How to Play "Tens" Solitaire
I'm sure Tens has a more distinguished history, but my google searching came up with nothing I determinded to be close. My brother learned Tens from a friend, and taught me, back when we were small. It's a single-deck solitaire game that's easy on the table-top real-estate. You can even play on your lap, if you have a suitably large lap. It goes quickly, and can be played casually, with many game repetitions in one sitting.
Things You'll Need
- A complete deck of cards, no jokers
- Ability to see patterns
- Ability to add two numbers up to ten
Instructions
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1
Start laying out individual cards in a grid, 4 cards wide, for three rows.
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As you start filling up your 12-card grid, look for card combinations that add up to 10, i.e. 6 & 4, 2 & 8, 7 & 3, etc. Two 10-cards count as a pair, as do all four of a face-card set, i.e., all 4 Jacks.
When you see one of these pairs, cover both with a new card from the deck in your hand. If the new cards add up to 10, cover them as well. If they don't, put down another card in your grid.
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As you find and cover sums of 10, keep an eye out for all 4 matching face-cards.
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If you reach your 12th card spot with no more possible sums of 10 or matches, the game is done. Collect the card, shuffle, and start again.
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Tips & Warnings
Finding a hand that deals all 4 matches early on is a good sign you'll win the hand.
Two-deck games are possible, either doubling the grid or by requiring you to get through two decks in the grid of 12.
Games where you might try to change the face-card rule to be all three of the same suit rather than all four of the same rank don't seem to work out well.
Games where you might try to match more than two card combos that add up to 10 also don't seem to work out so well.
Watch out for mind-numbing compulsions to add things to 10.
