Gaps - Rules

Rules

The cards are dealt into four rows of thirteen. The aces are removed and discarded from further play. The gaps that they leave behind are filled by cards that are the same suit and a rank higher than the card on the left of the gap. (For example, 4♣ can be placed beside 3♣.) However, any gap at the right of a King is considered dead and no card can fill it.

Any gap on the left hand side of the row should be placed by a deuce and the row should be built up by suit beside the deuce (i. e. 2-3-4-5, etc.). It is the discretion of the player on which suit would occupy which row.

When there are no more possible moves, the round is over. The cards that are not in order are gathered, making sure to leave any suit sequence (e.g., ♥2-3-4-5) behind. In Montana and Spaces, the cards are then shuffled; in Gaps, they are not. The cards are then redealt, making sure there is a gap in each row at the immediate right of each suit sequence or at the extreme left of the row if no suit sequence is formed in that row. There are only three rounds in the usual rules. But some variants allow four, and some have no limit.

The game is won when all 48 cards are arranged in numerical order and in suits, with the gaps of each row beside the Kings at the extreme right hand of the row. The probability of winning depends on which rules are followed. In Spaces, where the cards are shuffled after each round and the rounds are limited to three, an experienced player will win perhaps one game in 20. In Gaps (cards are not shuffled, but the limit of three rounds remains), one win in seven games may be expected. If the number of rounds is not limited, winning is just a matter of time, whether the cards are shuffled or not.