BY KEVIN O'NEILL

Test your wits and bet your money with this tricky version of solitaire. Your 8-bit keeps a running total of your winnings (or losses) in this BASIC card game. This program runs on Atari 8-bit computers with at least 48K memory and disk drive.

I found this interesting gambler's version of Canfield Solitaire in Hoyle's Book of Games. The basic rules are easy: The player buys a deck of cards for $50, then receives $5 for every card played on the foundation piles. If all 52 cards end up in the foundation, the player gets $500.

Getting Started
Type in Listing 1, CANFIELD.BAS, check it with TYPO II. and SAVE a copy to disk before you RUN it.

The computer first asks if you want cards dealt from the hand one at a time or in groups of three (more on this below). Make your choice by pressing the appropriate number. The computer shuffles the cards, then takes 13 cards off the top and puts them in the stock pile, face up. The next card is the first foundation. You've got $5 already - on your way to easy street. Next, four cards are laid side-by-side in the tableau, face up. The rest of the cards become the hand, to be played into the deck. Just to make things easy for players, the piles are all labeled onscreen, each separated pile identified by a letter, A-J.

The first card in the foundation sets the value for the foundations in all four suits. When (or if) cards with that value turn up, place them in the other foundation positions. Build the foundations up by rank and suit. The card order wraps around, with the ace above the king and below the two.

For example, if the first foundation card is the Queen of Hearts, the next cards played on that foundation would he (in order) the K, A, 2, 3. . . up to J, all in Hearts. You win the game, not to mention $500, when you build all four foundations up to thirteen cards.

The Tableau
The tableau builds down, black on red and red on black. Thus, the four of diamonds could he played on the five of spades or clubs. These piles also wrap around, with aces on twos and kings on aces. The top card of each tableau pile may be moved by itself, or the entire tableau pile may be moved as a unit, if its bottom card may he correctly played on the top of the destination pile. Empty spots in the tableau may be filled from the stock, the deck, or the top card of a tableau pile.

The cards in the hand may he turned up in of three, in which case you can keep going through the hand until you get stuck. The hand may also he played one card at a time, once through.

You may play off either the stock or deck onto the tableau or foundations. Cards may he moved within the tableau, or moved from the tableau onto the foundations. Once in a foundation, a card cannot he moved. Cards may not be played to the stock, and only cards in the hand may be played to the deck.

Moving the Cards
You move the cards with the keyboard. Each pile is marked with a letter, A-D for the foundation, E-H for the tableau. The stock is I, and the deck is J. To deal a card (or set of three cards) from the hand, just press the space bar. To move a single card, press the letter of its current pile. then the letter of its destination. To move a group of cards within the tableau, first press [T]. then the letters of the two piles involved.

The computer will let you know once you've gone through the deck. If you are using the three-card play option, you can keep going through the deck, over and over. When you have come to a standstill, press [ESC] and your current winnings (or losses) will be tablulated. You can then [S]tart a new game, [C]hange the number of cards dealt from the deck, or [Q]uit.

Listing on page 95

Kevin O'Neil is a musician and printer from Westminster, Colorado. Though this is his first program to appear in ANTIC, he was a runner up in the ANTIC Music Processor song challenge (ANTIC, June 1989) and in the Rebound screen design contest (ANTIC, August 1987).