Spider Solitaire Strategy: One to Four Suits

The rules that matter

• Any card may be placed on a card one rank higher, of any suit.
• Only cards in sequence and in the same suit move together.
• Any card or movable run may go into an empty column.
• Dealing from the stock puts one card on every column; no column may be empty when you deal. There are five deals.
• A full king-to-ace run in one suit is removed automatically.

Build in suit whenever you can

The central tension in Spider: a red seven on a black eight is a legal move, but it creates a mixed run that cannot move together later. When you have the choice between placing a card on a card of its own suit or another suit, choose its own suit, even if the other move looks tidier. Mixed runs are the debt you pay later; same-suit runs are the capital you build with.

When a mixed move is the only way to uncover a face-down card, take it, but note which column now holds a mixed run so that you can unmix it when an empty column arrives.

Uncover face-down cards

As in Klondike, the face-down cards are the real obstacles. A move that turns a card over is almost always better than one that merely lengthens a run. Prefer to work on columns with the fewest face-down cards left, since each one you clear becomes a column you can empty.

Empty columns are everything

An empty column in Spider is worth more than any other asset, because it lets you move a run piece by piece: put the bottom card in the empty column, move the next card onto a suitable card elsewhere, bring the first card back, and so on. With one empty column you can rearrange two mixed runs; with two you can untangle almost anything.

So: make an empty column as early as possible, use it to fix mixed runs, and refill it only when you must (before a deal) or when refilling uncovers something. A king in an empty column is permanent, since nothing can go under it, so place a king there only when you have no better use for the column.

Before every deal

A deal covers every column with a new card, so before you tap the stock make every helpful move first: uncover cards, consolidate same-suit runs, and if possible leave the top cards of your columns high (kings, queens) so that the newly dealt cards have places to go. Never deal while a column is empty if you can avoid it; filling an empty column with a single card just to deal is sometimes necessary but always costs you.

One suit, two suits, four

• One suit (easy): every card joins every run, so the game is about uncovering and empty columns. Play quickly but still build long runs; a run leaves the table only when it is complete.
• Two suits (medium): spades and hearts. Keep the two suits in separate columns where you can; a column of mixed colours is a column that will not move.
• Four suits (hard): patience. Expect to spend the early game making one empty column, then use it relentlessly. Count the suits of exposed cards before each move and prefer moves that keep each column to a single suit.

Common mistakes

1. Building on a card of another suit when the same suit is available. Mixed runs lock the table.
2. Dealing too early. Make every move first; the deal buries them.
3. Filling an empty column with a king out of habit. It kills the column.
4. Ignoring columns with few face-down cards. Those are the quickest to empty.
5. Playing fast on four-suit days. The hard deals are won in the first ten moves, slowly.

Glossary

• Run: cards in descending order; a same-suit run moves as a unit.
• Mixed run: a descending sequence containing more than one suit, which cannot move together.
• Deal: tapping the stock to put one card on every column.
• Empty column: the working space that lets runs be rebuilt card by card.