How to Play Monte Carlo Cards

If you like Tetris, you will enjoy this old fashioned solitaire card game. It is sometimes call Doubles, Wedding or Quits, but the rules are the same. The goal of the game is to match pairs until the field is exhausted. The game is complicated by the fact that the field shifts up and to the left every time a pair is matched and removed, changing the potential pairs and frustrating players. Online versions of the game are popular since the tableau changes automatically, without having to manually change the cards.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Standard deck of cards

1. Shuffle a standard deck of cards thoroughly and lay out cards in a 5 by 5 grid (the tableau). You will still have a small stack of playing cards left over. This is called the pack.
2. Look for a matching pair that is touching either horizontally, diagonally or vertically. The match can be any two identical numbers or face cards, regardless of the suit. For example, a 4 of Hearts and a 4 of Spades can be touching either side by side, top to bottom or diagonally by their corners.
3. Remove the two cards you matched and set it off to the side. You will place all your matched pairs in this pile. Don't mix this pile up with the pack.
4. Condense your tableau by filling in the two spaces you have made by shifting the cards to the left and up, if necessary. If you have condensed the horizontal row, you take the first card from that row and wrap it around to the next row above. This keeps the order of the cards in the same sequence but changes the tableau.
5. Add two new cards from the pack to the bottom of the tableau completing the five by five grid. You continue to add from the pack after each round until you have exhausted the pack.
6. Continue to match pairs, shrinking the tableau. Carefully choose your ending moves as the cards dwindle since choosing pairs without advance thought can bust the game.
7. Complete the game by matching all the pairs.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember what pairs you have already made so you know what cards you are still waiting for from the pack.
• Be cautious in the last several rounds. You can lose the game easily if you don't watch a few steps ahead.