Each player shuffles their own deck, and deals ten cards face down into a pile in front of them. They flip the top card face up, this pile is the stock. They then place four cards face up in a row next to the stock -this is the start of the tableau. Leave space in the middle of the table for the foundation piles.
Nerts is a form of competitive solitaire. Each player is working to deplete their own stock. Aces can be placed in the middle of the table to start foundation piles, which are shared by all players and built up A->K in suit. Tableau piles belong to each player individually, they are built down in rank, alternating color. Groups of cards can be moved from one tableau pile to another as long as they are in sequence. As soon as there is a vacancy in the tableau, it must be filled by the top card of the stock (which is always face up). They player may go through their deck three at a time, placing the cards face up into their wastepile. The top card of the wastepile (as well as the top card of the stock) are available for play on the tableau or foundations.
As soon as one player depletes their stock, they say "nerts," and all players must stop immediately. Each player receives one point per card they played to foundations, then they lose two points for every card left in their stock. A game can be played as a set number of rounds or until a player reaches a set score.
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