Klondike Solitaire Rules at a Glance
The complete rulebook in 10 lines. Every rule below is expanded in the sections that follow.
- Use a single 52-card deck. No Jokers.
- Deal 28 cards into 7 tableau columns (1, 2, 3, …, 7 cards). Only the top card of each column is face up.
- The remaining 24 cards form the face-down stock. The waste slot starts empty.
- Four empty foundations sit above the tableau — one per suit.
- On the tableau, build down in alternating colors: a black 7 only lands on a red 8.
- On the foundations, build up in the same suit from Ace to King.
- Only a King (or a run starting with a King) may fill an empty tableau column.
- Draw from the stock into the waste — one card at a time in Draw 1, three at a time in Draw 3 (only the top is playable).
- When the stock empties, recycle the waste back into it. Unlimited recycles; in scored Draw 3, each recycle costs 20 points.
- You win the moment all four foundations are built from Ace through King.
How to Set Up the Board
Twenty-eight cards are dealt into seven tableau columns: 1 card in the first column, 2 in the second, up to 7 in the seventh. Only the top card of each column is face-up. The remaining 24 cards form the stock, placed face-down. The four foundations start empty above the tableau.
Moving Cards on the Tableau
Cards on the tableau must be stacked in descending rank with alternating colors. A red 5 can only go on a black 6. You may move a single card or a properly ordered sequence of face-up cards. When a face-down card is exposed, it flips automatically. Empty columns may only be filled with a King or a sequence starting with a King.
Building the Foundations
Each of the four foundation piles holds one suit, built upward from Ace to King. Cards placed on a foundation cannot be moved back in traditional rules. The game is won the moment all four foundations are complete from Ace through King.
Using the Stock and Waste
Draw from the stock to add cards to the waste pile. In Draw 1, one card is turned at a time. In Draw 3, three cards are turned, but only the top card is available for play. When the stock is empty, the waste pile is recycled back into the stock.
Draw 1 vs Draw 3: Which Should You Play?
Draw 1 is the easier mode — you see every card in order and can access them freely. Roughly 80% of Draw 1 deals are solvable with perfect play. Draw 3 is the standard competitive mode — you see fewer cards per pass through the stock, making strategy more important. Draw 3 also penalises stock recycling in scored games. For the specific rules, scoring penalty and Draw-3 strategy in depth, see the dedicated Draw 3 guide.
| Draw 1 | Draw 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cards turned per draw | 1 | 3 (top card playable) |
| Typical human win rate | 40–45% | 10–20% |
| Difficulty | Relaxed | Hard |
| Stock recycles | Unlimited | Unlimited, −20 points each in scored games |
| Best for | New players, quick wins | Strategic, competitive play |
Want the full tactical breakdown? Dedicated Draw 3 rules and strategy guide →
Scoring in Klondike Solitaire
Standard scoring awards +10 for moving a card to a foundation, +5 for moving a card from the waste to the tableau, and +5 for flipping a face-down card. Recycling the stock in Draw 3 mode costs 20 points. Vegas scoring turns the game into a gambling format with a per-deal stake. The goal is always the same: complete all four foundations with the fewest moves and highest score.
| Action | Standard | Vegas |
|---|---|---|
| Card moved to a foundation | +10 points | +$5 |
| Card moved from waste to tableau | +5 points | — |
| Face-down card flipped | +5 points | — |
| Card moved back off a foundation | −15 points | — |
| Stock recycled (Draw 3) | −20 points | n/a |
| Stake to deal a new game | — | −$52 |
Odds of Winning Klondike
Under Draw 1 with perfect play, about 80% of Klondike deals are solvable — but a skilled human player still only wins 40–45% of games, because solving requires perfect recall of every stock card. Draw 3 is harder in practice: the tighter access to the stock drops realistic win rates to 10–20%, even though most deals are still technically beatable. Roughly 1 in 5 Klondike deals cannot be won no matter how you play, so losing sometimes is not always your fault.
A Worked Example
The cleanest way to understand Klondike rules is one legal move.
Say the bottom of column 3 shows the 7♥ face-up, and column 5 ends in the 6♠ face-up.
The 6♠ (black) can move onto the 7♥ (red), because the tableau requires descending rank and alternating colors. Once the 6♠ is gone from column 5, the card beneath it flips face-up — new information you did not have before. That is the engine of the game: every legal move either advances a foundation or reveals hidden information.
Edge Cases That Confuse Players
Four rule questions that come up on almost every Klondike forum thread — here is the authoritative answer.
| Rule question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Can I move a card from a foundation back to the tableau? | Yes. Foundation-to-tableau is always legal during play. Useful when the card you sent up is needed to bridge a sequence you did not see coming. |
| Can I move part of a tableau run, not the whole column? | Yes. Any contiguous face-up sub-stack (descending rank, alternating colors) can move to a valid destination. You do not have to move the full column. |
| When does auto-complete trigger? | Once every remaining card is face-up and a foundation-only finish is reachable. On StillDeck the cascade fires without prompting; the stock does not need to be empty, only unproductive. |
| Which Kings can fill an empty column? | Any King of any suit. Empty tableau columns accept Kings exclusively — no other rank ever can, even by implied sequence. |
Common Beginner Mistakes
These four mistakes cost more games than any complicated strategy can recover.
- Holding Aces or 2s on the tableau instead of sending them straight to the foundation.
- Emptying a tableau column without a King ready to fill it.
- Recycling the stock before scanning the tableau for legal moves.
- Building the foundations too eagerly when a mid-rank card still has work to do on the tableau.
For the full 7-mistake breakdown with Do/Don't pairs, see common beginner mistakes on How to Play → or the full strategy guide.
Klondike Variants at a Glance
Klondike is a family. These are the four variants you are most likely to run into.
- Las Vegas Klondike — Gambling variant. Pay a $52 stake per deal, win $5 per card moved to a foundation. Cash out at $260.
- Double Klondike — Two decks (104 cards), two rows of foundations. Same rules, longer game, better odds.
- Joker Klondike — Adds two Jokers as wild cards that can substitute for any rank and color.
- Thoughtful Klondike — All cards dealt face-up from the start. Used in mathematical research on Klondike solvability.
A Short History of Klondike
Klondike was documented in 1907 as "Seven-Card Klondike" and takes its name from the 1897 Yukon Gold Rush, where prospectors played it to pass the time. It reached global ubiquity when Microsoft bundled a version — written by intern Wes Cherry — with Windows 3.0 in 1990. Microsoft later said Solitaire was for years the single most-used application on Windows, which is why most people today use "Solitaire" and "Klondike" interchangeably.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you win Klondike solitaire?
You win the moment all 52 cards are moved to the four foundation piles, each built upward by suit from Ace to King. The last King lands and the game is over.
What happens when the stock runs out?
In standard Klondike the waste pile is flipped and returned to the stock, and you cycle through again. In Draw 3 scored games each recycle costs 20 points. Vegas scoring traditionally allows only three passes through the deck.
Can you move a card back off the foundation?
Under strict traditional rules, no — a card placed on the foundation stays there. Most modern digital versions, including StillDeck, let you move foundation cards back to the tableau. That small flexibility turns some otherwise unwinnable deals into wins.
Why are only Kings allowed in empty tableau columns?
The tableau builds downward from high rank to low, so only the highest card — the King — can start a new column. Allowing any card would break the descending-rank rule that makes the game work.
Can you stack cards of the same color on the tableau?
No. Tableau builds must alternate colors on every step: a red card only goes on a black card, and vice versa. It is the single rule new players miss most often.
More questions answered on the full solitaire FAQ.