# Sir Tommy > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sir_Tommy > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sir_Tommy.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Tommy > Source revision: 1340505813 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Card game Sir Tommy A patience or card solitaire game Alternative names The Old Patience, Sir Tommy Patience, Try Again Type Planner Deck Single 52-card pack Playing time 5 min[1] Odds of winning 1 in 5[1] **Sir Tommy**, also called **Old Patience**, is a [patience](/source/Patience_(game)) or solitaire [card game](/source/Card_game) using a single pack of 52 [playing cards](/source/Playing_card). It is said to be the ancestor of all patiences, hence its alternative title.[2] It is a half-open, planner type of patience game in the same family of card-building games as [Calculation](/source/Calculation_(solitaire)) and [Strategy](/source/Strategy_(patience)). It is also known as **Try Again**[2] and **Numerica**. [Ednah Cheney](/source/Ednah_Cheney) (1869) calls it **Solitaire** and says "it is the simplest form of patience".[3] ## Rules Cards are dealt one at a time. When an ace turns up, it forms a foundation which builds up to King regardless of suit. Four such foundations should be built. A card that cannot yet be placed on the foundation is placed onto one of four wastepiles; once placed, it cannot be moved, but the top card of each wastepile remains available to be placed on a foundation.[2] The game is won if all cards are emptied from the wastepiles and built on the foundations. ## Strategy To achieve a win, skilled players typically reserve one wastepile for Kings and for other high cards, and trying to avoid trapping a lower-ranked card under all four cards of some higher rank. With good play, it's possible to win 1 in 5 games. ## Variants Many variants exist, including one where four cards are turned up at a time rather than one, and must all be placed before making other moves. **[Puss in the Corner](/source/Puss_in_the_Corner)** has a slightly different layout, and is a very similar game except that building happens by colour rather than suit. Closely related to Sir Tommy are **Auld Lang Syne**[4] and **Tam O'Shanter**, both of which are considered nearly impossible to win; **Old Fashioned** and **Acquaintance** are both slightly easier versions of Auld Lang Syne. In the less flexible **Alternate**, the foundations are built in alternate colors, building one upwards, and the other downwards. Building happens by colour in the variant **[Colours](/source/Colours_(solitaire))**, with six waste-piles making the game easier. **Strategy** is a Sir Tommy variant invented by [Albert H. Morehead](/source/Albert_H._Morehead) and [Geoffrey Mott-Smith](/source/Geoffrey_Mott-Smith), and uses eight tableau piles to make the game much easier. **Last Chance** is also easier courtesy of seven tableau piles and a reserve pile.[5] The popular patience game **[Calculation](/source/Calculation_(solitaire))** is also derivative from Sir Tommy, and changes the goal to place cards on the foundations by increasing ranks of 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively, and is a game of great skill. ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-MMS54_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-MMS54_1-1) Morehead & Mott-Smith (2001), p. 54. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Parlett_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Parlett_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Parlett_2-2) Parlett (1979), p. 214. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Cheney (1869), p. 2. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** "Auld Lang Syne" (p.17) in *The Little Book of Solitaire*, Running Press, 2002. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7624-1381-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7624-1381-6) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Morehead & Mott-Smith (2001), pp. 99–100. ## Literature - [Cheney, Mrs. E. D.](/source/Cheney%2C_Mrs._E._D.) (1869). *Patience: A Series of Games with Cards.* 2nd edn, with additions. Boston: Lee & Shepard. NY: Lee, Shepard & Dillingham. - [Parlett, David Sidney](/source/Parlett%2C_David_Sidney) (1979). [*The Penguin Book of Patience*](https://archive.org/details/penguinbookofpat0000parl). London: A. Lane [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7139-1193-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7139-1193-X) [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [6633144](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/6633144) - [Pole, W.](/source/William_Pole) (1875). "Games at Cards for One Player" in *[Macmillan’s Magazine](/source/Macmillan%E2%80%99s_Magazine)*. January 1875, Toronto: Robarts. pp. 242 ff. Account of "The Old Patience". - [Morehead, Albert H.](/source/Morehead%2C_Albert_H.) and [Geoffrey Mott-Smith](/source/Geoffrey_Mott-Smith) (2001) [*The Complete Book of Solitaire and Patience*](https://archive.org/details/completebookofso0000more). Slough: Foulsham [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [1357504346](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1357504346) - [Whitmore Jones, Mary](/source/Whitmore_Jones%2C_Mary) (1888,90). "Old Tommy Patience" in *Games of Patience for One or More Players*. 1st Series. London: L. Upcott Gill. pp. 9–10. ## See also - [Calculation](/source/Calculation_(solitaire)) - [Puss in the Corner](/source/Puss_in_the_Corner) - [Colours](/source/Colours_(solitaire)) - [List of solitaires](/source/List_of_solitaires) - [Glossary of solitaire](/source/Glossary_of_solitaire) v t e Solitaire (patience) by type - (list, glossary) Closed games Simple builders Amazons Auld Lang Syne Birthday The Clock Clock Cotillion (Contradance) Leoni's Own Musical (Betsy Ross, Fairest, Four Kings, Plus Belle, Quadruple Alliance) Precedence Quadrille (La Française; Captive Queens) Reserved builders Carpet Eagle Wing Golf Duchess of Luynes (Grand Duchess) Queen's/King's Audience Matrimony Monte Carlo Moojub Odd and Even Patriarchs Pyramid Royal Cotillion Royal Rendezvous Sultan (Emperor of Germany) Tri Peaks Windmill Simple packers Batsford Big Ben British Constitution British Square Congress Corona Deauville Deuces Diplomat Emperor Following Fortune's Favor Four Seasons Gargantua Herring-Bone Klondike Napoleon at St Helena (Forty Thieves) Napoleon's Square Red and Black Westcliff Reserved packers Acme Alhambra American Toad Backbone Canfield Casket Crazy Quilt Duchess Gate The Plot Queen of Italy (Terrace) Seven Devils Closed non-builders Accordion Aces Up Baroness (Five Piles, Thirteens) Decade Eight Cards Elevens Frustration Good Thirteen Herz zu Herz Hit or Miss Hope Deferred Nidgi Novgorod Perpetual Motion (Narcotic) Royal Flush Royal Marriage Travellers (Four of a Kind, Hidden Cards, Hide & Seek, Spoilt, Wandering Card) Half-open games Builders Interregnum Royal Parade Tournament Virginia Reel Blockades Babette British Blockade Labyrinth Planners Calculation Colorado Colours Cribbage Squares Frog Imaginary Thirteen Jubilee Poker Squares Puss in the Corner Rosamund's Bower Sir Tommy Packers Agnes Algerian Blockade Box Kite Bristol Four Corners Heads and Tails Intelligence Martha Miss Milligan Mount Olympus Pyramide Russian Solitaire St. Helena Stonewall Yukon Zodiac Spiders German Patience Rouge et Noir Scorpion Simple Simon Spider Open games Open builders Archway Black Hole Crescent Intrigue Salic Law Stalactites Open packers Baker's Dozen Baker's Game Beleaguered Castle Bisley Capricieuse Eight Off Flower Garden (Bouquet) Fortress FreeCell Grandfather's Clock House in the Woods King Albert La Belle Lucie Mrs. Mop Päckchen Penguin Persian Russian Patience Seahaven Towers Shamrocks Open non-builders Fourteen Out Gaps (Montana) Gay Gordons (Exit) Maze Nestor Competitive games Australian Patience Double Klondike (Double Solitaire) Kings in the Corner Nerts (Pounce, Racing Demon) Russian Bank (Crapette) Speed Spite and Malice Spit --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sir Tommy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Tommy) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Tommy?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.