← Blog · 6 min read

Canfield Solitaire (Demon Patience) Explained

Canfield Solitaire is one of the oldest published solitaire variants and the only one with a clear casino origin. It was named after Richard A. Canfield, who ran a famous gambling house in Saratoga Springs in the late 1800s and offered the game as a casino bet. Today we play it for free, but the original economics give the game its punishing reputation.

The Setup

Canfield uses one standard 52-card deck. The deal:

• Tableau: Four columns of one card each.
• Reserve pile: 13 cards stacked, only the top visible.
• Foundation start: One card placed on the first foundation. This card's rank becomes the base rank for all four foundations.
• Stock: The remaining 34 cards.

Foundations build up by suit, wrapping around as needed: if the starting rank is 7, you build 7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-A-2-3-4-5-6. Tableau builds down in alternating colors. Empty tableau columns are auto-filled from the reserve.

What Makes Canfield Hard

Random starting rank

Unlike Klondike, where foundations always start on Aces (rank 1), Canfield foundations start on a random rank. If the starting rank is a 7, you need to circle the entire deck through the foundation before completing the 6 of that suit. This creates much longer chains than Klondike's straightforward A-to-K builds.

Reserve auto-fill

The 13-card reserve is your strongest asset — but only its top card is visible at a time. Emptying tableau columns auto-fills from the reserve, but you don't get to choose which card. Reserve cards arrive in fixed order, so planning around them is partial-information puzzle.

Only 4 tableau columns

Compared to Klondike's 7 columns, Canfield's 4 give you much less space for staging cards. Combined with the auto-fill rule, you can't leave columns empty as workspace.

The Casino Math

In Richard Canfield's casino:

• Cost to play: $50 per hand (one nickel per card)
• Earnings per foundation card: $5
• Break-even: 10 foundation cards per hand
• Average outcome: Players moved about 5-6 cards per hand

So the casino earned roughly $20-25 per hand on average. Canfield retired wealthy by 1907.

Win Rate

Strong play wins around 10% of Canfield hands. Optimal computer play reaches ~30%. The gap is substantial because much of Canfield depends on which reserve cards appear when — information you can't fully plan around.

Strategy

1. Prioritize emptying a tableau column. Empty columns auto-fill from the reserve, which gives you new visible cards.
2. Don't rush low cards to the foundation. Especially if the foundation starts on a low rank, you may need those low cards in the tableau as bridges.
3. Cycle the stock thoughtfully. The stock cycles indefinitely, so you can wait for specific waste cards — but each cycle takes time.
4. Read the reserve. Whatever's next in the reserve will land in your tableau soon. Plan moves around its expected arrival.

Why "Demon Patience"?

British solitaire collections in the 1880s used the name "Demon" for this game. "Patience" is the British term for solitaire. The American name "Canfield" took over in the early 20th century after Canfield's casino popularized it.

Some sources claim the "demon" name reflects the game's diabolical difficulty — most hands seem unwinnable. The British name persists in British-English card game books and traditional play.

Variant: Selective Canfield

Some modern implementations let you choose the foundation starting rank instead of randomizing it. Choose 2 or 3 to make the game much easier (more accessible cards from the start). Choose K to make it nearly impossible (you have to circle the deck for almost every card).

Play Now

Try Canfield Solitaire. Watch the foundation starting rank — it tells you which cards you'll urgently need first. If you've been playing only Klondike, Canfield will feel alien for the first 10 hands. After 30+ hands the rhythm clicks.