King Albert (solitaire)
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King Albert is a solitaire card game using a deck of 52 playing cards. It is said to be named after King Albert of Belgium the first. It is also the best known of the three games that are each called Idiot's Delight because of the low chance of winning the game (the other two are Aces Up and Perpetual Motion).
The aim of the game, like many solitaire games, is to release the aces to the foundations and built each of them up by suit to Kings.
First, the cards are deal into nine columns in such a way that the first column contains nine cards, the second having eight cards, the third seven, and so on until the ninth column having a single card. The seven left over cards form the reserve, sometimes known as "the Belgian Reserve."
Building on the tableau is down by alternating colors and only one card can be moved at a time. Only the top card of each column and all cards in the reserve are available for play. Furthermore, an empty column can be filled with any available card.
Once an ace is released, it can be built upon immediately.
The game is won when all cards end up in the foundations. But achieving this is difficult as one in only ten games can be won[1], hence the alternate name of Idiot's Delight.
