What is No King–Ace wrap?
In the standard game here the ranks go round the corner: a King and an Ace count as next to each other, so you can play an Ace on a King, a King on an Ace, and keep a run going from Queen to King to Ace to 2.
Without the wrap, the ranks run in a straight line from Ace to King. Only a Queen can go on a King, and only a 2 can go on an Ace. When a King or an Ace reaches the waste pile, your next play has to come from the one rank beside it, or you turn the stock.
Everything else stays the same: the deal of three peaks, the single pass through the stock, the scoring for runs and peaks, and the end of the game when every peak card is cleared or no move is left. Losing the corner removes plays, so more deals end with cards still in the peaks.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Tri Peaks Solitaire | No King–Ace wrap |
|---|---|---|
| On a King | Standard Tri Peaks SolitaireA Queen or an Ace. | No King–Ace wrapOnly a Queen. |
| On an Ace | Standard Tri Peaks SolitaireA 2 or a King. | No King–Ace wrapOnly a 2. |
| Runs | Standard Tri Peaks SolitaireCan turn the corner, for example Queen, King, Ace, 2. | No King–Ace wrapStop at the ends: going up a run ends at the King, going down it ends at the Ace. |
| Difficulty | Standard Tri Peaks SolitaireThe usual game. | No King–Ace wrapHarder: fewer cards fit on a King or an Ace, so runs are shorter and you turn the stock more often. |
| Deal, stock, scoring and end | Standard Tri Peaks SolitaireThree peaks of 28 cards, one pass through the stock, streak and peak scoring, won when the peaks are cleared. | No King–Ace wrapThe same. |
History
Published rules for Tri Peaks differ on this point. Some descriptions build up or down round the corner, so a Queen or an Ace may follow a King; others only speak of playing a card one rank higher or lower and leave the corner out. The standard game here follows the first, and this setting plays the second.
The same choice comes up in Golf, a closely related patience in which cards also go one up or one down onto a single waste pile. Its strict rules allow no wrap, and the form that lets a King and an Ace follow each other is often called Putt Putt.