La Belle Lucie Solitaire

Rules Summary:

• Build Foundations from Ace to King in each suit.
• Build Fans down in the same suit. Fans may hold any number of cards.
• Only one card may be moved at a time.
• Empty Fans must remain empty.
• Two redeals are allowed. Cards are shuffled before being redealt.
• On the third redeal, one open Fan may be used as a Free Move.

La Belle Lucie Solitaire allows three shuffles and has many opportunities to make skillful decisions.

Goal

Move all cards to the four Foundation piles from Ace to King in the same suit.

The Deal

Using one deck, all cards are dealt face up in Fans (horizontal Columns) of 3 cards each. The last Fan will hold the leftover single card.

Foundations

Foundations are built UP and IN SUIT starting with an Ace and ending with a King. For example, a 2 of Clubs can be placed on an Ace of Clubs, then a 3 of Clubs, then a 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, up to the K of Clubs. The same holds true for the other suits.

Fans

Fans are built DOWN in the SAME SUIT. Only the topmost card may be moved at a time.

Fans may hold any number of cards. Once a Fan is empty, it must remain empty.

Redeals

The cards in the Fans may be gathered and Redealt at any time. The cards are shuffled before being redealt. Only two redeals are allowed.

Free Move

After the last redeal, one extra space is provided that can start one extra fan. Any available card may be placed in this fan and then other cards may be played on top of the first card. Once this pile becomes empty it must remain empty.

La Belle Lucie Strategy

• Since all cards are visible at the start of the hand, it will help you solve more games by studying the layout for a while before making your first play.
• There is never a reason to hold back any cards that can be moved to a Foundation. Play them as soon as you can.
• When a Fan has only one card in it, it is always safe to play onto that card.
• When a Fan contains two or more sequential cards of the same suit, it is likewise safe to play even more sequential cards onto those cards. They could be an exception to this rule on the third redeal if the Free Move is still available.
• On the first two shuffles, since Kings cannot be moved (except to a Foundation,) review where the Kings are after each shuffle. Also, it is almost always acceptable to play onto a King even if the King is blocking other cards (the exception being on the third redeal when the Free Move is still in play.)
• Since Kings likely cannot be moved early in the game, work on moving Queens onto the Kings. Then work Jacks onto the Queens, etc.
• Take notice of higher-ranked cards blocking lower-ranked cards of the same suit. Although it may not be possible to move these cards to Foundations directly, sometimes they can be unstacked by moving the higher-ranked card to another Fan.
• Once you place a card onto another card, neither card can be moved (or any cards blocked by them) until those cards are played to a Foundation (except for the Free Move.) So generally, you will want to focus on the higher-ranked cards first. So before moving a card, consider if the card that you are moving onto can be moved first.
• When trying to free up lower-ranked cards for play to Foundations, be patient, but also don't lose your opportunity to get those cards played. It is easy to see a possible way to play cards to Foundations, but then block those plays too.
• Once a Fan is empty it cannot be repopulated. So there is no need to quickly move the last card in a Fan unless it is to a Foundation.
• On the third and last shuffle you will most likely need to move a King into the Free Move spot. If there are two or more Kings blocking other cards, move the King to the Free Move spot that is likely to be one of the last Kings that would get moved to Foundations. Occasionally, it may make more sense to use the Free Move for a lower-ranked card.
• Finally, don't give up hope on the first two shuffles. It is very difficult to win until the third shuffle.