What Is Canfield Solitaire?
Canfield Solitaire has a fascinating history — it was sold as a casino game in the 1890s by Richard Canfield. Players would buy a deck for $52 and win back $1 for every card they successfully played to the foundations. The game’s notoriously low win rate of around 30% made it very profitable for the house. What makes Canfield unique is the Reserve pile — a face-down stack of 13 cards with the top card always visible — and wrap-around foundations that start on a randomly determined rank rather than always on an Ace.
What You Need
- One standard deck of 52 playing cards
- One player
Setting Up the Game
- Deal 13 cards face-down into a pile. This is the Reserve. Flip the top card face-up — it is always available to play.
- Deal the next card face-up to the upper right. Whatever rank this card is becomes the starting rank for ALL FOUR Foundation piles. For example if this card is a 9, all four foundations start on 9.
- Deal 4 cards face-up in a row to form the Tableau — four columns.
- The remaining 35 cards form the Stock pile face-down. Leave space next to it for a Waste pile.
Understanding Wrap-Around Foundations
Each foundation starts on whatever rank was first dealt and builds upward through the suit — but wraps around when it reaches King. Example: if foundations start on 9, each pile builds: 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. The foundation is complete when it returns to 8 — one rank below the starting rank.
How to Play — Step by Step
- The top card of the Reserve is always available to play onto the Tableau or Foundation.
- On the Tableau, build columns downward in alternating colors — Red on Black, Black on Red, one rank lower each time. Example: Black 7 goes on Red 8.
- Move cards from the Tableau to the Foundation whenever possible — starting with whatever rank was established.
- When you cannot make any useful moves, flip cards from the Stock three at a time onto the Waste pile. The top card of the Waste pile is always available to play.
- When the Stock runs out, flip the Waste pile over to form a new Stock and continue. You may do this as many times as needed.
The Reserve Rule
Whenever a space opens in the four-column Tableau — meaning an entire column is cleared — it MUST be immediately filled from the Reserve pile. The next face-down Reserve card is then flipped face-up. Only when the Reserve is completely empty can a Tableau space remain empty and be filled from your hand or Waste pile.
Winning
Move all 52 cards to the four Foundation piles in their wrap-around sequence.
Tips for New Players
- Clear the Reserve as fast as possible — each card played from the Reserve reveals a new one, keeping fresh options coming.
- The forced fill rule for empty Tableau columns means you cannot park cards there freely — plan column clears only when the Reserve card showing will be useful.
- Watch the wrap-around carefully when you are close to completing a foundation — it is easy to miscalculate which rank comes next.