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Monte Carlo (solitaire)
Encyclopedia
Monte Carlo is a Patience
pair-matching card game
(using a deck of 52 playing card
s) where the object is to remove pairs from the tableau. Contrary to its name, it has no relation to the city with the same name
nor to any casino
-related game.
Game starts when 25 cards are laid out in such a way that they form a 5x5 grid (one version states that 20 cards are dealt to form a 5x4 grid). The rest of the deck are set aside for later as the reserve.
Cards that make up a pair (such as two Kings or two Sixes) are removed when they are immediately next to each other horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Once all pairs have been removed, the cards are consolidated, i.e. moving cards to the left as if towards the upper left corner to fill any gaps left behind by the discarded pairs. New cards are then laid out from the reserve to form a fresh layout of 25 cards.
This removal of pairs, consolidation of cards, and addition of new cards continue until the reserve cards have run out. After this, removal of pairs and consolidation continues.
The game finishes when all cards have been discarded. The game also ends when it is no longer possible to remove pairs, especially on the finishing stages of the game such as "4-6-4-6."
Although luck is a large part of the game, strategy can also sometimes play a part. For example, one could leave a pair alone to be used to aid freeing a separated pair (e. g. two Queens that are left alone to unlock a Q-7-Q).
Patience (game)
Patience is a genre of tabletop games, consisting of card games that can be played by a single player. Patience games can also be played in a multiplayer fashion....
pair-matching card game
Card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...
(using a deck of 52 playing card
Playing card
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic, marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games...
s) where the object is to remove pairs from the tableau. Contrary to its name, it has no relation to the city with the same name
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
nor to any casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
-related game.
Rules
Cards that make up a pair (such as two Kings or two Sixes) are removed when they are immediately next to each other horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Once all pairs have been removed, the cards are consolidated, i.e. moving cards to the left as if towards the upper left corner to fill any gaps left behind by the discarded pairs. New cards are then laid out from the reserve to form a fresh layout of 25 cards.
This removal of pairs, consolidation of cards, and addition of new cards continue until the reserve cards have run out. After this, removal of pairs and consolidation continues.
The game finishes when all cards have been discarded. The game also ends when it is no longer possible to remove pairs, especially on the finishing stages of the game such as "4-6-4-6."
Although luck is a large part of the game, strategy can also sometimes play a part. For example, one could leave a pair alone to be used to aid freeing a separated pair (e. g. two Queens that are left alone to unlock a Q-7-Q).
Variants
- In a version called Monte Carlo Thirteens, instead of pairs of cards with the same rank, kings and pairs of cards with values totalling 13 are removed during game play.