Baker's Dozen

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Words you need
3. Setup
4. Playing
5. End of the game
6. Tips for beginners
7. Variants

Overview

Baker's Dozen is a patience (also called solitaire) – a card game for one player. All 52 cards are dealt face up into 13 columns, so you can see every card from the start. By moving cards from column to column you dig out the Aces and then stack each suit in order from Ace to King. If you get all 52 cards onto these four stacks, you have won.

The name comes from the 13 columns: a "baker's dozen" is an old word for thirteen.

• Players: 1.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck without jokers and a table with room for 13 columns of cards.
• Time: about 15 minutes per game. With careful play you will win roughly every second game or more.

Words you need

• Column: a row of cards laid downwards, each card overlapping the one before it so that you can still read all of them.
• Top card: the last card of a column – the one lying fully uncovered at the bottom end, nearest to you. Only top cards can be moved.
• Tableau: the 13 columns together.
• Foundation: one of four piles above the tableau, one per suit. Each foundation starts with an Ace and is built up in suit: A, 2, 3 … up to K, all of the same suit.
• Building down: putting a card onto a top card that is exactly one rank higher – for example a 7 onto an 8. Ranks from low to high: A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K.

Setup

1. Shuffle the deck.
2. Deal the cards face up in four rows of thirteen: deal 13 cards side by side from left to right, then the next 13 on top of them, each card slightly lower so that it overlaps the card above it, and so on. You now have 13 columns of 4 cards, all visible.
3. Move the Kings: in each column, take every King that is not already at the far end of the column and put it underneath, at the bottom of that column (the end furthest from you, which is the first card you dealt). If a column holds two Kings, keep them in the same order.
4. Leave space above the tableau for four foundations.

The first five columns might look like this (the top card of each column is the one at the lower end, fully visible):

Here the top cards are 8♥, 2♣, A♥, 9♣ and 6♦. The Kings in columns 1 and 5 have already been moved to the bottom.

Playing

There are no turns and no drawing – you simply make one move after another. A move is always one top card, moved to one of two places:

1. To a foundation. An Ace may always start a new foundation. After that, the next card of the same suit goes on it: 2♥ on A♥, 3♥ on 2♥, and so on up to the King.
2. Onto another column (building down). A top card may go onto the top card of another column if that card is exactly one rank higher. The suit and colour do not matter: 7♣ may go on 8♥, 8♦ or 8♣.

Only one card moves at a time – never a group of cards. Moving a top card uncovers the card beneath it, which becomes the new top card.

Empty columns: when a column has no cards left, its place stays empty for the rest of the game. Nothing may ever be put there. This is why the Kings go to the bottom at the start: a King can never be built on anything, so this keeps it from blocking the cards under it.

Example: In the layout above, A♥ (column 3) goes to a foundation, and 3♠ becomes the top card of column 3. Next 2♣ (column 2) cannot go anywhere useful yet, but the A♣ under it is needed – so put 2♣ onto 3♠ (building down, suit doesn't matter). Now A♣ is free and starts a second foundation. Then 2♣ goes from column 3 onto the A♣.

End of the game

The game ends when you can't make any more useful moves.

• You win if all 52 cards are on the four foundations, each one running A to K in a single suit.
• You lose if you are stuck with cards still in the tableau. There is no second deal.

Tips for beginners

• Look for "kinks": a card that lies above a lower card of the same suit in the same column (for example 9♣ lying on the 4♣ further down). The 4♣ must go to its foundation before the 9♣ can – so the 9♣ has to be moved elsewhere first. Plan to straighten out every kink.
• Don't empty columns too early. Empty columns can't be reused, so every column you clear is one less place to park cards.
• Don't rush one foundation far ahead of the others. You may later need one of those cards as a place to build on.
• Think before each move – you can see all the cards, so almost every game can be planned out.

Variants

These are optional, separate ways to play:

• Original rules (1883): deal the 13 columns face down and turn only the top card of each column face up. Whenever you move a top card, turn up the next card. A King that turns up – at the start or later – goes straight to the bottom of its column. This is harder, because you can't see what lies ahead.
• Good Measure: take the first two Aces you come across while dealing and put them straight onto foundations. Deal the rest into 10 columns of 5 cards. All other rules are the same.
• Spanish Patience: an empty column may be filled with any top card.
• Portuguese Solitaire: an empty column may be filled, but only with a King.