Three Pirates Solitaire

Summary

Three Pirates is a close cousin to the hugely popular Forty Thieves game. In fact, if you know how to play forty thieves then you already know how to play Three Pirates.

The only difference between Three Pirates and Forty Thieves is that each time the Stock is clicked one card is dealt to each of three piles, whereas in Forty Thieves only one pile is used.

The addition of three Discard Piles will offer more opportunities to win making Three Pirates somewhat easier, without removing too much of the challenge that people love about Forty Thieves. With three Discard Piles, cards will not be buried as deeply in the piles as they are in Forty Thieves. Plus there are two extra choices for card movements.

Goal

Play all cards to the eight Foundations. Each Foundation starts with an Ace and continues up to the Kings in EACH suit.

The Deal

Using two decks, each of the 10 Columns is dealt 4 cards face up. Thus, 40 cards are dealt and laid out just as in Forty Thieves. The remaining 64 cards form the Stock.

Foundations

Start each Foundation with an Ace and then continue up to the Kings. Each Foundation is built UP and in the SAME SUIT.

Columns

Build Columns DOWN in the SAME SUIT. For example, the only card that can be played onto a 10 of clubs is a 9 of clubs.

The exposed card in any Column is available for play to another Column or to a Foundation pile.

Empty Columns may be filled with any card.

Stock and Discard Piles

A Stock click will deal one card to each of the three Discard Piles. The top card of any Discard Pile can be played to a Column or to a Foundation if the build rules are followed. Cards may not be moved from one Discard Pile to another. There are no redeals.

Game Notes

SolitaireNetwork.com's version of Three Pirates supports a "Supermove" where you may move more than one card at a time as long as the move would have been possible had it been done by shuffling around single cards also.