Spider Solitaire Strategy: Empty Columns, Dealing and 4 Suits

Good Spider Solitaire strategy comes down to three things: uncover face-down cards, build in suit, and turn empty columns into a workspace. An empty column lets you take apart a mixed stack and put it back together in suit, which is how you win the harder 2 and 4 suit games. Deal from the stock only when nothing useful is left on the table.

This guide assumes you know the rules. If not, start with how to play Spider Solitaire. The worked examples below were checked move by move with Poozee's Spider engine.

Put your moves in order

When several moves are possible, this order is a reliable guide:

1. Complete a suit whenever you can. It clears 13 cards and may turn over the card beneath.
2. Turn over a face-down card. Every hidden card you reveal gives you new options.
3. Build in suit. Put a card on the same-suit card one rank higher, so the run can move later.
4. Empty a column, or get one step closer to emptying it.
5. Build out of suit only when it achieves one of the above, such as freeing the card beneath.

When two moves would each turn over a card, prefer the column with fewer face-down cards. That column is closer to being cleared, and a cleared column is the most valuable thing in the game.

How empty columns let you move mixed stacks

Spider only lets you move a group of cards together when they are all one suit. A stack such as 10♠ 9♠ 8♥ 7♥ is two runs: 10♠ 9♠ and 8♥ 7♥. You can move the hearts on their own, but not the whole stack in one go.

An empty column changes that, because you can use it as a parking space.

Worked example: one empty column, two runs

Here is the position. The last card listed in each column is the one you can play.

You want the face-down card in column A. The whole stack from the 10♠ down would fit on the J♣, but it isn't one suit, so it can't move as a unit. With the empty column it takes three moves:

1. Move 8♥ 7♥ into the empty column C.
2. Move 10♠ 9♠ onto the J♣. Column A's face-down card turns over.
3. Move 8♥ 7♥ onto the 9♠.

Now column B ends J♣ 10♠ 9♠ 8♥ 7♥, you've turned over a card, and column C is empty again, ready for the next job. That last point is the whole idea: the empty column did its work without being used up.

How far this goes

Each extra empty column doubles the number of runs you can move. We checked this by having a program try every possible sequence of moves in Poozee's Spider engine:

With two empty columns, a stack made of four different-suit runs can be moved onto another card, and both columns end up empty again. Add one more run than the table allows, and the whole stack can no longer be moved.

Pro tip: Before you fill an empty column for good, count what it's worth. One empty column doubles what you can move. It is usually better to keep it open and use it as a workspace than to park a single card in it.

Use empty columns to sort suits

Moving stacks is only half of it. An empty column also lets you swap cards between columns so they end up in suit.

Say one column ends 9♠ 8♥ and another ends 9♥ 8♠. Both are mixed, and neither 8 can go straight onto the other 9, because each 9 is covered. With an empty column:

1. Move the 8♥ into the empty column.
2. Move the 8♠ onto the 9♠.
3. Move the 8♥ onto the 9♥.

Now you have 9♠ 8♠ and 9♥ 8♥, two runs in suit, and the empty column is free again. We checked this sequence in Poozee's Spider engine too.

A good habit in 2 and 4 suit games: every time you gain an empty column, look for a mixed stack you can rebuild in suit before you do anything else with it.

Which cards to uncover first

• Short columns first. A column with one or two face-down cards can be cleared soon. A column with five can't.
• Watch for Kings. A King sitting on face-down cards can only move into an empty column, so the cards under it stay buried until you have a column to spare. Plan around those columns rather than digging into them early.
• Don't break a finished-looking run to uncover a card unless you can put the run back together. A run of seven hearts is worth more than one extra face-down card in most positions.

When to deal

A deal puts one card on every column, including on top of your best runs, and you can't deal at all while a column is empty. So:

1. Make every move that turns over a card or builds in suit first.
2. Rebuild mixed stacks in suit using your empty columns while you still have them.
3. Fill the empty columns last, and with the highest cards you can, because a low card in a column is easy to cover and hard to use.
4. Then deal. Don't hold back once nothing useful is left: the stock is part of the game, and five deals are all you get either way.

On Poozee, the Hint button follows the same logic: it suggests moves first, then a deal, and if an empty column is the only thing blocking a deal, it suggests filling it with the highest card on offer.

Tactics by difficulty

1 suit

Everything you build is already in suit, so every run moves as a unit. The game is about face-down cards and empty columns. Clear the shortest columns and keep at least one column empty whenever you can.

2 suits

Now building out of suit costs you. Two habits make the biggest difference:

• When a card could go on two targets, choose the same suit even if the other target seems handier.
• Use empty columns to split mixed stacks as soon as you get them, using the moves above. Mixed stacks that sit around get dealt on and become much harder to fix.

4 suits

The classic hard game. Expect to use undo a lot, and expect to lose some games even when you play well.

• Empty columns come first. With four suits you'll build out of suit constantly, and only empty columns let you fix it.
• Build out of suit only to reveal a card or clear a column. Every off-suit card is a knot you'll have to untie later.
• Keep the stock in mind. Before each deal, look for the stack you'd least like to see buried and fix it first.
• Explore with undo. Try a line, see what the face-down card turns out to be, and back up if it didn't help. Poozee gives you unlimited undo, including across deals.

Keep playing

Put this into practice in Spider Solitaire: start at 2 suits to practice sorting, then move on to 4. If you'd like a solitaire where every card is visible and planning is everything, try FreeCell with our FreeCell strategy guide. And for the rules behind all of this, see how to play Spider Solitaire.