# Unwinnable Free Cell Game
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unwinnable-free-cell-game/100644
**Category:** The Game Room
**Created:** [March 28, 2002, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unwinnable-free-cell-game/100644 "2002-03-28T22:31:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2002, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unwinnable-free-cell-game/100644/1 "2002-03-28T22:31:12Z")
Well, it appears I’ve found a Free Cell game that cannot be won.
It is game number: 11982 and I hereby submit that it cannot be solved.
Now it is said that all free cell games are winnable but I’ve always figured that one could easily take a deck of cards and rig it in such a way that, say, all of the red cards are at the botom and would therefore be impossible to solve.
This clearly isn’t the case here. It looks as random a shuffle as any but I’ve lost at least six in a row and declare this one beyond my means.
If anyone _can_ solve this one, in addition to mad props to you, could you please give a run down of where to start or the general best plan of attack. Despite that, I stand by my assertion that this one cannot be done.
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### Author:  [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2002, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unwinnable-free-cell-game/100644/2 "2002-03-28T23:12:22Z")
Yes, I believe that game is impossible to win. There’s a site somewhere that catalogues winning methods for the difficult deals and the last time I checked nobody had ever shown a way to win that game.
You can also try games -1 and -2.
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### Author:  [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2002, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unwinnable-free-cell-game/100644/3 "2002-03-28T23:13:03Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Now it is said that all free cell games are winnable
Yup. There are several combinations, in fact, that cannot be won. Although I don’t know if these particular combinations are removed if you’re using a computer program.
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### Author:  [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2002, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unwinnable-free-cell-game/100644/4 "2002-03-29T05:31:07Z")
Yes, the Freecell Project (did a Google search on it) showed that every one of the 32000 different games is winable except #11982. I don’t know if it’s been proved impossible, but is almost universally believed to be.
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### Author:  [@Cell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cell)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2020, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unwinnable-free-cell-game/100644/5 "2020-08-21T19:52:31Z")
I do not know if #11982 is winnable or not as I have opted to play the random games that pop up. To date, my winning streak is 50,605. I have not tracked which game # I have played.
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### Author:  [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2020, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unwinnable-free-cell-game/100644/6 "2020-08-22T01:48:49Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, Cell. Please note that the thread that you are replying to is almost two decades old. We tend to refer to old threads that have been revived like this as zombies, so don’t be surprised if you see a few zombie jokes in responses.
When this thread was originally created, we did not have a separate forum for games. Now that we do, let’s move the thread there. Moving from IMHO to the Game Room.