Card Game Glossary: Terms Used on Card Lounge

Card games come with their own vocabulary. These are the terms used in the games, guides and articles on Card Lounge, listed alphabetically with a note on where each one applies. For the controls themselves, see How to play.

A to D

Alternating colours

Building so that each card is the opposite colour to the card it sits on, such as a red 9 on a black 10. Clubs and spades are black; diamonds and hearts are red. Klondike, FreeCell and Yukon all build their tableaus in alternating colours.

Available card

A card that can be played right now because nothing covers it. In Pyramid a card is available when no card in the row below overlaps it, and the top waste card is available too. Also called an exposed card.

Chain

In TriPeaks, the number of peak cards played in a row without drawing from the stock. The longest chain of the round is shown on screen.

Deal number

The number shown with every deal. Cards are shuffled with a seeded generator, so a deal can be replayed from its number. FreeCell deals are numbered 1 to 32000.

E to H

Exposed card

Another name for an available card: one that is face up and not covered by any other card.

Foundation

A pile where cards are collected to win the game. In Klondike, FreeCell and Yukon there are four foundations, each built up by suit from Ace to King. In Spider, each complete King-to-Ace run of one suit is removed to the foundation automatically.

Free cell

In FreeCell, one of four spaces that each hold a single card. Free cells give you room to rearrange the columns, and every empty one increases how many cards the game can move in one go.

Hard total

In Blackjack, a hand total in which no Ace is counted as 11, either because the hand has no Ace or because counting one as 11 would take the total over 21.

P to S

Pair

In Pyramid, two available cards whose ranks add up to 13, such as a 6 and a 7. In Memory Pairs, two cards of the same rank and the same colour, such as 7♥ and 7♦.

Push

In Blackjack, a result where neither side wins and your bet is returned. If you and the dealer both have blackjack, the hand is a push.

Recycle

Turning the waste back over to form a new stock once the stock is empty. Klondike allows unlimited recycles, Pyramid allows two (three passes in total), and TriPeaks and Golf allow none. Each recycle counts as a move.

Run

A group of cards in descending order in a column. In Klondike a run must alternate colours to move together; in Spider it must be one suit. In Yukon any face-up card can move with the cards on top of it, whether they form a run or not.

Seed

The starting value given to the shuffle generator. The same seed produces the same shuffle, which is what makes a deal repeatable.

Shoe

In Blackjack, several decks shuffled together and dealt from as one. Card Lounge uses a six-deck shoe and reshuffles it when fewer than 78 cards remain.

Soft total

In Blackjack, a hand total in which an Ace is counted as 11, such as an Ace and a 6 making soft 17. The dealer stands on all 17s, including soft 17.

Stock

The face-down pile of cards left over after the deal, from which you draw. Klondike, Spider, Pyramid, TriPeaks and Golf have a stock; FreeCell and Yukon do not.

Streak

In Higher or Lower, the number of correct guesses in a row. A tie neither adds to it nor ends it, and a streak of 10 wins the round.

T to W

Tableau

The main playing area, where cards are dealt into columns, a pyramid or peaks, and where most of your moves happen.

Waste

The face-up pile that drawn cards are turned onto. In Klondike and Pyramid only the top waste card can be played. In TriPeaks and Golf the waste is where you play cards to, and its top card decides what can go next.