A Tricks Scoring Patience Game

A Tricks Scoring Patience Game By Frater Pyramidatus This game is a development of a very simple patience variation known in Hoyle’s as ‘Single Rail’, and in some later books as ‘Puss in the Corner’; and perhaps the most straightforward of all the patience games. On the table lay out the Aces are arranged in the following manner: A♠ A♦

A♥ A♣

You may think this is not important, but this method echoes the Enochian Watchtower ordering of the Four Elements. It is preferable. These stations are known as ‘Houses’. Placed adjacently to these are the ‘Stacks’, of which there are obviously four in total. The object of the game is not really to build up from the Aces to the Kings, as one would expect, but to score tricks. However one must pretend that the goal of the game is go from the Aces sequentially to the Kings whilst taking only cards from the top of each of the four stacks. There are three types of trick: House Trick, Stack Trick and Serpent Trick (this being where the points are scored exponentially as is explained below). You achieve cumulative points for each House the closer you rise to the King. If all Houses reach fulfilment then the game is over. The game is also over if you cannot begin, or continue, a Serpent Trick. Points are totalled as a mean average for all hands played. For Stack Tricks you play as in poker, however tricks can ‘blend’ so that if we have K♠ Q♠ J♠ J♣ J♥ one not only scores points for the run of King, Queen and Jack but for the three Jacks as well. Also if we have, say, K♠ Q♠ J♠ J♣ J♥ again and the Jack of Hearts is played onto a House and then the Jack of Diamonds is played onto the Stack later, we get more points for another group of three. It goes without saying that the cards are spread out so that they can all be seen, unless you like making life difficult for yourself!

SERPE;T POI;TS Serpent Tricks are by far the most complicated part of the game. We must assume that the goal, although not the highest point scoring tactic, of the game is to fulfil the Houses in the centre of the table. However, we must calculate at what point a card is taken from the deck that completely prevents us from fulfilling all the Houses. At this point the hand stops. If this card is a King then the Serpent is initiated. It must be a King. We then reshuffle and start another hand. The next hand may fulfil the Houses but if the ‘stop card’ is again a King, or a Queen, then the Serpent Trick is continued. After this we must get another Queen, or a Jack, but not a Ten, or any other lower card. So, to recap the Serpent must begin with a King, then be followed by a card equal or one lower to itself, and so on down the sequence. At the time the Serpent sequence is interrupted play ceases and a mean average for points scored for every hand is calculated. However, for the Serpent we only score points once for each game. ‘Forcing a serpent’ is cheating, we must attempt as best we can to fulfil the Houses, and remember that one can only cheat oneself.

HOUSE POI;TS The point scoring for House Tricks is based on the number of the cards themselves. So that if one scores 7♥ then one has 28 points for that house, because the sum of the numbers 1 to 7 is 28. One does not get extra points for the Court Cards. We can score a total of 220 points for fulfilling all of the Houses. It should be said that it is very difficult to do this, hence the ageless definition of the ‘patience’ game.

STACK POI;TS Points here are effectively less than with the Houses because tricks can ‘blend’ (vide supra) and to encourage one to initiate a Serpent: TABLE

Kings Queens Jacks Tens ;ines Eights Sevens Sixes Fives Fours Threes

THREE OF A KI;D

FOUR OF A KI;D

15 15 15 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3

20 20 20 15 15 15 10 10 10 5 5

Runs must be at least three cards long and of the same suit. Different suited runs DO ;OT score points in the Stack tricks (they can however in the Serpent). K Q J = 20 K Q J 10 = 25 K Q J 10 9 = 30 (etcetera) Q J 10 = 15 Q J 10 9 = 20 Q J 10 9 8 = 25 (etcetera) J 10 9 = 10 J 10 9 8 = 15 J 10 9 8 7 = 10 (etcetera) 10 9 8 = 10 10 9 8 7 = 11 10 9 8 7 6 = 12 (etcetera)

∴ ∴ ∴

9 beginning = 9 + 1 for each sequential card 8 beginning = 8 + 1 for each sequential card 7 beginning = 7 + 1 for each sequential card (etcetera)

SERPE;T POI;TS As with Houses and Stacks tricks are scored with three or four of a kind (but in this case also with two of a kind), and with runs of at least three cards and of the same suit. TABLE Kings

1 2 3 4

10 20 30 40

Queens

1 2 3 4

20 40 60 80

Jacks

1 2 3 4

30 60 90 120

Tens

1 2 3 4

40 80 90 120

;ines

1 2 3 4

50 100 150 200 (etcetera)

SERPE;T RU;S KQJ 200 K Q J 10 400 K Q J 10 800 (etcetera)

DIVI;ATIO; This is obviously where the game becomes rather more complicated. And we must remember that divination, of any kind, is extremely dangerous. If the cards are properly shuffled and we make no mistakes in placing the cards (the most common error being placing a high card on top of a low card of the same suit) one may assume some accuracy of divination. You will note that logical thought is used here whereas with Tarot spreads things are almost completely random. Theoretically this will activate both ‘sides’ of the human brain. We can liken the House fulfilment of Ace to King in the four suits to the Lightning Flash on the Tree of Life (which we find so often discussed in the annals of Qabalism); we can also compare the Stacks to the blocked forces of potential that surround us. These Stacks are really the ‘delay mechanisms of the universe’. The Serpent, on the other hand represents the forces that are striving to stop us achieving what we will. So comparing the Tricks scored in all these three areas should provide us with a comprehensive view of the predicament we find ourselves in and what the cards have to tell us about it. And we must remember that the ‘the cards never lie’. Apart from this the rest is permutation and open to sheer speculation, as the interpreter (the tricks scorer) must translate the cold austerities of the numbers and suits into something more human.

Ace of ♠ Two of ♠ Three of ♠ Four of ♠ Five of ♠ Six of ♠ Seven of ♠ Eight of ♠ ;ine of ♠ Ten of ♠ Ace of ♥

Ace of Swords Peace Sorrow Truce Defeat Science Futility Interference Cruelty Ruin Ace of Cups

Two of ♥ Three of ♥ Four of ♥ Five of ♥ Six of ♥ Seven of ♥ Eight of ♥ ;ine of ♥ Ten of ♥ Ace of ♦

Love Abundance Luxury Disappointment Pleasure Debauch Indolence Happiness Satiety Ace of Disks

Two of ♦ Three of ♦ Four of ♦ Five of ♦ Six of ♦ Seven of ♦ Eight of ♦ ;ine of ♦ Ten of ♦ Ace of ♣ Two of ♣ Three of ♣ Four of ♣ Five of ♣ Six of ♣ Seven of ♣ Eight of ♣ ;ine of ♣ Ten of ♣

Change Works Power Worry Success Failure Prudence Gain Wealth Ace of Wands Dominion Virture Completion Strife Victory Valour Swifness Strength Oppresion

The Root of the Powers of Air Luna in Libra Saturn in Libra Jupiter in Libra Venus in Aquarius Mercury in Aquarius Luna in Aquarius Jupiter in Gemini Mars in Gemini Sol in Gemini The Root of the Power of Water Venus in Cancer Mercury in Cancer Luna in Cancer Mars in Scorpio Sol in Scorpio Venus in Scorpio Saturn in Pisces Jupiter in Pisces Mars in Pisces The Root of the Powers of Earth Jupiter in Capricorn Mars in Capricorn Sol in Capricorn Mercury in Taurus Luna in Taurus Saturn in Taurus Sol in Virgo Venus in Virgo Mercury in Virgo The Root of the Powers of Fire Mars in Aries Sol in Aries Venus in Aries Saturn in Leo Jupiter in Leo Mars in Leo Mercury in Sagittarius Luna in Sagittarius Saturn in Sagittarius