   
3. DECKS
   : 1
   

There’s not much scope for strategy in La Belle Lucie, but even so, it’s not an easy game to win (the odds of doing so are 1 in every 8 hands).

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, remove one ace as a foundation, and deal seventeen
fans
of three cards each. This is your tableau.

WINNING
Build four foundation piles by suit in ascending rank from ace to king.

HOW TO PLAY
Move aces to the foundations as they become available. Play the top tableau cards to the foundations, or use them to build other tableau piles by suit in descending rank. You may move only one card at a time. Fill a vacant tableau slot with any available card.

You are allowed two redeals, so when all moves are exhausted, pick up all tableau cards, shuffle, and redeal as many tableau piles as possible (in fans of three cards each).

1. DIFFICULTY
   :
   high
   
2. TIME LENGTH
   :
   long
   
3. DECKS
   : 1
   

You’ll love this game if you’re a connoisseur of unique Solitaire layouts. La Croix d’Honneur (French for “cross of honor”) replaces foundations with inner and outer circles of cards that are extremely difficult to clear (the odds of winning are 1 in 40 games).

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and deal an inner circle of eight cards (face up) and an outer circle of eight cards (also face up). These are your tableau cards. The remaining cards are your stock.

WINNING
The goal is to remove all cards from the tableau in pairs (two 5s, two 10s, etc.).

HOW TO PLAY
Turn stock cards over one at a time. Pair them with cards in the
inner
circle (and then discard both), or place them in a single waste pile. Whenever you make a successful pair, replace the inner circle card with its corresponding outer circle card.