Play Cast Out Nines Solitaire Online for Free (No Signup Required)

Dig all eight Nines out of two decks before anything else can move, then build each suit upward in a wrapped order back to Eight. Just 15% winnable.

Cast Out Nines Solitaire takes its name from an old schoolroom trick. For centuries, clerks and pupils checked their sums by "casting out nines" — striking the nines from a calculation before verifying it. This solitaire asks something similar of you: before anything else can happen, the eight Nines must be cast out of the pack and sent to the foundations, because unlike its parent game Deuces, no cards are dealt to the foundations in advance.

Once a Nine surfaces, its suit builds upward in an unusual wrapped order: Nine, Ten, Jack, Queen, King, Ace, Two, and so on up to Eight. With two full decks, only seven single-card tableau piles to work with, and just one pass through the stock, every discard is a small gamble. The game is hard, with roughly a 15% chance of winning, and luck plays a bigger part than skill in how any given deal turns out.

Fans of Deuces Solitaire and Busy Aces Solitaire will recognize familiar ground here.

You can also try the original Solitaire and see how differently the foundations get built there.

If you run into anything odd or have an idea that would make the game better, please contact me.

Enjoy playing!

How to play Cast Out Nines Solitaire

Layout:

8 foundation piles: Build up in suit from Nine, wrapping from King to Ace and onward to Eight, until each pile holds 13 cards. No cards are dealt here at the start.

7 tableau piles: Build down in the same suit. Only one card may be moved at a time, and any card may fill an empty space. Each pile is dealt one card face-up.

Stock: Click to flip over cards one at a time to the waste. There are no redeals.

Waste: The top card is playable.

Foundation:

There are eight foundation piles, and all of them begin empty. Each pile must be started with a Nine.

A card can be added to a foundation pile only if it's one rank higher and the same suit as the pile's current top card, with the order wrapping from King to Ace and continuing from Ace to Two, so the only card that fits on a K of diamonds is the A of diamonds, and the only card that fits on that A of diamonds is a 2 of diamonds. There can be no more than 13 cards in a pile.

The top card of each foundation can be moved back into play if another pile will accept it.

Tableau:

Seven tableau piles of one card each. Every card is dealt face-up.

A card can be added to a tableau pile only if it's one rank lower and the same suit as the pile's current top card, following the same wrapped order, so an Ace fits on a Two of the same suit, and a King fits on that Ace. Since Nine is the lowest rank, nothing may be built on a Nine.

Cards on the tableau that are not covered by another card are free to be played onto the foundations or any other tableau pile.

Any card can fill an empty slot in the tableau.

Only one card may be moved at a time; sequences are not permitted.

Stock and waste:

There is one waste pile and the remaining 97 cards make up the stock.

When you click on the stock, one card from the stock is dealt to the waste. There can only be one pass through the stock.

The top card of the waste can be played to the tableau or foundations.