What Is Double Canfield?
Double Canfield is the two-deck version of Canfield Solitaire. It keeps everything that makes Canfield distinctive — the 13-card Reserve, foundations that start on a random rank and wrap around, and the rule that empty columns must be filled from the Reserve — but with 104 cards, eight foundations, and a five-column tableau. The extra deck makes it noticeably easier to win than single-deck Canfield, which is one reason it is a favorite in solitaire apps.
What You Need
- Two standard 52-card decks shuffled together (104 cards, no Jokers)
- One player
- A large table — you need room for 8 foundation piles and 5 tableau columns
Setting Up the Game
- Deal 13 cards face-down into a single pile. This is the Reserve. Turn its top card face-up.
- Deal the next card face-up to the first of the eight Foundation spaces. Its rank is the starting rank for all eight foundations. If it is a 5, every foundation will start on a 5.
- Deal 5 cards face-up in a row below the foundations. These are the Tableau columns.
- The remaining 85 cards form the Stock, face-down. Leave room beside it for the Waste pile.
Double Canfield Rules
Foundations
Build each of the eight foundations up in suit, starting from the base rank and wrapping around from King to Ace. If the base rank is 5, a foundation runs 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A, 2, 3, 4. Because there are two decks, you will build two foundations in each suit. As soon as another card of the base rank appears, move it to an empty foundation space.
Tableau
- Build the five tableau columns down in alternating colors: a red 7 on a black 8, a black 6 on that red 7, and so on.
- Building wraps around too — an Ace can go on a 2, and a King can go on an Ace.
- You may move a whole packed sequence from one column to another as a unit, but only the entire sequence — you cannot split it and move part of it.
- The top card of any column is always available to play to a foundation.
The Reserve
- The top card of the Reserve is always available to play to a foundation or a tableau column.
- When a tableau column becomes completely empty, it must be filled immediately with the top card of the Reserve.
- Once the Reserve is used up, empty columns may be filled with any available card from the Waste pile (or left empty until you want to use them).
Stock and Waste
- When you run out of moves, turn cards from the Stock onto the Waste pile three at a time. Only the top card of the Waste is available.
- When the Stock is empty, turn the Waste pile over (without shuffling) to form a new Stock and keep going. There is no limit to the number of times you may go through the Stock.
How to Play — Step by Step
- Look for any card of the base rank on the tableau, Reserve, or Waste and move it to an empty foundation space.
- Play whatever you can from the tableau and the top of the Reserve onto the foundations.
- Build tableau columns down in alternating colors to free up cards underneath and to bring Reserve cards into play.
- When you are stuck, deal three cards from the Stock to the Waste and play from the top of the Waste.
- Keep cycling through the Stock, filling any empty columns from the Reserve, until you either win or reach a point where a full pass through the Stock produces no playable card.
Winning
You win when all 104 cards have been moved to the eight foundations, each one a complete 13-card wrap-around run in a single suit.
Double Canfield vs. Canfield
| Canfield | Double Canfield | |
|---|---|---|
| Decks | 1 (52 cards) | 2 (104 cards) |
| Reserve | 13 cards | 13 cards |
| Tableau columns | 4 | 5 |
| Foundations | 4 | 8 |
| Deal from Stock | 3 at a time, unlimited passes | 3 at a time, unlimited passes |
| Base rank | Set by first foundation card | Set by first foundation card |
| Typical win rate | Low (roughly 1 in 3 or less) | Much higher |
Tips for New Players
- Work the Reserve first. Every card you play from it uncovers another, and an empty Reserve is what turns the empty-column rule from a restriction into a tool.
- Don’t rush to fill an empty column from the Waste after the Reserve is gone. An open column is the most flexible spot on the table — save it for a card that unlocks a long sequence.
- Remember the wrap-around when scanning for moves: a black King can go on a red Ace in the tableau, and a Queen goes on a King on the foundation only if the base rank is King.
- Because there are two of every card, don’t panic when a needed card is buried — the other copy may turn up in the Stock.