Gaps
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gaps is a member of the Montana group of solitaire card games, where the arrangement of cards from Deuce (a Two card) to King is the object. Other games in the group include Spaces, Vacancies, Clown Solitaire, Montana itself, and Blue Moon.
The game starts with all cards dealt on the tableau into four rows of thirteen. The aces are removed and discarded from further play. The gaps that they leave behind are filled by cards that are the same suit and a rank higher than the card on the left of the gap. (For example, 4♣ can be placed beside 3♣.) However, any gap at the right of a King is considered dead and no card can fill it.
Any gap on the left hand side of the row should be placed by a deuce and the row should be built up by suit beside the deuce (i. e. 2-3-4-5, etc.). It is the discretion of the player on which suit would occupy which row.
When there are no more possible moves, the round is over. The cards that are not in order are gathered, making sure to leave any suit sequence (e.g., ♥2-3-4-5) behind. In Montana and Spaces, the cards are then shuffled; in Gaps, they are not. The cards are then redealt, making sure there is a gap in each row at the immediate right of each suit sequence or at the extreme left of the row if no suit sequence is formed in that row. There are only three rounds in the usual rules. But some variants allow four, and some have no limit.
The game is won when all 48 cards are arranged in numerical order and in suits, with the gaps of each row beside the Kings at the extreme right hand of the row. The probability of winning depends on which rules are followed. In Spaces, where the cards are shuffled after each round and the rounds are limited to three, an experienced player will win perhaps one game in 20. In Gaps (cards are not shuffled, but the limit of three rounds remains), one win in seven games may be expected. If the number of rounds is not limited, winning is just a matter of time, whether the cards are shuffled or not.
A software implementation of this game was created by Tim Lister in 1987, and submitted to the Usenet group comp.sources.unix -- [1]. An updated implementation by Eric Raymond is also available -- [2]. Montana, Blue Moon, Spaces and several other members of the family (but not Gaps itself) are included in the solitaire software package Pysol, which is included in many Linux distributions -- [3]. BVS Solitaire Collection includes Gaps and other members of the family (Maze, Spaces and Aces, Gallery) -- [4]
There are two variants of this game.
One variant is called Addiction Solitare, a game developed by GameHouse for Yahoo! Games. This game is played exactly as Gaps except that there are three reshuffles rather than the standard two and the aces can be used in each reshuffle and redeal to create any gaps. The game is so-called probably because of the addiction that can be brought out by the low chance of winning the game.
Another variant is called Spaces and Aces, invented by Robert Harbin. The aces in this game are placed at one side of each row. Any gap that is immediately at the right of the ace must be placed with a deuce of the same suit as the ace and the suit sequence would be built up from there. Any other gaps are filled by cards that are the same suit and at least a rank higher than cards at the left of the gaps. There are no redeals in this variant.
See also: solitaire terminology
