Gate is a patience or card solitaire game played using a pack of 52 playing cards, and is a member of the Canfield family. It gets its name because the cards are laid out in such a way that they form a gate. Average players can expect to win 99% of their games.
First, two columns of five cards are dealt face up. These act as the reserve or "gate posts." Then, between these columns, two rows of four cards are dealt, again face-up. These compose the "rails" or the tableau. The spaces for the foundations are allotted over the first row of cards.
The object of the game, as in many patience or solitaire games, is to find the aces, place then onto the foundations, and build each of them up by suit to kings.
The cards in the rails are available for play, to be placed on the foundations or onto other cards in the rail. The cards in the rails are built down by alternating colour (a card with a red suit over a one with a black suit, and vice versa). Spaces in the rails are filled using cards from the gate posts. If the cards in the gate posts are used up, the top card of the wastepile, or the next card in the stock if there is no wastepile, can be used to fill spaces. The gate posts are never replenished.
Generally, one card can be moved at a time, and the most prevalent rule regarding moves of sequences is that these can be moved as a whole.
The stock can be dealt one card at a time to a wastepile. The top card of which is available for play, either to be placed in on the foundations or on the rails, or to fill a gap on the rails. However, once the stock runs out, there are no redeals.
The game ends soon after the stock runs out. The patience is out when all cards are played to the foundations.
Several variant ways of playing Gate Solitaire exist, including rules about which cards can be moved, and whether a redeal can be added. One common rule-set disallows moving sequences of cards, effectively making the game harder. [1]
Games of patience, or (card) solitaires as they are usually called in North America, have their own 'language' of specialised terms such as "building down", "packing", "foundations", "talon" and "tableau". Once learnt they are helpful in describing, succinctly and accurately, how the games are played. Patience games are usually for a single player, although a small number have been designed for two and, in rare cases, three or even four players. They are games of skill or chance or a combination of the two. There are three classes of patience grouped by object.
Klondike, also known as Canfield, is a card game for one player and the best known and most popular version of the patience or solitaire family, something which "defies explanation" as it has one of the lowest rates of success of any such game. Partly because of that, it has spawned numerous variants including Batsford, Easthaven, King Albert, Thumb and Pouch, Somerset or Usk and Whitehead, as well as the American variants of the games, Agnes and Westcliff. The distinguishing feature of all variants is a triangular layout of the tableau, building in ascending sequence and packing in descending order.
Canfield (US) or Demon (UK) is a patience or solitaire card game with a very low probability of winning. It is an English game first called Demon Patience and described as "the best game for one pack that has yet been invented". It was popularised in the United States in the early 20th century as a result of a story that casino owner Richard A. Canfield had turned it into a gambling game, although it may actually have been Klondike and not Demon that was played at his casino. As a result it became known as Canfield in the United States, while continuing to be called Demon Patience in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. It is closely related to Klondike, and is one of the most popular games of its type.
Crazy Quilt is a patience or solitaire card game using two decks of 52 playing cards each. The game is so-called because the reserve resembles the weaves of a carpet or an arrangement of a quilt, with cards alternating vertical and horizontal rotations.
Eagle Wing is a Patience game which is played with a deck of 52 playing cards. The game takes its name from the tableau which depicts an eagle-like bird spreading its wings in flight. It is somewhat related to the Canfield variant Storehouse.
Red and Black is a patience or card solitaire which uses two decks of playing cards. The game is so called because all building is done in alternating colors of red and black. It is not related to another similarly named solitaire game of Rouge et Noir, although Red and Black can also be known under that name. It is part of the Napoleon at St Helena family of patiences and solitaires.
Queen of Italy is a patience or card solitaire game played with two packs of playing cards. It is a very strategic game that rewards careful planning, since the cards that potentially block the game are presented at the start, and with care it can be completed about half the number of attempts.
Duchess or Glenwood is a patience or solitaire card game which uses a deck of 52 playing cards. It has all four typical features of a traditional patience or solitaire game: a tableau, a reserve, a stock or talon and a wastepile. It is relatively easy to get out. It is a reserved packer, the same type of game as Canfield or Demon. Arnold describes it as "an interesting game with a fair chance of a favourable outcome."
Babette is a solitaire card game that uses two decks of playing cards shuffled together, with game play similar to that of the game Labyrinth.
Westcliff is the name of two closely-related patience or card solitaire games of the simple packer type, both of which are played using a deck of 52 playing cards. One version is particularly easy to win, with odds of 9 in 10; the other is harder with odds closer to 1 in 4. The game has a variant, Easthaven.
Miss Milligan is a patience game which is played using two decks of playing cards, and is one of the most popular of the double-deck games. According to Peter Arnold, author of Card Games for One, this classic game's enduring popularity is in part due to its amazing tendency to enable complete recovery from seemingly hopeless positions. Winning chances with good play are about 1 in 20 games.
Odd and Even is a solitaire card game which is played with two decks of playing cards. It is so called because the building is done in twos, resulting in odd and even numbers.
Deuces or Twos is a patience or card solitaire game of English origin which is played with two packs of playing cards. It is so called because each foundation starts with a Deuce, or Two. It belongs to a family of card games that includes Busy Aces, which is derived in turn from Napoleon at St Helena.
The Plot is a Patience game which is played with two decks of playing cards.
Four Seasons is a patience or card solitaire which is played with a single deck of playing cards. It is also known as Corner Card and Vanishing Cross, due to the arrangement of the foundations and the tableau respectively. Another alternate name is Cross Currents.
Patriarchs is a patience or card solitaire which is played with two packs of playing cards. It is similar in reserve layout to Odd and Even but with different rules of play.
Frog is an old French patience or solitaire card game which is played with two decks of playing cards. It belongs to the same family of solitaire games as Strategy, Sir Tommy, Calculation, and Puss in the Corner. Game-play is like Sir Tommy, but with two decks, a fifth waste pile, and a Canfield-like reserve. In its native France it is known as Le Crapaud.
Zodiac is a solitaire card game which is played with two decks of playing cards shuffled together. An old game, it first appeared in Lady Adelaide Cadogan's book Illustrated Games of Patience. It is so-named probably because of its "globe"-shaped layout. It had many variations until its rules were standardized in 1914.
Following is a patience or card solitaire that uses a single pack of playing cards. It is so called because a player has to follow a rotation of suits. It was first described in 1892 in Games of Patience by Mary Whitmore Jones and has since appeared in other books and software.
Six By Six is a solitaire card game played with a standard set of 52 playing cards.
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