Clock solitaire is a pure luck solitaire game. Unlike Klondike or Spider, it involves no decisions. The chance of winning is exactly 1 in 13. Learn the rules, why the game is pure luck, and the neat maths behind its exact win probability.
What You Need
You need one standard 52-card deck. No jokers. That is the only equipment. The game is also known as sundial solitaire, though the rules are identical. You do not need a special board, just a flat surface to lay out the cards.
Setting Up the Clock
Deal the cards face down into 13 piles of 4 cards each. Twelve piles are arranged like the hours of a clock. The thirteenth pile goes in the centre of that circle.
Position of Each Pile
The piles correspond to positions on a clock face. The top of the circle is 12. The right side is 3. The bottom is 6. The left side is 9. Fill in the other hour positions in order.
Card Values and Hours
- Ace represents 1.
- 2 through 10 represent their own hour numbers.
- Jack represents 11.
- Queen represents 12.
- King represents the centre pile.
How to Play Clock Solitaire
The game proceeds in a simple loop. There are no choices. Follow these steps:
- Turn the top card of the centre pile face up.
- Look at the card's value. Slide that card face up under the pile for its hour. A 5 goes under the 5 pile. A King goes under the centre pile.
- Now turn the top card of that pile face up.
- Repeat: slide that card under its hour pile, then turn the top card of that new pile.
You always turn the top card of the pile you last added a card to. The game ends when you win or lose.
Winning and Losing
You lose when the fourth King is turned up before every other card is face up. Four Kings sit in the deck. Turning the fourth empties the centre pile of face-down cards. You have no more cards to turn. At that point, any face-down card still in any pile means a loss.
You win only if you turn every card in all 13 piles face up before the fourth King appears. All 52 cards must be face up. Because the process is entirely mechanical, the outcome is determined solely by the initial order of the deck.
Why Clock Solitaire is Pure Luck
Clock solitaire involves no decisions. You never choose which card to turn, which pile to add to, or when to stop. The entire game is a fixed sequence of actions triggered by the cards you reveal. The result is predetermined. There is no strategy. No skill. No way to improve your chances. Every game is a gamble on the random arrangement of the 52 cards.
The Maths Behind the 1 in 13 Odds
The exact win probability of clock solitaire is 1 in 13, about a few percent. This number comes from a neat mathematical property of the game. The process of moving cards is equivalent to following a random permutation of the 52 cards. The game wins only if the sequence of cards forms a single cycle that includes all 52 positions. The probability that a random permutation of 52 items forms one complete cycle is exactly 1 divided by the number of items. But the game structure changes this slightly. The centre pile acts as a special starting point. When you account for the four Kings and the 13 piles, the probability simplifies to 1 in 13.
Here is a simpler way to think about it. Imagine the 13 piles as positions. The game moves from one position to another based on the card values. The only way to win is if the fourth King appears last among all cards. Because the Kings are identical in function, they all point back to the centre, the chance that the last King is the final card turned is exactly 1 in 13.
Summary of Key Points
- Use one 52-card deck.
- Deal 13 piles of 4 cards face down.
- Turn the top card of the centre pile, slide it under its hour pile, then turn that pile's top card.
- Repeat until the fourth King appears or all cards are face up.
- If the fourth King appears before all cards are face up, you lose.
- If all cards are face up, you win.
- The game involves no decisions. It is pure luck.
- The chance of winning is exactly 1 in 13.
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