Solitaire guides
Rules for beginners, strategy for regulars, and real numbers on how often each game can be won. The odds come from our own solver, the same one that picks the winnable deals in our games.
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How to Play Solitaire: A Beginner’s Guide to Klondike
The table, the rules and your first few moves, explained with a sample deal. Includes a glossary of every solitaire term you will run into.
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Klondike Solitaire Strategy: 12 Tips That Actually Win More Games
Which column to dig into first, when to hold a card back from the foundation, how to pick the right King, and how Draw 3 changes everything.
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What Are the Odds of Winning Solitaire? Klondike, Spider and FreeCell by the Numbers
We ran thousands of deals through our own solver. Here is how often Klondike, Spider and FreeCell can be won, and what the numbers do and do not mean.
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FreeCell Strategy: How to Win (and the Supermove Math Explained)
How many cards you can really move at once, with worked examples, plus a move-by-move walk through the opening of deal #1.
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Spider Solitaire Strategy: How to Win at 1, 2 and 4 Suits
Why an empty column is worth more than anything else on the table, when to deal from the stock, and how your plan should change as you add suits.
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Draw 1 vs Draw 3 Solitaire: Which Should You Play?
How each setting works, what it does to your odds and your score, and how to handle the stock in Draw 3.
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Pyramid Solitaire Strategy: How to Win More Often
Count partners before you pair, use the waste card first, and make every pass through the stock count.
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TriPeaks Solitaire Strategy: How to Build Longer Streaks
Trace the longest run before you play, uncover face-down cards, and see why one long streak beats two short ones.
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Golf Solitaire Strategy: How to Leave Fewer Cards
Every column card is face up, so plan whole runs, handle the Kings, and spend 16 stock cards wisely.
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Types of Solitaire Games: 15 Games Compared
Klondike, Spider, FreeCell, Pyramid, TriPeaks, Golf and four more, compared by difficulty, luck and time per game.
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History of Solitaire: From Patience to Windows
Patience books in the 1800s, the shaky gold rush story behind Klondike, and how Windows 3.0 put solitaire on every desktop.
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Solitaire Terms Glossary: Every Word Explained
Tableau, foundation, waste, free cell, wrap-around and more, explained in plain English from A to Z.
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Solitaire for Seniors: Brain Benefits and Tips
What solitaire can and cannot do for your mind, what the research says, and how to make play comfortable.