Klondike Solitaire Strategy: Win More Deals
How to win more Klondike deals: uncover face-down cards first, when to empty a column, holding cards back from the foundations and draw-three tactics.
Klondike is the solitaire most people picture when they hear the word: seven columns, a stock in the corner, four foundations to build from ace to king. Most players learned it by feel and win when the deal is kind. The daily deals here are all winnable (a solver plays each one through before it is published), so losing a deal is always a matter of move order. These are the habits that turn the order right.
The rules in brief
- Build the four foundations up by suit, ace to king.
- In the seven columns (the tableau), build down in alternating colours: a red six on a black seven.
- Only a king, or a run headed by a king, may go into an empty column.
- Turn cards from the stock to the waste; the top waste card is available to play.
- Easy days turn one card at a time with unlimited passes; medium days allow three passes; hard days turn three cards at a time.
Priority 1: turn over face-down cards
Twenty-one cards start face down in the tableau, and the game is won when they are all free. Every decision should be weighed against one question: does this move turn over a face-down card, or make it possible to turn one over soon? A move that does is nearly always right; a move that does not can usually wait.
Work the long columns first. The seventh column hides six cards; the first hides none. A move that frees a card in column seven is worth more than the same move in column two, because column seven is the one that will block you at the end.
Priority 2: don't rush the foundations
It feels productive to send every ace and two to the foundations the moment they appear, and for aces and twos it is right: nothing in the tableau needs them. From three upward, think first. A black four on the foundation cannot hold a red three in the tableau, and you may need that spot to free a card. The rule of thumb: keep a card in the tableau while a card of the opposite colour and one rank lower might still need a home, and send it up once both cards of the rank below it are already on the foundations.
Double-tap sends a card to its foundation, which is quick; the discipline is choosing not to.
Priority 3: empty columns are for kings
An empty column is valuable only when you have a king to put in it, ideally a king with a run beneath it or a king whose arrival frees another card. Emptying a column with no king waiting just reduces your working space by one column. Before you clear a column, check which kings are available and whether moving one helps; if neither does, leave the column alone for now.
When you have a choice of kings, prefer the one of the colour you need. If the exposed cards in the tableau are mostly black, a red king gives those cards somewhere to go.
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Playing the stock
On one-card days with unlimited passes, the stock is patient: you will see every card as often as you like, so prefer tableau moves that uncover cards and use the stock to fill gaps. On three-pass days, count. Each pass should accomplish something; if a pass went by with nothing played, change the tableau (make a move you had been saving) before the next pass so that different cards become useful.
On draw-three days, only every third card is available on a pass, and playing a card from the waste shifts which cards come up next time. Before taking a waste card, ask whether taking it exposes a more useful card on the next pass or buries one. Sometimes it is right to leave a playable waste card alone so that the sequence stays favourable.
Choosing between two moves
Column six shows a black eight with four face-down cards beneath; column two shows a black eight with none. A red seven is available from the waste. Putting it on column six's eight buries four hidden cards deeper. Put it on column two's eight instead, where nothing is hidden, and keep column six's eight free to move onto a red nine later, which will turn over a card. The move that looks identical is not: always ask what each column hides.
Move order late in the game
When most cards are face up, Klondike becomes a planning puzzle. Count the cards each foundation needs next and work out which tableau runs block them. Moving a long run onto another column is free in Klondike (any legal run can move as a unit), so use long moves to reorganise the tableau so that the next needed cards are on top. If two runs could receive the same card, choose the one whose column is shorter, keeping the long column free for later moves.
Common mistakes
- Playing from the stock before checking the tableau. Tableau moves that turn cards over come first.
- Sending threes and fours to the foundations early. You may need them to hold cards.
- Emptying a column with no king to fill it. It wastes space.
- Taking a waste card on draw-three without thinking about the next pass. Count the sequence.
- Moving runs between columns for no reason. Every move should uncover something or prepare to.
Glossary
- Tableau: the seven columns.
- Foundation: the four piles built up by suit from ace to king.
- Stock and waste: the face-down pile you turn cards from, and the face-up pile they turn onto.
- Run: a sequence of cards in alternating colours that moves as a unit.
- Pass: one trip through the stock.
Play it now
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Questions and answers
Is every daily Klondike deal winnable?
Yes. A computer solver plays each deal through before it is published and only winnable deals are used. A lost deal is a question of move order.
Should I put aces on the foundations straight away?
Yes, aces and twos always. From threes up, keep a card in the tableau while a card of the other colour one rank lower might still need it.
When should I empty a column?
When you have a king ready to go into it, preferably one whose move uncovers a card or brings a useful run with it. An empty column with no king waiting is wasted space.
What changes on draw-three days?
Three cards are turned at a time and only the top one is playable, so which cards you take from the waste changes which ones come up on the next pass.
How is Klondike ranked?
By the time taken to win, with fewer moves breaking ties. Only a member’s first game of the day counts.
Written by the DailyGameClub team from the rules as DailyGameClub plays them. Updated October 15, 2026. New to a word? See the glossary. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.