Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (25 page)

Here’s a game that blends Poker hands with Solitaire sensibilities. With two players, you can even play head to head for a small wager. This is Poker, after all.

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and deal one face-up
starter card
in the center of an otherwise empty five-by-five grid of cards. The remaining fifty-one cards are your stock.

WINNING
The goal is to score as many points as possible by creating ten poker hands in a five-by-five grid of cards. Hands are judged according to traditional poker rankings (see “
hand rankings
”), with the following points awarded:

Royal straight flush = 100 points

Straight flush = 75 points

Four of a kind = 50 points

Full house = 25 points

Flush = 20 points

Straight = 15 points

Three of a kind = 10 points

Two pair = 5 points

Pair = 2 points

HOW TO PLAY
Turn up a stock card and place it immediately above, below, or next to (but not diagonal from) the starter card. The goal is to build five-card poker hands in both rows and columns; continue building out the five-by-five grid until each row and column has five cards total. A card may not be moved once you place it on the grid.

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

This game has been around since the 1860s. The “puss” in the title refers to a cat, presumably waiting to pounce on prey in the center of the tableau. Luck is more important than skill in this game, and the odds of winning are 1 in every 4 hands.

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, remove the aces, and place them face up in a two-by-two square. These are your foundations. You begin the game with four empty reserve piles (traditionally the placeholders for these reserve piles are on the diagonal from each ace, but this is not required). The remaining cards are your stock.

WINNING
Build four foundations, each by color in ascending rank from ace to king. Suits don’t matter, just the colors.

HOW TO PLAY
Turn up four stock cards, one at a time, and play them to any reserve pile. Suits and ranks don’t matter, and it’s absolutely OK to play all four cards to a single pile, or to distribute them however you see fit for easy access later in the game.

The trick, of course, is that you may play cards only from the stock to the reserve, and then from the reserve to the foundations. You may not play cards directly from the stock to the foundations. Herein lies the challenge of Puss in the Corner.

When you cannot move, deal four cards from the stock to the reserves, and repeat until the stock is exhausted. You are allowed one redeal when the stock is empty. Simply pick up the reserve piles and turn them over (do not shuffle).

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

Pyramid is a well-rounded game. It has an innovative layout, moves quickly, and requires skillful play plus a little bit of luck. The odds of winning are 1 in every 15 hands.

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and deal a seven-row pyramid, all cards face up, with one card in the top row, two in the second, three in the third, etc. Deal each row so that it slightly overlaps the row above it:

The remaining cards are your stock.

WINNING
The goal is to make pairs of all cards and remove them from the game. In Pyramid, you may pair any two cards that add up to thirteen.

HOW TO PLAY
Pair any uncovered cards (not blocked by cards on top) that add to thirteen. Only cards in the seventh row are considered “uncovered” at the start of the hand.

Numbered cards are worth face value, aces are worth 1 point, jacks 11, and queens 12. Kings (13 points) may be removed immediately from the game, even if they are “covered.”