Tri Peaks

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The term Three Peaks mentioned in this article refers to the solitaire game. The term also refers to the Three Peaks Challenge.

Tri Peaks (also known as Three Peaks) is a solitaire card game that is akin to the solitaire games Golf and Black Hole. The game uses one deck and the object is to clear three peaks made up of cards.

The game starts with eighteen cards dealt face-down on the tableau to form three pyramids with three overlapping tiers each. Over these three pyramids are ten face-up cards. The arrangement is illustrated as follows:

     O     O     O
    O O   O O   O O
   O O O O O O O O O
  A A A A A A A A A A

The "O"s in this illustration are the face-down cards and the "A"s are the face-up cards.

The twenty-four remaining cards make up the stock. The first card from the stock is put in the waste pile. For a card in the tableau to be moved to the waste pile, it must be a rank higher or lower regardless of suit. This card becomes the new top card and the process is repeated several times (e.g. 7-8-9-10-9-10-J-10-9-8, etc.) until the sequence stops. Along the way, any face-down cards that are no longer overlapping are turned up.

In case the sequence is stopped, i.e. no card on the tableau can be put over the top card of the waste pile, a card is placed on the waste pile from the stock to see if it can start a new sequence. Cards are transferred from the stock to the waste pile one at a time as long as it does not begin a new sequence with the cards on the tableau.

The game is won if all three peaks are cleared before or after the last card from the stock is discarded to the waste pile. However, the game is lost if there are still cards that cannot be placed on the waste pile after the stock has run out.

Different solitaire programs with this game have different point values for each card discarded to the waste pile, every peak cleared, and every finish in the game. The table below shows the different point values for each solitaire program with Tri Peaks.

Game package/website with Tri Peaks	Points scored for:
	tableau card to waste pile	succeeding tableau card to waste pile	stock card to waste pile	every peak cleared	finishing game
CMT Solitaire	5	1	-5	15	15
Pyramids	100	100 * number of cards removed	0	5000 * number of peaks cleared	cards left in stock * 100, time left * 100
Solitaire Network	1	1	1	1	number of unused cards at the stock.
Best of Windows Entertainment Pack	1	1 * number of cards removed	-5	15	15

TriPeaks was invented in 1989 by Robert Hogue. He still maintains an updated version of the original at http://www.therhogue.com/tripeaks.htm. The original game shipped in Windows Entertainment Pack 3 and Best of Windows Entertainment Pack is also available at his site. Tripeaks has been modified numerous times, and shipped in many different card packs. TriPeaks can be found on the smallest devices like cellphones, computers with operating systems such as Windows or Mac, and casino electronic games found in Las Vegas.