One Suit, Two Suits, or Four?
Spider Solitaire scales with you. The one-suit game teaches the rhythm — building runs from King to Ace and clearing them off the board — and most deals can be won once you learn to keep columns flexible. Two suits adds a real planning layer, because mixed-suit runs can only move one card at a time. Four suits is the expert's game, where even strong players lose more than they win. Start with one suit and move up when you win consistently.
Spider Solitaire Rules
Spider Solitaire uses two decks (104 cards) and is played with 10 tableau columns. It's considered more challenging than Klondike.
- Deal 54 cards into 10 columns: the first 4 columns get 6 cards, the remaining 6 columns get 5 cards. Only the top card of each column is face-up.
- The remaining 50 cards form the stock, divided into 5 deals of 10 cards each.
- Build tableau columns in descending order. You can place any card on a card that's one rank higher, regardless of suit.
- Only same-suit descending sequences can be moved as a group.
- When a complete King-to-Ace sequence of the same suit is formed, it's automatically removed from play.
- To deal from the stock, all 10 tableau columns must contain at least one card.
- The game is won when all 8 complete sequences have been removed.
Spider Solitaire Tips
- Build same-suit sequences whenever possible, even if it means making fewer moves.
- Try to empty a column before dealing from the stock — empty columns are extremely valuable.
- Use off-suit builds as temporary storage, but plan to reorganize them later.
- Focus on completing one sequence at a time rather than partially building several.
- Avoid dealing from the stock until you've exhausted all useful tableau moves.
What is the difference between 1-suit, 2-suit, and 4-suit Spider Solitaire?
1-suit Spider uses only spades and is the easiest. 2-suit uses spades and hearts for a moderate challenge. 4-suit uses all four suits and is extremely difficult, with only about 1-2% of games being winnable.
Is every game of Solitaire winnable?
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%.
How many cards are used in Solitaire?
Standard Klondike, FreeCell, and most variants use one 52-card deck. Spider Solitaire and Forty Thieves use two decks (104 cards).