ABSTRACT
The Sultan is played with two full packs of cards shuffled together; the eight kings and the ace of hearts are taken out, and arranged on the table as follows: — a king of hearts in the centre, with a king of diamonds on each side of it; above the heart the ace of hearts, and above the two diamonds the two kings of clubs; below the first king of hearts the other king of the same suit, and on either side of this a king of spades. This done, the first eight cards of the combined packs are dealt face upwards, four on each side of these, cross-ways, but in vertical lines; these latter are known as the “Divan.” The lay-out is now complete and the game can start, the object being to build on the kings and the ace in ascending sequence, so that at the end the central king—which remains uncovered throughout the game—is surrounded by the eight suits, on top of each of which is a queen. On the kings you start building with the aces of the same suit, and on the ace of hearts with the two.
