Canfield (US) or Demon (UK) is a

patience (or forbearance) is the ability to endure difficult circumstances. Patience may involve perseverance in the face of delay; tolerance of provocation without responding in disrespect/anger; or forbearance when under strain, especially when face ...

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.

History

The game is first recorded in 1891 in England by

Henrietta Stannard Henrietta Eliza Vaughan Stannard (née Palmer; 1856–1911) writing under the pseudonym of John Strange Winter, was a British novelist. She was founding president of the Writers' Club in 1892, and president of the Society of Women Journalists in ...

's 1895 novel, ''A Magnificent Young Man'', Mrs. Bladenbrook invites the curate to "show me this wonderful new game of yours". He fails to get it out declaring, "Ah, it is no use." Mrs. Bladenbrook asks, "But you are nearly done?" "But I am not quite done," replies the curate, "that is where the demon comes in. It is well called 'Demon Patience'. I have often tried a dozen times to do it, and failed each time when it has seemed just within my grasp. Believe me... it is the one form of Patience which puts all the others into the shade; it is the one form of which one never tires; it is always interesting, always fresh, always tantalizing." A 1910 publication of ''Fry's Magazine'' edited by

C.B. Fry Charles Burgess Fry (25 April 1872 – 7 September 1956) was an English sportsman, teacher, writer, editor and publisher, who is best remembered for his career as a cricketer. John Arlott described him with the words: "Charles Fry could b ...

confirms that the game is called Demon patience "because the player is so often beaten by the awkward position of a single card which avoids any appearance at the critical period in a perverse manner which at times is quite demoniacal." The game travelled rapidly to America. In 1894, noted gambler Richard A. Canfield, took over the

Clubhouse Clubhouse may refer to: Locations * The meetinghouse of: ** A club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal ** In the United States, a country club ** In the United Kingdom, a gentlemen's club * A ...

Saratoga Springs, New York Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...

. Some time after 1900, he encouraged gamblers to "buy" a deck of cards. Some sources say the cost was $50, others say it was $52. The gambler would then play a game of solitaire and earn $5 for every card they managed to place into the foundations; if a player was fortunate enough to place all 52 cards into the foundations, the player would win $500. or $1000. On average players made a loss of about five to six cards per game. Canfield offered it as a novelty but it never really took off. The main reasons were the fact that a single game duration took longer than an average casino game and for every gambler playing a game Canfield needed to hire a

croupier A croupier or dealer is someone appointed at a gambling table to assist in the conduct of the game, especially in the distribution of bets and payouts. Croupiers are typically employed by casinos. Origin of the word Originally a "croupier" meant ...

. In 1907, Canfield sold the casino to the City of Saratoga Springs "at quite a loss". Sources differ over precisely which game Canfield actually used. He himself called the game "Klondike", but some of the earliest known rules for Klondike go under the name of Canfield. For example, in 1908, George Hapgood's work contains rules for "Demon Patience", plagiarised from Whitmore Jones and describing what is now called Canfield in America, and rules for "Canfield" which describe what is now called Klondike. Confusion subsequently arose because the name Canfield was transferred in North American circles to the British game of Demon, while Britain followed early American sources in giving the name Canfield to the game now known in America as Klondike. More recently, it has been argued that the game originally played at the casino was in fact Klondike, and not the one known in the US today as Canfield.Keller, Michael.
"What game was played at Canfield's Casino?"
''Solitaire Laboratory'', 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2020.

Method of play

To play the game, one must first deal thirteen cards face down into one packet and then turn the top card up. These cards form a

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

called the "demon", the top card of which is

available In reliability engineering, the term availability has the following meanings: * The degree to which a system, subsystem or equipment is in a specified operable and committable state at the start of a mission, when the mission is called for at a ...

for

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

. The next card is dealt on the first of a row of four foundations to the right of the reserve. This card is the first

foundation card 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 des ...

or base card; the remaining three (currently empty) foundations must be started with a card of the same

rank Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * ...

as their base. Finally, one card is dealt to each of four piles which form a row under the foundations. This is the

tableau Tableau (French for 'little table' literally, also used to mean 'picture'; tableaux or, rarely, tableaus) may refer to: Arts * ''Tableau'', a series of four paintings by Piet Mondrian titled '' Tableau I'' through to ''Tableau IV'' * ''Tableau vi ...

and the cards remaining in the hand form the stock.Parlett (1979), pp. 149–150. Cards on the tableau are

packed Data structure alignment is the way data is arranged and accessed in computer memory. It consists of three separate but related issues: data alignment, data structure padding, and packing. The CPU in modern computer hardware performs reads and ...

in descending order and

alternating colour 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 des ...

turning the corner 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 des ...

from Ace to King if need be; while the foundations are

built up 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 des ...

in suit sequence,

wrapping Wrapping may refer to: *Buddy wrapping, the act of bandaging a damaged (particularly a fractured) finger or toe together with a healthy one *Overwrap, a wrapping of items in a package of a wrapping over packaging *Wrapping (graphics), the process ...

from King to Ace if necessary. Cards from the stock are dealt, in packets of three and face up, to a

waste pile 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 de ...

. After each packet of three is dealt, the top card of the waste pile is played to a foundation pile or the tableau if possible and in accordance with these rules. The top card of the reserve must be used to whenever possible to fill any gaps on the tableau or build on a foundation; in case the reserve is used up, it may be filled from cards from the waste pile. Cards may be moved between tableau piles either individually or as a complete sequence, provided the entire column is moved. One can make unlimited re-deals as long as there are moves, although Richard Canfield himself restricted the number of times that gamblers could re-deal the stock. The game is won when all cards are placed in the foundations.

Variants

Some variants of the game include: *Chameleon, where the reserve only has 12 cards, and there are only three tableau columns. Building in the tableau is down, regardless of suit, and the stock is dealt one at a time with no redeals. All or any cards may be moved from the end of one tableau pile to another. *Rainbow, in which the tableau builds down regardless of suit. Cards are turned one at a time and no redeals are allowed (in some sources one can deal from the stock one card at a time and two redeals are allowed in this game). *Selective Canfield, where one can deal five cards right after the reserve is dealt. One can place any one of these five into the foundations and the remaining four cards become the tableau. *Storehouse (Reserve or Thirteen Up), in which one should remove the deuces (twos) and place them on the foundations. The reserve and the cards on the tableau are then dealt. The stock is dealt one card at a time, and it can be used only twice. Furthermore, the method of building in this game is by suit. The Storehouse variant makes the game easier than Canfield. *Superior Canfield, where the entire reserve is visible, and gaps can be filled by any card, not just those from the reserve. *

Eagle Wing Eagle Wing (otherwise known as Thirteen Down) 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 ...

(Thirteen Down): similar to Storehouse. *Variegated Demon: double pack game in which Aces are always the base cards and there is a tableau of five cards. Sequences or single cards may be moved and there are two redeals. Other closely related solitaire games include

Duchess Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

and the two-deck game

American Toad The American toad (''Anaxyrus americanus'') is a common species of toad found throughout Canada and the eastern United States. It is divided into three subspecies: the eastern American toad (''A. a. americanus''), the dwarf American toad (''A. a ...

. Beehive is a much simpler solitaire game that uses a Storehouse layout, but requires players to match cards of the same value, and is geared towards children. Racing Demon, an English game known as Nerts or Pounce in the US, is a real-time variation of Canfield that enables the game to be played competitively between multiple players. It was the inspiration for the commercially produced Dutch Blitz and

Ligretto ''Ligretto'' is a card game for two to twelve players. The aim of the game is to get rid of all your cards faster than all the other players by discarding them in the middle of the table. Instead of taking turns, all players play simultaneously. ...

Solvability

Under the standard rules using a three card draw, Canfield can't be completed successfully very often. Running a computer solver on 50,000 random Canfield deals has shown that about 71% of all games are winnable. In the average game, 39.9 cards were able to be moved to the foundation. Because the reserve cards are hidden, and because the three-at-a-time dealing of cards from the stock means that cards played early in the game can impact which stock cards are available much later, it is very difficult by normal playing standards to come anywhere near theoretically possible win rates. This would make it plausible for expert-level players to claim win rates of around 35%. In the Storehouse variant, the maximum possible win rate drops to about 44%. In practice, however, Storehouse is a much easier game to win, likely due to getting all four foundations at the start of the game. Most players will be able to win close to 44% of their games, regardless of skill level, a much higher win rate than is usually achieved by casual players of Canfield.

Footnotes

References

Literature

* _ (1998), ''Little Giant Encyclopedia of Games for One or Two'', Diagram Group. * Arnold, Peter (2010). ''The Complete Book of Card Games''. Hamlyn Publishing. * Bathe, N.A.C. (2004). ''Card & Dice Games''. Robert Frederick. * Craze, Richard (1995). ''The Playing Card Kit''. Simon & Schuster. * "Devonia" [pseudo. for

Mary Whitmore Jones Mary Elizabeth Whitmore Jones ( 1823 – 1915) was an English author and the first female heir of Chastleton House. She was unmarried and did not have any children."Demon Patience"
in '' Bazaar, Exchange and Mart''. 27 April 1891. London: Bradley. * Fry, C.B. (1910)
''Fry's Magazine: The Illustrated Monthly of Sport, Travel and Outdoor Life''
Vol. 12. G. Newnes. * Galt, David (1999). ''101 Great Card Games'', Publications International. * Hapgood, George (1908). "Demon Patience" in ''Solitaire and Patience''. Philadelphia: Penn. pp. 37 ff. "Canfield", actually modern Klondike, is also described at pp. 180 ff. * Kansil, Joli Quentin, ed. (1999). ''Bicycle Official Rules of Card Games''. * Morehead, Philip D., ed. (2001). ''Hoyle's Rules of Games'', 3rd edn. * Morehead, Albert and

Geoffrey Mott-Smith The Mott-Smith Trophy, named for writer and cryptographer Geoffrey Mott-Smith, is awarded to the player with the best overall individual performance in the Spring Nationals, the spring event of the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North Amer ...

. (2001). ''The Complete Book of Solitaire and Patience''. Slough: Foulsham. *

Parlett, David David Parlett (born 18 May 1939 in London) is a games scholar, historian, and translator from South London, who has studied both card games and board games. He is the president of the British Skat Association. His published works include many po ...

(1987). ''The Penguin Book of Card Games''. Treasure Press. * Winter, John Strange seud. for Henrietta Stannard(1895)
''A Magnificent Young Man''
Philadelphia: Lippincott. * * Whitmore Jones, Mary (1892). ''Games of Patience for One or More Players''. 3rd Series. London: L. Upcott Gill.