I would guess that over 90% of all Windows computer users have played Solitaire. It may very well be the most-used Windows application ever.

I recently discovered an online site called Game Colony that spreads Solitaire tournaments for real money.

Below are the complete rules of the Solitaire tournaments at Game Colony.

Object of the Game
The object of the game is to use all cards to build up the 4 suit stacks in ascending order starting with the aces.

Suit stacks to be build are in the upper right corner. The bottom card in each of the 4 suit stacks is an ace. In the example, 2 of clubs in the second suit stack is already placed on top of the ace of clubs (ascending order). The bottom 7 stacks are called row stacks. The cards in the row stacks are in descending order alternating between red and black. The bottom card in the row stack is the king. In the example, the top open card in the leftmost row stack is the queen of hearts (red) that is placed on the king of spades (black).

Playing the Game
As the game proceeds, the 7 row stacks on the bottom are build only as an intermediate holding place for eventual build-up of 4 suit stacks.

To move cards to any of the 4 suit stacks, you must start each suit stack pile with an ace. Once an ace has been put up in the suit stack pile, 2 of that same suit can be placed on the ace, and so forth, ending with the king. Once a card has been placed on the suit stack pile, it can be moved back to the row stack, however, a point penalty will be assessed for this act ion.

Cards in the 7 row stack piles can be placed on other cards by building downward and alternating colors. In the example above , the top open card in the leftmost row stack is the queen of hearts (red) that is placed on the king of spades (black). You can move more than one card at a time; for example, a rightmost pile containing an 8 of hearts & 7 of spades could be picked up and placed on a 9 of spades (if 9 of spades was an open card in any other of the 7 row stacks). When a card in any of the 7 row stacks has been moved to expose a downward-faci ng card, that card can be turned face-up (by clicking on it). Whene a card in any of the 7 row stacks is moved to create an e mpty slot, that slot can be filled with any king.

When there are no moves to make in the row stacks, go through the closed deck (upper left corner), turning one card up at a time (in the 1-card variation) or three cards at a time (in the 3-card variation). As the cards in the deck are clicked, the y are put face up next to the closed deck. The top card from these open cards is available to move either to the row stacks o r to final suit stacks if there is a place for it there. After going through all of the cards in the closed deck, you can go through it again however, there is a point penalty for this action.

The play continues until all 52 cards have been placed in the 4 suit stacks or until no more moves are possible or until time runs out : five minutes (5:00) is the maximum time allowed.

Moving the Cards
Click and drag to move a single open card from any of the 7 row stacks to another spot in the row stacks, or to any of the su it stacks, etc..

To move a group of cards within the 7 row stacks, click on the highest card in the group, and drag it to the destination card .

To reveal a face-down card in any of the 7 row stacks, just click on it.

To reveal the next card from the closed deck (or, in the 3-card variation, to reveal the next three cards), just click on the closed deck. To return the open cards placed next to the deck to closed deck for subsequent drawing, just click on the empty spot.

If you double-click on an open card in one of the 7 row stacks, and there is a spot in the suit stack for that card, that car d is immediately moved to the suit stack slot.

To take back 1 move, click the ‘Undo’ button. You cannot take back more than 1 move. When no moves can be taken back, the Undo button will be disabled. For example, the move that opens a previously hidden card cannot be taken back, so Undo button will be disabled.

Scoring

• Any card moved to any of the 4 suit stacks earns 10 points.
• Any card moved from the deck to any of the 7 row stacks earns 5 points
• A closed card revealed in any of the 7 row stacks earns 5 points
• A card moved from any of the 4 suit stacks back to row stacks — 15 points penalty gets subtracted
• In the 3-card variation, every time you go through the deck after the 3d time, 20 points penalty gets subtracted
• In the 1-card variation, every time you go through the deck after the 1st time, 100 points penalty gets subtracted
• At the end of the game, there is also a Time Bonus for each unused second.

Solitaire Strategy Tips

• If there is a choice of cards to use from the 7 row stacks, select the one with most unopen cards under it
• Since there is a penalty involved for extra trips through the hand, avoid those
• Especially in a 3 card variation, players with good memory will benefit from going through the entire deck prior to moving a single card

About Game Colony

• Players from most parts of the world are accepted, including from the United States
• FREE Paypal payouts are offered to players once every three weeks
• At GameColony you can play online head-to-head games and tournaments in 20 multiplayer games of skill.
• GameColony has a thriving online community where players from all over the world are engaged in healthy skill-based competition — either for prizes or for free.