Pyramid Solitaire Setup  

Before you can conquer the pyramid, you must first build it.

Let’s lay the foundation for your card empire:

To begin setting up Pyramid Solitaire, ensure you have a standard 52-card deck without jokers.

The setup process involves a few straightforward steps:

• Shuffle the Deck: Make sure the cards are thoroughly mixed to ensure a fair game.
• Form the Pyramid: Deal cards face up to form a pyramid. Start with a single card at the top, then place two cards slightly overlapping below the first, and continue in this manner until you have a base row of seven cards. This creates a pyramid of 28 cards in total.
• Prepare the Draw Pile: The remaining cards after forming the pyramid are placed face down to the side. This stack forms the draw pile, which you will use during the game to add cards to your play.

Each card in the pyramid, except for those in the bottom row, is blocked by two cards directly beneath it.

Three piles are placed at the bottom of the pyramid:

• Foundation Pile: The foundation pile is where players place cards that total 13 and are removed from the pyramid. It’s sometimes referred to as the “waste pile.”
• Draw Pile: The draw pile faces down and consists of the remaining cards that are not initially dealt into the pyramid. Players can draw cards from the draw pile to help create pairs with the cards in the pyramid. The draw pile can be played a total of three times (initial run plus two replenishes), and is crucial for keeping options open as the game progresses.
• Play Pile: The play pile refers to any cards that are revealed from the draw pile during gameplay. Any face-up card on the top of the play pile can be played at any time, either by itself (if a king) or by pairing with another card on the pyramid. Played cards are then moved to the foundation pile.