Klondike Solitaire Strategy: 12 Tips That Actually Win More Games

Most Klondike advice stops at "uncover hidden cards." True, but it won't tell you which card to uncover, or what to do when two moves look the same. These twelve tips are the decisions that actually separate a 1-in-5 player from someone who wins most Draw 1 games.

A quick reality check first. Some deals can't be won by anybody. When our solver played through the first 2,541 Draw 1 deals with full sight of every hidden card, it won 79% of them within its search limit. At Draw 3 it won 71%. You can't see the hidden cards, so your ceiling is lower than that. The goal is to stop losing the games you could have won. (The full numbers are in our odds guide.)

Before you move

1. Read the whole table first

Take ten seconds before your first move. Where are the Aces and 2s? Which face-up cards could go on which? Is there a King showing that has nowhere to go yet? New players make the first legal move they spot. Good players make a short list and pick the best one.

2. Know what each column is hiding

Column one hides nothing. Column seven hides six cards. That difference should drive your choices. When two moves each free a face-down card, take the one in the deeper column: there are more cards stuck behind it, and you have to start digging sometime.

Choosing between moves

3. Flip a card whenever you can

A move that turns over a face-down card gives you a new card to work with. A move that shifts a 9 from one 10 to another 10 gives you nothing, unless it opens up a flip on the next move. When in doubt, flip.

4. Choose which 8 gets the 7

You have a red 7 to place and two black 8s showing: the 8♠ on top of column three (two cards hidden underneath) and the 8♣ on top of column six (five hidden). Put the 7 on the 8♠. The 8♣ stays a single card, so the moment a red 9 turns up you can lift it off and keep digging into column six. Bury the shallow column, keep the deep one light.

5. Move part of a run when it frees something

You don't have to move a whole run. Say a column ends 9♣ 8♦ 7♠ 6♥ and the diamond foundation is up to the 7♦. If there is a red 8 elsewhere, move just the 7♠ 6♥ onto it. The 8♦ is now uncovered and goes up. Plenty of players never think to split a run, and they get stuck on positions like this one.

6. Tableau first, stock second

Play every useful move on the table before you turn the stock. Each card you place on the tableau is a new spot for whatever comes out of the stock next. In Draw 1 this is mostly about tidiness. In Draw 3 it matters a lot, as tip 11 explains.

The foundations

7. Don't rush cards to the foundations

Aces and 2s, always. Beyond that, ask whether the card might be needed as a landing spot. If the 5♠ goes up now, where will the 4♥ go when it turns up in the waste?

Here is a rule of thumb that never steers you wrong: a card is safe to send up when both cards of the other color, one rank lower, are already on the foundations. The 5♥ is safe once the 4♣ and the 4♠ are up, because nothing will ever need to sit on it.

8. Take cards back down when it helps

The foundations aren't one-way. Suppose the 6♦ is stuck in the waste and the only black 7 is the 7♣, already on the club foundation. Drag the 7♣ back down onto a red 8, play the 6♦ onto it, and carry on. It costs 15 points in standard scoring, and it is worth it if it keeps the game alive.

Kings and empty columns

9. Don't empty a column without a King to fill it

Only a King can move into an empty column. An empty space with no King in sight does nothing for you, and the cards you moved to clear it may now be blocking something else. Clear a column when a King is waiting, or when clearing it is a side effect of moves you wanted anyway.

10. Pick the King that unlocks the most

Two Kings could fill one empty column. Which one? First, the King with face-down cards under it. Moving the K♥ off a column with four hidden cards is far better than moving the K♠ from the waste. Second, look at the Queens. If the Q♦ is the card you need to place next, you want a black King in that space, not a red one.

Draw 3

11. Learn how the stock cycles

At the start of a Draw 3 game the stock holds 24 cards. You can play the 3rd, 6th, 9th and so on, eight cards a pass. When you play one of them, everything behind it shifts by one, and the next pass shows you a different set.

That gives you a lever. Every card you play from earlier in the stock moves the cards behind it one place forward. If the card you need is the middle card of its three, two plays from earlier in the stock bring it to the top of a group on the next pass. If it is the first card of its three, one play does it. Experienced Draw 3 players often take the first pass slowly, just to see what is in there, before deciding what to play.

12. Use Undo and Hint to learn, not just to win

Undo here goes back up to 500 moves, so treat a stuck game as a puzzle. Back up five moves, try the other 8, take the other King. Press Hint when you are out of ideas: if the solver finds a winning line from your position, the hint is the first move of it. If it reports no winning line, the mistake is somewhere behind you. That is useful to know too.

You can also replay a deal by number. The deal number is in the toolbar, and adding ?deal= plus the number to the address reopens it. Losing a deal and then beating it on the replay teaches more than ten new deals.

Quick checklist

• Aces and 2s up immediately.
• Flip a face-down card if you can. Prefer the deeper column.
• Two places for a card? Keep the deep column's top card free to move.
• Hold middle cards off the foundations until both lower opposite-color cards are up.
• Clear a column only with a King ready, and pick the King that frees hidden cards.
• Tableau first, then the stock.
• In Draw 3, take a slow first pass and remember what you saw.

Once Klondike feels comfortable, FreeCell is a natural next step. Every card is face up, so it's all planning and no luck. Our FreeCell strategy guide walks through the opening of deal #1.