Aces Up

Aces Up is also another name for Easthaven, a variant of Klondike.

Aces Up (also known as Idiot's Delight, Once in a Lifetime, Ace of the Pile, Rocket to the Top, Firing Squad, Loser Solitaire, Aces High, and Drivel) is a solitaire card game using a deck of 52 playing cards. One advantage of this game is its minimal use of space: one can even play it on an area as small as an encyclopedia volume cover.

Rules

Note: Aces are high.

1. Deal four cards in a row face up.

2. If there are two or more cards of the same suit, discard all but the highest-ranked card of that suit.

3. Repeat step 2 until there are no more pairs of cards with the same suit.

4. Whenever there are any empty spaces, you may choose the top card of another pile to be put into the empty space. After you do this, go to Step 2.

5. When there are no more cards to move or remove, deal out the next four cards from the deck face-up onto each pile.

6. Repeat Step 2, using only the visible, or top, cards on each of the four piles.

7. When the last four cards have been dealt out and any moves made, the game is over. The fewer cards left in the tableau, the better. To win is to have only the four aces left.

When the game ends, the number of discarded cards is your score. The maximum score (and thus the score necessary to win) is 48, which means all cards have been discarded except for the four aces, thus the name of the game.

Variations

A much more challenging variation on Aces Up allows only the aces to be moved onto an empty pile. This makes game play much more restrictive and consequently the game can only be completed roughly once in every 270 games.

Tournament rules (play-tested)

1. Prizes are determined by the organizer. Some suggestions are a prize for Aces Up, a prize for winning the tournament, a 2nd place prize, etc.

2. Score is determined by how many cards remain after playing a hand of Aces Up. For example, 0 for Aces Up, 1 for 1 remaining card other than the aces, 2 for 2 remaining cards other than the aces, etc.

3. Low score advances to the next round. The number of people advancing is cut off by the tournament director based on the number of entries into the tournament.

4. The normal rules for Aces Up apply for playing a hand.

5. A round consists of playing five hands. The lowest score of the five hands is retained for the score for that round. All five hands do not have to be played out. For example, if someone gets Aces Up on their first hand of the round then the score for the round is zero, the player advances to the next round, and the remaining four hands for that round do not need to be played.

6. No one can advance with a score greater than 5. This number can be adjusted at the tournament director's discretion before the tournament begins.

Notes