Klondike Solitaire

Does Klondike Solitaire have anything to do with the Klondike? Not sure but maybe it had to do with lonely gold miners occupying themselves during the long dark winters along the creeks?

(Wood engraving by John Steins)

One can imagine sitting by a coal oil lamp playing solitaire by the hour while the cold wind whistled outside.

Taking a standard 52-card deck of playing cards (without Jokers) one upturned card is dealt on the left of the playing area, then six downturned cards (from left to right). On top of the downturned cards, an upturned card is dealt on the left-most downturned pile, and downturned cards on the rest until all piles have an upturned card.

The four foundations are built up by suit from Ace to King, and the tableau piles can be built down by alternate colours, and partial or complete piles can be moved if they are built down by alternate colors also. Any empty piles can be filled with a King or a pile of cards with a King at the top.

There are different ways of dealing the remainder of the deck:

* Turning three cards at once to the waste, either allowing three passes through the deck or placing no limit on passes through the deck.
* Turning three cards at once, reversing the order of each group of three as the cards are dealt.
* Turning only one card at a time, but only passing through the deck once.
* Turning only one card at a time, but placing no limit on passes through the deck.