CARD GAMES
Klondike Solitaire Tips for More Wins
Not every Klondike deal can be won, but good habits turn many deals that look stuck into wins. This guide covers the decisions that experienced players make automatically.
The goal in one paragraph
You build four foundation piles from ace up to king in each suit. On the tableau, you stack cards in descending order and alternating colours, and you can move whole sequences between columns. The stock supplies new cards when the tableau runs out of moves. Winning means uncovering all the face-down cards and getting every card to a foundation.
Open the biggest piles first
Prefer moves that turn over a face-down card in the tallest tableau column. Each new card is new information, and the tallest column hides the most. Early in a deal, information is worth more than tidiness.
If two moves each reveal a card, pick the one that does not use up a flexible card you may need later, such as a red six that could go on either black seven.
Do not rush the foundations
Aces and twos can go up at once, but moving higher cards too early removes useful landing spots for alternating-colour sequences. As a rule, keep a card on the tableau if it could still receive a card you have not yet placed. Move it up only when nothing needs it.
Treat empty columns carefully
An empty column accepts only a king, so emptying one without a king ready can waste it. Before you clear a column, check where the next king will come from. When two kings are available, choose the one whose column, once vacated, reveals the most face-down cards.
Choose between equal moves
When a red card can go on either of two black cards of the same rank, pick the one whose column has more face-down cards beneath, so the move lets you open that column later. When a move from the waste could go to the tableau or a foundation, ask which leaves more options for the next turn.
Draw one and draw three
Draw-one deals are easier because every card in the stock is reachable. In draw-three, the order of the waste pile matters, because only the top card is playable. Look for opportunities to play the top card so the one beneath it becomes available, and note which cards you will reach on the next pass through the stock.
Use undo and hints to learn
If a deal ends in a dead end, undo to the last decision where you had a real choice and try the other branch. Over time you will notice which choices mattered. Hints are best used after you have tried to find a move yourself, to check whether you missed something.
Accept the unwinnable deals
A fraction of Klondike deals have no solution, and many more are very hard. Playing well means winning the winnable ones and not blaming yourself for the rest. When a deal is clearly stuck, start a new one.
A worked example of a decision
Imagine you have a red six that could go onto a black seven in column two or column five. Column two has three face-down cards beneath its black seven and column five has none. Moving the six onto column five does nothing for your future options, but moving the cards from column two onto the black seven in column five would reveal a new card. The better choice is often to keep the choice open: play the card that reveals information first, and leave the flexible one for later.
The general rule is to prefer moves that reveal face-down cards, then moves that empty a column, then moves that build foundations, and last moves that only rearrange the tableau.
Common mistakes
Moving cards to the foundation too eagerly is the most common error. A second is emptying a column when there is no king to fill it. A third is cycling the stock without playing anything from the waste, which wastes the information you gain with each pass.
Beginners also tend to avoid moving a long sequence for fear of making things worse. Moving a sequence is often right if it uncovers a face-down card, because new information is almost always worth more than a tidy tableau.
What winning rates really look like
Even strong players win only a portion of Klondike deals, because a meaningful share cannot be won at all. Draw-three games have a lower win rate than draw-one. Treat each deal as a puzzle, enjoy the decisions, and do not measure yourself by a streak.