Every hole-fill decision changes what becomes visible next — choose based on what you need, not what fits.

The carpet layout

Carpet is a patience game where four Aces are placed in the center at the start, forming the four foundation piles that will build from Ace to King by suit. Twenty cards are dealt face-up around the Aces, forming the “carpet” — a reserve of visible cards, all immediately available to play to foundations. The remaining stock deals one card at a time to a single waste pile.

When a carpet card is played to a foundation, it leaves a hole. Holes are filled immediately from the waste pile top. If the waste pile is empty, holes are filled from the stock. The carpet always maintains 20 filled positions (or as many as remain after the stock and waste are exhausted).

The game is won when all 52 cards reach the four foundations. The main strategic constraint: the single-pass stock (typically no redeal) means waste pile cards that fill holes are consumed and cannot be drawn again from stock.

The hole-fill decision

The key decision in Carpet is not which carpet card to play to a foundation — that is usually obvious (play anything that fits). The decision is what to fill the resulting hole with. When the waste pile top can fill the hole, you are choosing between:

1. Fill the hole now with the waste pile top, making that card visible and available.
2. Do not fill the hole yet (if the game allows deferring hole fills), waiting for a better card from the stock.

In most Carpet implementations, holes fill automatically from the waste pile top (or stock if the waste is empty). The decision then becomes: should you make the foundation play that creates the hole, given what you know is currently on top of the waste pile?

Foundation play timing

In Carpet, foundation plays are not just about advancing foundations — they are the mechanism by which new cards enter the carpet from the waste pile. This creates a second-order incentive: playing cards to foundations at the right moment brings useful cards into visible positions.

Play foundation-ready cards when the waste pile top is useful. Delay playing them when the waste pile top is a high-rank card that no foundation needs for many turns (a King with foundations at 5, for example). Delaying prevents that King from occupying a carpet slot and blocking the slot from receiving a better card later.

However, delaying too long has costs. If no foundation plays happen for many stock draws, the waste pile grows without any carpet refreshes. The waste pile may then contain useful cards buried under many unusable ones. Balance foundation play speed with waste pile composition.

Stock management

The stock deals one card at a time to the waste pile. Only the waste top is available for play. This means cards buried in the waste pile require everything above them to play before they become accessible.

The most effective stock management principle: play any stock card that can immediately go to a foundation rather than placing it on the waste pile. Stock cards that play directly to foundations do not consume a carpet slot and do not add to the waste pile. This keeps the waste pile lean and makes future waste tops more likely to be useful carpet fillers.

When drawing produces many consecutive cards that cannot play to foundations or contribute usefully to the carpet, those cards pile up in the waste. If this happens early in the game, the waste pile quickly fills with inaccessible high-rank cards that are premature for the current foundation levels. This is the primary route to losing a Carpet game.

What ends a Carpet game

• Filling holes reflexively without evaluating the waste top.Not every hole-fill is beneficial. A hole filled with a King while all foundations are at 4 contributes nothing and wastes a carpet slot for many turns.
• Playing foundation cards too eagerly when the waste top is poor.Playing a 3 to its foundation when the waste top is a King (and foundations are all at 3) means the hole fills with an unhelpful King. If the 3 could wait one draw, the next waste top might be a 4 (immediately useful) instead.
• Ignoring the carpet completely while chasing stock draws.The carpet’s 20 visible cards should be reviewed each turn. Cards that match current foundation needs are sitting there available for free; not playing them delays foundation progress.
• Creating multiple empty holes simultaneously.If multiple carpet cards play to foundations in one turn and the waste pile is thin, the holes fill with whatever happens to be next in the stock — with no control over what those cards are. Playing carpet cards one at a time, allowing the waste to partially refill between plays, gives more control over carpet composition.

Frequently asked questions

Do all 20 carpet positions have to be filled at all times?

Yes, in standard Carpet. When a carpet card plays to a foundation, the hole is immediately filled from the waste pile top (or stock if the waste is empty). The carpet always has 20 cards — or fewer only when both the waste and the stock are exhausted.

Can carpet cards move to other carpet positions?

No. Carpet cards move only to foundations. The carpet is a reserve layout, not a tableau. Cards in the carpet cannot be rearranged among carpet positions.

Is Carpet related to FreeCell?

Both use a fully visible card reserve, but FreeCell is a tableau-building game with foundation building as the goal and card sequencing as the mechanism. Carpet has no tableau-to-tableau movement — all cards go from the carpet or waste directly to foundations. The games share the emphasis on planning around visible information.

What is a realistic win rate?

With careful hole-fill timing, skilled Carpet play wins roughly 50 to 70 percent of deals. The game is easier than many patience games because the carpet gives 20 cards of forward visibility. The losses typically come from runs of high-rank stock cards early, flooding the waste pile with cards premature for the current foundation levels.