| Pyramid Solitaire is a fun solitaire game, with a very | | | | finished, and you may as well redeal. |
| distinctive opening tableua in the shape of a pyramid. | | | | If only three of the combination cards appear in the |
| There is a large element of luck involved, but there | | | | underneath triangle, then you have discovered a |
| are certain strategies that can be used to | | | | potential impasse later on. Wherever that fourth |
| dramatically increase your chances of winning. | | | | combination card is, it MUST be combined with the |
| The aim of pyramid solitaire is to remove all the | | | | top card. So, if the fourth combination card is in the |
| cards from the tableua and the talon. Cards are | | | | talon, you must remember this, and be careful not to |
| removed in pairs, when their combined total is 13. | | | | use it on any card other than the top one. |
| The exception to this is with Kings, which are | | | | Another impasse to check for at the beginning, is to |
| removed on their own. | | | | see if all the combination cards appear in the triangle |
| Cards can only be removed when they are | | | | above a card. |
| completely exposed (ie: When the whole card is | | | | For example, suppose the deal was like this (Taken |
| visible, with no cards above them) | | | | from Classic Solitaire deal 3841) |
| The combinations of cards you can remove are: | | | | . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . |
| -Ace and Queen | | | | . . . . . 8 . J . . . . . . |
| -2 and Jack | | | | . . . . 4 . 2 . 4 . . . . . |
| -3 and 10 | | | | . . . A . 6 . 8 . 2 . . . |
| -4 and 9 | | | | . . 8 . 5 . 9 . Q . 2 . . |
| -5 and 8 | | | | . 7 . 8 . 9 . 7 . K . 4 . |
| -6 and 7 | | | | K . A . 5 . 3 . Q . 6 . 10 |
| -King | | | | All the 8's occur in the triangle above the bottom 5, |
| Whilst the rules for pyramid solitaire are quite easy to | | | | so the game cannot be finished. |
| understand, the game itself offers come interesting | | | | This last case doesn't occur very often though, so it |
| complexities. You have to plan out which cards to | | | | isn't worth spending too much time checking for it. |
| remove to maximize potential options later in the | | | | Just a cursory glance at the middle 3 cards on the |
| game. Sometimes you must leave a card for later in | | | | bottom row is normally enough. |
| the game, or you will create an impasse. And | | | | So to summarize, before we have even started |
| sometimes you have to carefully remember the | | | | playing, we check to see if the game is winnable |
| order of the cards in the talon, or you will have cards | | | | (Make sure there are no cases where the four |
| left over at the end. | | | | combination cards occur in the triangle below or |
| At the start of the game, scan the first four rows, | | | | above a card). We also check for times when three |
| looking for any situations that will make the game | | | | of the combination cards appear below... as these will |
| impossible to complete. This happens when all the | | | | need special attention, to make sure we don't waste |
| cards that can be combined with a card occur in the | | | | the fourth card and create an impasse. |
| triangle below it. | | | | So what about general play? |
| This occurs because a card cannot be selected until | | | | Well, to start with, always remove Kings whenever |
| all the cards in the triangle below it are removed first. | | | | you can. There is absolutely no reason not to |
| For example, suppose part of the deal was like this | | | | remove the Kings, because they aren't used in |
| (Taken from Classic Solitaire deal 20064) | | | | combination with any other cards, so you gain |
| . . . 2 . . . | | | | nothing by waiting. |
| . . J . 8 . . | | | | Another thing to consider is that often there is no |
| . Q . J . 8 . | | | | need to rush. You can cycle through the talon three |
| 6 . J . 4 . J | | | | times, so often it will be better to wait and see what |
| All of the Jacks occur in the triangle below the top 2. | | | | cards are remaining, rather than jump in and remove |
| So to expose the top 2, all the Jacks will have to be | | | | a combination as soon as you can. |
| removed first... But that's impossible, because the | | | | Finally, try and remove cards evenly between the |
| Jacks can only be removed in combination with the | | | | talon and the tableua. Ideally, you want to finish |
| 2's. We will be able to remove three of the Jacks, | | | | removing cards from the tableua at the same time |
| but we cant ever remove the top Jack, because the | | | | as the talon is used up. |
| 2 it needs is above it. | | | | You still wont be able to win every game of pyramid |
| So if the four combination cards appear in a cards | | | | solitaire with the above strategy, but you should find |
| underneath triangle, then the game cannot be | | | | your probability of winning has greatly increased. |