Las Vegas Solitaire: Play Online & Free

How to play Las Vegas Solitaire

The majority of Klondike Solitaire’s rule set is transferred in the Las Vegas version. The primary objective of the game is to place all 52 cards (no Jokers) in a Foundation in a specific order – from Ace to King. The Foundation itself represents four different fields, with each field only being able to house a single card type (clubs, hearts, diamonds, or spades).

The Layout is the main playing field for these card game types, this is where the majority of cards are placed. The card placement is very specific, there are seven columns in total, and the number of cards per column grows from left to right – the first column only includes one card, the second has two cards, and so on. Only the highest card of each column is supposed to face upwards, the rest of the cards in that same column are supposed to stay hidden and only get revealed once the overarching card is moved.

The Pile is the last element of this playing field, this is where the rest of the cards end up after setting up the Layout. All cards in the Pile are supposed to be placed face down and only revealed one after the other if requested.

This is where some of the biggest differences from the original Klondike formula happen. First of all, Las Vegas Solitaire only allows for a single pass through all of the Pile’s cards. Once all of them are revealed, there is no going back.

The second difference of Las Vegas Solitaire is its scoring system – the player has to pay either metaphorical or real money to begin. The basic version of the game starts with a negative $52 score, meaning that the price per game is $52, one dollar per card. Every single card moved to the Foundation adds $5 to the player’s money counter, and every subsequent new game costs $52.

It is worth noting that the scoring system makes it both more difficult and less difficult to win. It is far more difficult in a general sense, since the lack of Pile reruns makes the game infinitely harder. However, the fact that the initial “wager” of $52 can be “redeemed” as soon as at least 11 cards are moved to the Foundation is also technically a “win”, since the player made their “money” back, and then some.

Las Vegas Solitaire types

These kinds of changes are why Las Vegas Solitaire is considered far more difficult than the version it took most of its rules from. Like how Klondike Solitaire operates, Las Vegas Solitaire has two major variations:

• 1-card
• 3-card

The most significant difference between these versions is how many cards are revealed per single Pile request. The 1-card version only reveals a single card per request, while the 3-card version shows 3 cards at once. The rest of the rules stay the same.

Las Vegas Solitaire vs Solitaire Social

Solitaire Social is an impressive card game platform with an unusual twist to the original Klondike Solitaire formula – the multiplayer aspect. The fact that it uses its own scoring system makes Solitaire Social far closer to Las Vegas than to Klondike in that regard.

However, Solitaire Social is not as unforgiving with the rest of its rules, there is only one card revealed per single Pile request, and Pile reruns can also be performed with no point deductions, as well. The fact that Solitaire Social also provides a number of powerups to its own gameplay formula makes it far more attractive than most conventional Klondike or Las Vegas variations of Solitaire.

Conclusion

Las Vegas Solitaire is a very peculiar variation of a famous card game. It is far more difficult in comparison, and its scoring system also makes the overall concept of “winning” slightly less important than with most other systems. However, it is still an interesting card game variation that offers plenty of challenge to players who need it.