Big Ben

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Card order
3. The parts of the layout
4. Setup
5. Building on the foundations
6. Playing
7. Winning
8. Tips for beginners
9. Variants

Overview

Big Ben is a patience (a card game for one player, also called solitaire) for two decks, named after the famous clock tower in London. Twelve cards form a clock face. You build on each of them, in suit, until every "hour" of the clock shows the right number: an Ace at 1 o'clock, a 2 at 2 o'clock … a Queen at 12 o'clock. It needs some planning and comes out about every second game.

• Players: 1
• You need: two standard 52-card decks shuffled together (104 cards), no jokers, and a good-sized table.

Card order

From lowest to highest: A – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – J – Q – K, and then round the corner: after the King comes the Ace again. For the clock, the Ace counts as 1, the Jack as 11 and the Queen as 12.

The parts of the layout

• Foundations (the inner circle, the "clock"): twelve piles on which you collect cards in order. This is where all the cards should end up.
• Tableau (the outer circle): twelve piles of cards where you can rearrange cards.
• Stock: the face-down pile of remaining cards.
• Waste: the face-up pile onto which you turn cards from the stock.

Setup

1. Take out the clock cards: from the two decks, take out one each of these twelve cards: 2♣ 3♥ 4♠ 5♦ 6♣ 7♥ 8♠ 9♦ 10♣ J♥ Q♠ K♦. (The suits repeat in the order ♣ ♥ ♠ ♦.)
2. Make the clock: lay them face up in a circle like the hours on a clock face, going clockwise, with the 2♣ at 9 o'clock, the 3♥ at 10 o'clock, the 4♠ at 11 o'clock, the 5♦ at 12 o'clock, and so on round to the K♦ at 8 o'clock. These are the twelve foundations.

3. Deal the tableau: shuffle the other 92 cards. Deal 12 piles of 3 cards, face up and slightly spread so you can see them, one pile just outside each foundation. Only the top card of each pile can be moved.
4. The stock: the remaining 56 cards go face down to one side as the stock. Leave room for the waste next to it.

Building on the foundations

Each foundation is built up in suit: on the 2♣ goes the 3♣, then the 4♣, and so on. After the King comes the Ace, then the 2 again.

A foundation is complete when its top card matches its hour. Then no more cards may go on it.

Playing

Make moves in any order you like:

1. To a foundation: play the top card of any tableau pile, or the top card of the waste, to a foundation if it is the next higher card of the same suit.
2. Within the tableau: move the top card of a tableau pile onto another tableau pile if it is one lower and of the same suit (building down in suit) – a 7♠ on an 8♠, and a K♠ on an A♠. Only one card at a time may be moved.
3. Gaps: a tableau pile with fewer than 3 cards has a gap. Whenever you like, you may fill the gaps from the stock – but then you must fill all of them: start at the tableau pile by the 12 o'clock foundation and go round clockwise, dealing one card at a time to each pile that has fewer than 3 cards; go round again, and again, until every pile has 3 cards again. No building is allowed while you are doing this. If the stock runs out, the remaining gaps stay unfilled.
4. The stock: when you want more cards, first fill all gaps. Then turn cards from the stock one at a time onto the waste. The top card of the waste may be played to a foundation or onto a tableau pile.
5. There is no redeal: when the stock is empty, carry on as long as you can, but the waste is not used again as a stock.

Example: The foundation at 9 o'clock shows 5♣. A tableau pile has 6♣ on top – play it. Under it lies 8♥, and another pile shows 9♥: move the 8♥ onto the 9♥. That pile is now down to one card, so it has a gap. You fill all gaps from the stock, then turn up the next stock card: 7♣, which goes straight onto the 6♣.

Winning

You win when all twelve foundations are complete and the clock shows the right hours – all 104 cards are on the foundations. If the stock is empty and you cannot move any more, you lose.

Tips for beginners

• Fill gaps when it suits you – but remember you must fill all of them at once, and it can bury cards you need.
• Build down in the tableau so that the cards come off in the right order later for the foundations.
• Before you turn a stock card, make every useful move in the tableau.
• Keep an eye on which foundations are nearly complete – their suit's cards are no longer needed there.

Variants

• One redeal: some computer versions allow you to turn the waste over once and go through the stock a second time.