| Cruel Solitaire is an unusual solitaire game, | | | | Then the 5 of Diamonds will NOT be on top of |
| that many people think has a low success | | | | Stack-C after a redeal. |
| rate. Careful planning will allow the | | | | |
| advanced solitaire player to win more than | | | | Knowing this pattern will give you much |
| 50% of the games they play though. | | | | greater control over cruel solitaire, and |
| | | | allows for some powerful strategies that will |
| The trick to winning cruel solitaire is to | | | | vastly increase your chances of winning. |
| know when to deal from the talon. When you | | | | |
| first start playing cruel solitaire, it seems | | | | DON'T ALWAYS MOVE CARDS TO THE FOUNDATION... |
| like dealing from the talon randomly shuffles | | | | |
| the cards, but this is not the case. A deal | | | | Because of the above pattern, it does not |
| from the talon just redeals the cards in the | | | | always make sense to move a card to the talon |
| same order they currently appear. | | | | at the first opportunity. Instead, you can |
| | | | keep the card, and just make sure that you |
| This allows an advanced player to have some | | | | don't put any extra cards in the stacks to |
| knowledge of what will happen when the talon | | | | the left of it. |
| deal is done... which vastly improves the | | | | |
| chances of winning every game of cruel | | | | This way, you can keep redealing, to expose |
| solitaire that you play. | | | | new cards, and you will KNOW that the card |
| | | | will always remain in play. Only when you |
| There are certain easy-to-learn patterns that | | | | can't make any more moves should you then |
| help with this. | | | | move the card to the foundation. |
| | | | |
| If all the stacks to the left of a stack have | | | | This gives you the most opportunity to keep |
| 4 cards in them before the redeal, then after | | | | playing, without blocking play. And it leads |
| the redeal, the card that is on top will stay | | | | to a general procedure, that you can follow |
| on top. | | | | to win a lot more games of cruel solitaire... |
| | | | |
| For example, suppose the first 3 stacks | | | | A GENERAL PROCEDURE TO WIN CRUEL SOLITAIRE... |
| appear like this: | | | | |
| | | | Here is a procedure that will help you to win |
| Stack-A: 4 Cards | | | | cruel solitaire. It isn't perfect, and you'll |
| | | | probably make your own alterations to it as |
| Stack-B: 4 Cards | | | | you get better at the game, but it shows how |
| | | | to carefully play cruel solitaire to avoid |
| Stack-C: 5 Cards with a 5 of Diamonds on top. | | | | blockages. |
| | | | |
| All the stacks before Stack-C have 4 cards in | | | | A - Find the rightmost card that can go onto |
| them, so after a redeal, the 5 of Diamonds | | | | the talon. |
| will still be at the top of Stack-C. | | | | |
| | | | B - Do all the moves to the right of that |
| This is the same no matter how many cards are | | | | card that you can, starting with highest rank |
| in Stack-C. So if the stacks are like this: | | | | ones |
| | | | |
| Stack-A: 4 Cards | | | | C - Redeal |
| | | | |
| Stack-B: 4 Cards | | | | D - Go back to A |
| | | | |
| Stack-C: 2 Cards with a 5 of Diamonds on top. | | | | Once there are no more moves that can be made |
| | | | to the right of the card, then move the card |
| Then the 5 of Diamonds will still be on top | | | | in the stack to the foundation, and then |
| of Stack-C after a talon redeal. | | | | redeal, and go back to A. |
| | | | |
| But if an earlier stack does not have 4 cards | | | | If no cards can play, then order all the |
| in it, then the card will NOT stay on top | | | | cards you can, starting with the highest rank |
| after a redeal. | | | | ones, and then redeal. |
| | | | |
| So if the stacks are like this: | | | | That's it! |
| | | | |
| Stack-A: 5 Cards | | | | You can definitely tweak this procedure to |
| | | | make it better, but I've tried to keep it |
| Stack-B: 4 Cards | | | | simple here, and it should allow you to play |
| | | | cruel solitaire a lot better than before. |
| Stack-C: 2 Cards with a 5 of Diamonds on top. | | | | Have fun! |
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