For the rules to this game, see this video. There are many different variations people play, and I have chosen to test three of the most common:
"Pyramid Only" means that you win if you can clear the pyramid, regardless of how many cards you may still have left (Sometimes this is known as the "relaxed" version). "All cards" requires the discarding of all 52 cards (not just the pyramid), so of course this is harder.
This is fairly self-explanatory, this option determines whether the player is allowed to go through the deck just once, or an unlimited number of times.
If overlap discards are allowed, you can discard a pair of cards in the Pyramid that add up to 13, if one card in the pair is overlapped by the other (but not if it's overlapped by a second card as well). Of course, the standard discards can also be made as well.
| Discard Goal | Passes | Overlap Discards Allowed? | Games Won | Win Rate % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pyramid Only | Once | Yes | 22,773,249 | 22.77 |
| Pyramid Only | Once | No | 9,019,243 | 9.02 |
| All Cards | Once | Yes | 15,916,049 | 15.92 |
| All Cards | Once | No | 6,795,618 | 6.80 |
| Pyramid only | Unlimited | Yes | 83,151,588 | 83.15 |
| Pyramid only | Unlimited | No | 66,865,010 | 66.87 |
See the article Pyramid and Giza at Solitaire Laboratory, which includes a few additional win rates not mentioned above.
Any comments are welcome, please send to Mark Masten at:
Last modified April 17, 2022