A pack of cards is still very useful when there is only one player and a variety of games have been devised and are generally called PATIENCE.

The majority of people will know how to play the most popular game of patience; Solitaire. (Sometimes known as KLONDIKE) However, how many people actually play solitaire within the rules and how many have "adapted the rules" just so that they can win??? How many players say, "Solitaire? I get it out most times."

As the name patience implies, the nature of the game should be, that the chances of working it out are small, thereby trying the patience of the player, until he succeeds.

The pack of cards is shuffled and cut and 7 cards are placed face down across the table. A row of 6 cards is placed on top of the first 7, starting with the second card from the left. A row of 5 cards is placed on top of the row of 6 cards, starting with the third card from the left. A row of 4 cards is placed on top of the row of 5 cards, starting with the fourth card from the left. A reduced row of cards is laid down until the final row contains only one card. On the extreme left will be a pile of cards which contains one card. To the right of this pile will be a pile which contains 2 cards and to the right of this will be three cards in a pile. The pile on the extreme right will contain 7 cards. The remaining cards that have not been dealt are held in the hand face down.

The objective is to produce four piles or columns of cards which, starting with a King, run down to the Ace. However, the sequence of cards must be Red, Black, Red, Black etc. Thus a column of cards could consist of a Red King, Black Queen, Red Jack, Black Ten etc. The actual suits do not matter, just the colours and numbers.

The top card of each pile is turned face up and the game can begin. The first thing to do is transfer cards from one pile to another so that the objective can be achieved. Thus, a Red Five could be moved over to be placed on top of a Black Six and both cards could be moved over to be placed on top of a Red Seven.

If at any time any column becomes devoid of cards, any exposed King can be placed in the vacant place. After transferring a card from one column to another, this will probably leave a column with the top card face down. This card is turned face up.

If at any time during the course of play an Ace is turned up, this Ace can be discarded to the side. If after an Ace is discarded and the 2 of that suit turns up, this too can be discarded. If the 2 of a suit is discarded then the 3 of that same suit can also be discarded, when it turns up. Etc. Etc. Cards cannot be returned to play after being discarded.

THINK BEFORE YOU DISCARD

The final objective is to have four piles of discarded cards, one pile for each suit, in numerical order starting with the Ace and ending with the King. Easy? Not if the rules are followed.

Once the cards have been laid out and all initial transfers completed, play can continue. The player holds the remaining cards, face down in his hand. He then removes the top card from the pack, still face down, and holds it in his other hand. He then removes the next card from the top of the pack and places it face down on top of the first card. He then does exactly the same with the third card from the pack. He then turns the three cards over and places them on the table, thus exposing what was the first card of the pack.

This exposed card is now eligible for play and if it is played it would then expose the card underneath which makes that cards eligible for play. If unable to play, the player takes three more cards from the pack in the same manner as before and places these on top of the previous cards. If able to, the player plays the top card and continues playing as long as he is able to.

Only the exposed top card can be played. It is not permitted to take a card from inside the pack.

The player continues to take three cards at a time from the pack in his hand and if possible playing them, until all the cards have been used. He then picks up the stack from the table and without shuffling, turns them over and places the stack in his hand as before. Play continues until the pack has been turned over three times.

From then on the cards are turned over singly and placed on top of each other on the table. Once all the cards have been placed onto the table one at a time, and no more transfers can be made, the game ends and the player has probably lost.

It often happens that after the first time the cards are turned back to hand, it is not possible to take three cards from the pack in hand. If this is the case, then the player takes whatever he can, turns the pack over as normal and continues until he has his three cards.

The exposed card on the table can be played at any time, however if the player has taken the next three, or one, cards from the pack in hand AND TURNED THEM OVER, and then spots that he could in fact play the exposed card on the table, HE CANNOT PLAY IT. "Look before you leap," is a phrase that comes to mind.

A much more difficult version of Solitaire is, that instead of playing the cards Black Red alternately, the cards are played by their suits. i.e. hearts on hearts etc.