# Ruleset for Mama's Solitaire



## aj47 (Jan 23, 2016)

I am a programmer writing a solitaire game. I have played this game longer than I've been able to read, but I've never seen the rules anywhere online or in books of card games.  I need them in plain English for people to read from the "How to Play" option on the menu.  Also, it will help me code the game in a coherent way.
Rules for Mama's Two-Deck Solitaire

Object of the game

The object of the game is to have eight suit piles, two per suit, with one pile containing the cards in ascending order, from ace to king, and the other in descending order, from king to ace.

Dealing the cards

The two decks are thoroughly shuffled. Cards are dealt into a tableau of piles in two rows of seven piles each. The arrangement of the rows is as follows. Seven in the top row, six in the bottom row, three and three, with a space for the draw pile in the middle. The piles are named for the cards in a suit, with the ace being first and the king last. The draw pile separates the face cards from the eight, nine, and ten piles.

The cards are dealt face-up from the top of the deck, one at a time onto the tableau piles left to right beginning with the first pile in the top row and ending with the ten pile. A card is then placed face-down on the draw pile and then cards are dealt face up to the face card piles. After a card is place on the king pile, two cards are added to the draw pile. The draw pile is also dealt two additional cards if the card dealt is an ace or a king. The draw pile is dealt one card if the card dealt matches the pile it is dealt to, for example, a two on the second pile in the top row. If an ace is dealt to the ace pile, three cards are dealt to the draw pile. In the same way, if a king is dealt to the king pile, five total cards are dealt to the draw pile--one for the king being in its own pile, two more for it being a king, and two for it being the end of the round of dealing. 

This sequence is repeated until all the cards are dealt onto the tableau.

Play

The top card of each tableau pile is in play and can be moved to the appropriate suit pile. This may be done at any time. Each suit pile must start with an ace or a king. There may only be two suit piles per suit, one ascending and one descending.

Cards are drawn one at a time, from the draw pile. When a card is drawn, the corresponding number pile is placed in the hand. The cards are kept in order, with the drawn card becoming the bottom card of the pile if it is not immediately playable. Cards in the hand are all playable, but the remaining cards in the hand may not be shuffled. When no more plays are possible, the pile is returned to its position in the tableau and the next card is drawn.

Winning the game

The game is won if all the cards from the tableau are moved to their respective suit piles. The game is lost if all cards have been drawn from the draw pile and no more plays are possible.


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## Harper J. Cole (Jan 31, 2016)

Thanks, that's mostly clear. Just one question ...



> Cards in the hand are all playable, but the remaining cards in the hand may not be shuffled.



I don't see why it would matter if the cards were shuffled, if they are all playable while the pile is in hand anyway. It's likely that I've misunderstood something.

A couple of typos as well ...



> The draw pile is dealt one card if the card dealt matches the pile it is dealt *do*, for example, a two on the second pile in the top row.





> The top card of each tableau pile *are* in play and can be moved to the appropriate suit pile.




HC


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## aj47 (Jan 31, 2016)

Because the hand goes back to the tableau as a pile.  They need to stay in the order they were in.  If you can help me explain that better, I'm all eyes.


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## Harper J. Cole (Jan 31, 2016)

That was my error. I'd forgotten about this line ...



> The top card of each tableau pile is in play and can be moved to the appropriate suit pile.




... which explains why the order of the cards in each pile is important.

One more question though ...




> After a card is place on the king pile, *two cards* are added to the draw pile.





> If an ace is dealt to the ace pile or a king is dealt to the king pile, *three cards* are dealt to the draw pile.




To clarify, does this mean that, if a king is dealt on the king pile, there will be five cards in total added to the draw pile?


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## aj47 (Jan 31, 2016)

Um, yes.  I should have specified that.  Thanks.


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## Harper J. Cole (Feb 1, 2016)

Good; I've played through a game, and it seems to work, so I've probably understood it correctly. I only completed one of the eight suit piles; is winning the game quite rare?

 It takes a long time to set two decks up, so I see the benefit of a computerised version!

HC


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## aj47 (Feb 1, 2016)

I learned this before klondike, so to me it's just ... normal. That's why I don't have a name for it, either.  It was always just "solitaire" at our house. Shuffling 2 decks together is a pain though. Especially when you have small hands.


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## Jack of all trades (Feb 1, 2016)

I think a picture says a thousand words, so let's see if I understand.

Here are the tableau piles : 

Ace. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven.

Eight. Nine. Ten. Draw. Jack. Queen. King.

Is that right?


After thinking about it more, would the description be needed for a computer game? Wouldn't the dealing (and card placement) be done by the program?

Also, control of play would be handled by the program. I'm thinking about games like free cell and spider solitaire, both of which I learned on a computer. I don't recall reading much in the way of rules. 

Sorry about my rambling way of replying.

It sounds like an interesting project. I have a bit of a programming background. What language are you using?


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## aj47 (Feb 1, 2016)

Yes, you have the tableau down.    The suit piles go above it.  And yes, the computer will handle the play, but if the human doesn't know what to expect, the game can be mystifying.  

C++ If you look at my blog, I'm stuck on an issue with vectors and the STL.  Any help via PM would be greatly appreciated.


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## Jack of all trades (Feb 1, 2016)

I can't offer any vector help. Sorry.


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## Jack of all trades (Feb 6, 2016)

astroannie said:


> Because the hand goes back to the tableau as a pile.  They need to stay in the order they were in.  If you can help me explain that better, I'm all eyes.



I was looking up something else about playing cards and thought of your game. Is this the same one, do you think?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aces_and_Kings_(solitaire)


Also, I'm wondering how the programming is coming along. Did you get your vector questions answered yet?


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## aj47 (Feb 6, 2016)

Nope, it has a wastepile and that's something my game does not have.  However, it gave me the name for the piles at the top--foundation piles.

Yes, I need to use an iterator.  I posted my progress in my blog.


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