Golf Solitaire

Golf Solitaire is a fast-paced card game where the goal is to clear all 35 tableau cards. Seven columns of 5 face-up cards are dealt, and the remaining 17 cards form the stock pile. One card is drawn from the stock to start the waste pile. You can move the top card of any tableau column to the waste pile if it is exactly one rank higher or lower than the current waste card, regardless of suit. For example, if the waste shows a 7, you can play a 6 or an 8. Kings and Aces can wrap around (King on Ace or Ace on King). If no moves are available, draw from the stock. The game is won when all 35 tableau cards have been moved to the waste pile.

• Look for long runs before making your first move — a sequence like 5-6-7-8-7-6 clears many cards at once.
• Avoid drawing from the stock if any tableau move is available, since stock cards are limited.
• Try to clear columns evenly rather than emptying one column while others remain full.
• Pay attention to which ranks are left in the tableau — if all 4s are gone, a run through a 4 becomes impossible.
• Kings and Aces are the hardest to play since they can only connect in one direction, so try to play them early.

No. Approximately 79% of Klondike Solitaire deals are winnable with perfect play. FreeCell has a near-perfect solvability rate of 99.999%, while Spider Solitaire 4-suit has a very low win rate of about 1-2%.

Standard Klondike, FreeCell, and most variants use one 52-card deck. Spider Solitaire and Forty Thieves use two decks (104 cards).

Solitaire originated in Northern Europe in the late 18th century, likely in Germany or Scandinavia. It was originally called 'Patience.' The Klondike variant became widely popular during the Gold Rush era in the late 1800s and reached mainstream audiences when Microsoft included it in Windows 3.0 in 1990.