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How to Play Klondike Solitaire: Rules and 8 Tips to Win More

Klondike is the classic Solitaire that shipped with every Windows PC. The rules take a minute to learn, but a few habits separate a 10% win rate from a much higher one.

Setup and goal

Seven tableau columns are dealt with 1 to 7 cards, only the top card face up. The rest of the deck is the stock. The goal is to build all four foundations from Ace to King, one per suit.

Rules

  • In the tableau, build down in alternating colors (a red 6 on a black 7).
  • You can move a correctly ordered stack as a group.
  • Only a King (or a stack starting with a King) can fill an empty column.
  • Draw from the stock one card at a time (Draw 1) or three at a time (Draw 3, harder).

8 tips to win more

  1. Always play Aces and Twos to the foundations immediately.
  2. Prefer moves that turn over a face-down card.
  3. Work on the longest face-down columns first: they hide the most cards.
  4. Do not empty a column unless you have a King ready to move into it.
  5. Choose which King to place based on the Queens and Jacks you can follow up with.
  6. Hold back moving cards to the foundation if they are needed as landing spots in the tableau.
  7. Go through the stock early to know what is in it.
  8. Use Undo to explore: it is not cheating to learn which line works.

Deal a new game below. The Daily deal is identical for every player, so you can race your friends on the same cards.

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