How to Play Lovely Lucy Cards

An entirely different yet still simple to play version of solitaire is called Lovely Lucy. Seventeen sets of three cards gathered together create your playing field and the goal is still to gather your cards in ascending order and within suits onto your foundation Aces. Originally called La Belle Lucie, you will feel very French as you play this expansive solitaire game.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Standard deck of cards

1. Shuffle a standard deck of cards thoroughly, having removed the Jokers.

2. Deal three cards grouped together in front of you, creating 17 three-card piles, called "fans." This is your playing field. You will have one card left over which is called the singleton. The card on top of each fan as well as the singleton comes is now in play.

3. Play any top facing card from any of your fans onto another card within the playing field as long as it descending in number and is of the same suit. For example, you may play a 7 of Diamonds onto a 6 of Diamonds.

4. Remove the Aces from the playing field by setting them off to the side. This is called the foundation. You may only remove the Aces if they are top card of a fan.

5. Add the next ascending card within the same suit onto the Ace foundation. For example, an Ace of Heart would be followed by a 2 of Heart, 3 of Hearts and so on. This follows the tradition rules of solitaire.

6. Free cards in the playing field by removing the blocking card on top of it. Remember that Aces and lower numbers are pivotal to winning the game.

7. Reshuffle and deal again if you are unable to move any cards to the foundation or within the playing filed. You may pick up, reshuffle and set up the playing field again two more times after the initial deal.

8. Take advantage of the "Merci"--or Thank You clause--by removing any card from within any fan and play it legally onto another facing card. You may only do this once and it has to be after the playing field has been reset for the third time. You may not remove an Ace since it legally can not be played onto another facing card.

9. Vary the game by removing the Aces before dealing the initial round of fans. This makes the game easier to win. This game is often called "Trefoil."

Tips & Warnings

• Place your Aces in the foundation as soon as possible. Even with three shuffles, it is difficult to win this game without unearthing the Aces and the low cards.