Gaps

Gaps (Solitaire)

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A typical layout of Gaps solitaire

Gaps, also known as Montana, is a solitaire card game that is played with a standard 52-card deck. The objective of the game is to arrange the cards in four rows, each containing 13 cards, in ascending order from left to right, starting with the lowest card of each suit.

Setup

To set up the game, the player removes all the aces from the deck, leaving 48 cards. These cards are then dealt into four rows of 12 cards each. The four empty spaces left by the removed aces are the "gaps" that give the game its name.

Rules

The player can move cards into the gaps according to the following rules:

• A card can be moved into a gap if it is one rank higher than the card to the left of the gap and of the same suit.
• If a gap is at the beginning of a row, any two can be placed there.
• Once a card is moved, it creates a new gap in its previous position.

The game is won when all cards are arranged in order from two to king in each row, with each row representing a different suit.

Strategy

Successful play in Gaps requires careful planning and foresight. Players must consider the sequence of moves to avoid blocking themselves from making further progress. It is often beneficial to focus on completing one row at a time, especially if it can be done without disrupting the order of other rows.

Variations

There are several variations of Gaps, including:

• Addiction: A version where the player can shuffle the cards a limited number of times to create new gaps.
• Spaces: A variation that allows more flexibility in moving cards into gaps.

Related pages

• Solitaire
• Card game
• Patience (game)