Virginia Reel

Top  Previous  Next

2 Decks.  Hard (10%).  Mostly Skill.

 

Object

To move all the cards to the foundations.

 

Layout

Twos foundations (first row),  Threes foundations (second row), Fours foundations (third row) - Build up in suit by threes.  Two piles (top row) are built  2, 5, 8, Jack, Three piles (second row) are built 3, 6, 9, Queen, Four piles (third row) are built 4, 7, 10, King.   An empty space can only be filled by a Two (top row), a Three (second row), or a Four (third row).   All spaces in any row must be filled prior to the next deal from the stock.  Top card only is available for play.  At the beginning of the game a Two, Three, and Four of different suits are dealt to the first pile of each row, then one card is dealt to each of the remaining piles.

 

A Two, Three, or Four outside its proper row may be interchanged with another Two, Three, or Four outside its proper row if by interchanging them they are moved to their proper rows (To interchange cards, just drop one on the other).

 

Ace foundation (left) - build Aces only until the pile contains all 8 Aces.

 

8 reserve piles (bottom row) - top card is available for play on any of the foundations. No building.  Spaces are not filled except by a deal from the stock.

 

stock (top left, face down) - Deals 1 card to each reserve pile, only when all of the Two, Three, and Four foundation piles are filled.  No redeals.

 

Notes

The objective is to get all Twos to start piles in the top row, all Threes to start piles in the second row, and all Fours to start piles in the third row.

 

Once a Two, Three, or Four is placed in its proper row, you can build up in suit by threes on it, at the end each pile will contain 4 cards.   Aces are removed and placed in the Ace pile.

 

The catch is that any space in the 3 foundation rows must be filled before you can deal out another set of cards to the reserve.  This means that before you can move any card in a foundation row to another foundation pile, you must have a Two, Three, or Four (depending on the row) available to move into the created space.  When all the cards in the stock have been dealt out, spaces are no longer an issue.

 

Aces in the reserve can be immediately played to the Ace foundation.  Aces in the foundation rows can be moved when there is a Two, Three, or Four (depending on the row) available to fill the space.  It is useful to hold Aces in the foundation rows as long as possible so as to be available later when a Two, Three, or Four becomes available.

 

Spaces in the reserve can only be filled by a deal from the stock.

 

History

Virginia Reel is a highly strategic and interesting game invented by Albert H. Morehead and Geoffrey Mott-Smith as an improvement to the game Royal Parade.

 

Similar Games

Royal Parade

Three Up

Blue Jacket