This is so mundane, I almost put it somewhere else, but I am seeking a factual answer.
Most of you are familiar with the solitaire game that comes with MS Windows. One of the game options is to play “Las Vegas stlye” where you pay 1$ per card ($52 for the deck) and then get $5 for each card you move to the four suit stacks, one pass only through the deck.
I never thought about this on my 2 trips to Vegas, so never checked. But I don’t recall seeing any tables or video gambling machines offering this. Note, though, I wasn’t specifically looking for it, either.
So, is this still offered in Vegas? Or was it ever a feature? Or is it all over the place and I just spent too much time at 21 and missed it?
When I was a child, my day care provider (a wonderful old lady) told us about playing solitaire at casinos, so I believe that it was a game you could play at some point. She also told lots of stories about the Great Depression, so who knows which decade she may have been playing it in.
Especially since Canfield is difficult enough to win even with unlimited redeals of one card and practically impossible with “one card–no redeal” or “three cards–three redeals” rules unless you get incredibly lucky.
I remember my mom playing this at Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe in the late '60s… early '70’s, but I haven’t ever seen it in any casino I’ve ever been in (although I haven’t tried Atlantic City).
I’ve read in a couple of different books (one a collection of solitaire games, the other a history of San Francisco) about a fellow who built a significant fortune selling packs of cards for $50 and paying back $5 for every card placed in Canfield. I’m at work so I can’t look up his name.
Casino solitaire sounds really labor-intensive. To prevent cheating it seems like there’s have to be a dealer present for every player, and even if the casino was netting $40 a game I have to think there’d be a more profitable use for the floor space.
Somewhat off-topic, but Dan Savage in one of his books talks about playing Casino War. Sounded like the most hideously dull game with no chance of winning anything approaching a significant payout.
Because I have the card skills of a turkey, I’ve played Casino War. I never gamble anything I’m not fully expecting to lose (so I usually walk away after losing or winning 50 bucks, or so) so while I knew that the odds were definitely against me, for a cards idiot like me, it was quick and easy fun. Same with Acey Deucey. Easy, requires no thinking and offers a teeny tiny chance of winning your bet back. Especially when you put down ten bucks, Acey Deucey comes up and you match the bet with your last ten bucks and a friggin deuce comes up. With a personable dealer, either game can actually be fun, and I generally would play to kill time while my mother was off losing her paycheck on blackjack.
I’ve often wondered the same thing. I’ve spent a lot of time in casinos since the early '80s and I’ve never seen solitaire, live or video. I recall from my youth hearing solitaire being called “beating the Chinaman”, a (wildly un - PC) reference to a casino version of the game, where you’d buy a deck from the (presumably Asian) proprietor and get paid for every card moved to the foundation.
I have seen, but not played, Casino War, and it sure does sound stupid. But from a strategy standpoint, it’s more complicated than baccarat (lessee…bet on player? or bet on dealer? About as exciting as betting on a coin flip.)
Just out of curiosity, are we really talking Canfield here, or Klondike? Klondike is the one everyone plays that’s included in Windows. Canfield is probably the second most popular one, and is also played for money. I’m just curious is everyone is calling the game by the correct name, as Canfield and Klondike are often confused with each other.
Sorry to hijack, but is anyone else reminded of the “off the strip” casinos that Chevy Chase and Randy Quaid go to in Vegas Vacation? There was gambling allowed on “How many fingers am I holding up?”, “I’m thinking of a number”, and paper/rock/scissors, and I’m sure a few more.
I was mentally composing a James Bond scene with dashing men in tuxedos, women in low-cut evening gowns, villains with eye-patches…playing rock/paper/scissors. I’m sooo glad you brought this up.
This story is told in Hoyle’s Rules of Games about a man who made a killing in Saratoga running this game in his casino. His name, shockingly, was Canfield.
