Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (20 page)

After the initial stock runs out, pick up the waste pile and turn it over (do not shuffle). This time around, in addition to using the stock to pair with inner circle cards, use the stock to fill inner circle vacancies. When the stock is exhausted a second time, you may finally pair inner circle cards with one another. There is no further redeal.

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

The game is well named, because it’s not easy to find your way out of this maze. Luck is a prominent feature, but this does not detract from the thrill of actually winning a game of Labyrinth, where the odds of winning are 1 in every 30 hands.

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and remove all aces. Place these face up in a row (these are your foundations) and deal a row of eight cards, face up, below the foundations. This is your first tableau row.

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

HOW TO PLAY
Play cards from the top tableau row directly to the foundations. Throughout the game, whenever a card from the
top
tableau row is played, replace it with a card from the stock.

When your moves are exhausted, deal a second tableau row of eight cards. If you play cards from this row to the foundations, do not replace them with a stock card; the vacancies must remain.

When your moves once again are exhausted, deal a third tableau row of eight cards. From this point on, only cards in the top and bottom tableau rows may be moved to the foundations. In the example below, after dealing a fourth tableau row, you may play any card from Row 1 or Row 4 to the foundations, as well as 10 of clubs or A of diamonds, since they are at the bottom of their respective columns. Gaps in all rows (except the first) must remain vacant throughout the game.

Tableau Row 1: A of hearts 5 of clubs 7 of diamonds 10 of spades 10 of diamonds 6 of clubs Q of hearts 2 of spades Tableau

Row 2: K of diamonds—9 of spades Q of clubs A of diamonds 7 of spades 4 of diamonds 8 of clubs

Tableau Row 3:—J of diamonds 10 of clubs 8 of diamonds—2 of diamonds 6 of spades 4 of clubs

Tableau Row 4: 9 of diamonds K of hearts—9 of diamonds—3 of spades 10 of hearts 2 of clubs

There is no redeal; the game ends once the stock is exhausted.

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

Leoni’s Own seems simple enough. Yet the odds of winning are a disheartening 1 in every 80 hands.

HOW TO DEAL
Start with two fifty-two-card decks (104 cards total), and remove all kings and aces. These are your eight foundations. Deal the remaining cards, face up and one at a time, into thirteen piles. Any time a card is dealt to a pile corresponding to its rank (5 to the fifth pile, jack to the eleventh pile, king to the thirteenth pile, etc.), place the card face down in a fourteenth pile of “exiles.” Deal a replacement card to the original pile in place of the exiled card.

WINNING
Build eight total foundations: four by suit in ascending rank from ace to king, and four by suit in descending rank from king to ace.

HOW TO PLAY
Build the top card from the first twelve piles, plus
any
card from the thirteenth pile, on the foundations.

When your moves are exhausted, turn up a card from the exiles pile and play it to a foundation if possible. If it cannot be played, you must “weave” it into the game as follows: Put the exiled card at the bottom of the pile corresponding to its rank, then put the top card of that pile at the bottom of the pile corresponding to its rank. Repeat until you uncover a card that may be played to the foundations. If any of your exile cards happen to be kings, immediately place them in the thirteenth pile (along with the other kings) and draw another exile card.

When your moves are once again exhausted, weave another exile card into the game. The deal is over when you run out of exile cards. Fortunately, you are allowed two redeals: Place pile one on top of pile two, place these on top of pile three, etc., until all thirteen piles are gathered. Turn the cards over (do not shuffle) and redeal into thirteen piles, removing new exiles along the way.

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

Martha is a founding member of the “easy to learn, easy to play, easy to win” group of Solitaire games. There’s nothing here to cause you much trouble, which is half the fun of playing. The odds of winning are 1 in every 2 hands.

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and remove all aces. These are your foundations. Next, deal twelve tableau piles of four cards each, alternating face down and face up within each pile.

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

HOW TO PLAY
Play the topmost tableau cards to the foundations at any time. As face-down cards become exposed, flip them over and play them to the foundations. You also may build the topmost tableau cards on other tableau piles in descending rank and alternating color (e.g., 7 of spades or 7 of clubs on 8 of hearts). Cards may be moved as a group as long as rank and color-matching
rules are followed. Fill vacancies in the tableau with any single card (not a group of cards).