It must be understood that there is no necessity to be successful on the first trial of each of the games. Such a thing is almost impossible. What these devotees do is to go on playing until they bring out, say, the "Tens," and then they turn to either of the other two and work at it. Should they be so lucky as to get out all the three, then they formulate their wish and wait for it to come true.
In case some readers do not know how to play these fascinating games, we will proceed to explain them.
TENS.—For this, two full packs are required. The cards are well shuffled and then a row of ten cards is dealt out on the table, face down. This done, another row of ten cards is laid out, also face down. Next, a third row is set out, but this time the cards are placed face up.
The player looks at the ten face cards and throws out any aces. Then he builds up suits, as far as he can, by resting a card of opposite color, and of one degree lower in value, on some other card. Thus, a red goes on a black, a black on a red, a queen on a king, a two on a three, and so on. When the shifting of cards causes a file to have no face card in it, then the uppermost non-face card may be turned over, ready for being used.
As soon as all the possible movements have been effected, a fresh set of ten cards is dealt out, one being placed on each file. The movements are recommenced. Note that not only can one suitable card be placed on another, but partial runs of cards may be so moved, as long as there is no broken sequence in them. Thus, a black two, a red three, a black four and a red five may be lifted in one operation on to a black six; but a red three, a black four, a black five may not be put on a red six. It is possible, however, to lift the red three and black four on to a red five, if such a card is available.
Should a file become quite empty, with not even face-down cards in it, then it is possible to fill it with a king and any proper following sequence, should such a one be within reach in any other file. The use of this movement becomes apparent after a few games have been played.
When the second lot of ten face cards has been dealt with, a third ten is set out, and other lots of ten are dealt in the same way, until the double pack, in hand, is exhausted.
The aim of the game is to have no cards left in the lay-out, and this is obtained by building up sequences from "king" to "two" and, as soon as one of these complete sequences is formed, it is removed from the game.
If, when all the two packs have been dealt out and all the possible movements of cards made, there are broken sequences left, then the game has failed and it is finished.
In order to make the explanation absolutely clear, a diagram is given on this and the opposite page. It shows how the cards should be set on the table before any play is commenced. Naturally, the choice of the face cards is arbitrary. This is how the movements will be made: