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Classic Solitaire

Classic Solitaire

Classic solitaire is among the most popular card games online. Millions of people play them offline or online every single day. The best free classic solitaire is easy to set up, play and win. That’s because, of course, everyone loves to win! Once you know the basics, classic solitaire is a great way to spend free time and is a perfect game to play online if you are looking to advance your skills and eventually play other solitaire games. Below we will tell you all about classic solitaire, including what it is, how to play online, and some tips to help you get the most out of the game.

What Is Classic Solitaire?

Classic solitaire is what is known as ‘patience.’ If you have never heard of the patience games then you are not alone. ‘Patience’ or ‘cabale’ is another word for solitaire. It is part of a family of card games played by one person. Solitaire is still called patience in England, Poland, and Germany and is known as cabale in Scandinavian countries.

It is any one-player card-related activity. These activities include classic solitaire, flipping cards into a hat, building card houses, and arranging cards into mathematical “magic squares.” The most common understanding of the term ‘patience game’ is an activity where the player starts with a shuffled pack of cards and attempts to get all the cards arranged in numerical order and separated by suits. Patience games have existed since the 17th century but became increasingly popular in the 1990s when Microsoft Solitaire was included in Microsoft Office 3.0. Since that time, the popularity of online classic solitaire has soared. In fact, 35 million people play classic solitaire every month!

How to Play Classic Solitaire

Before you can win at classic solitaire, you must know how to play. The steps to playing are easy to understand, but four classic solitaire terms are essential to have under your belt. We will go through each, so you know them well.

  • Tableau – This term that refers to the seven piles that are on the main playing table.
  • Foundations – You are trying to build these four piles from the main tableau. The aces of each suit go at the bottom of each pile and then run sequentially up to the king.
  • Stock – This is another word for your hand pile. It includes all the remaining cards you will use to bring additional cards into the playing field. 
  • Waste – The other word for this is the talon. It is the discarded cards from your stock or hand pile that, at the moment, are not playable.

To play classic solitaire online, you will use skill to create sequences by suit and rank by moving descending-ordered cards and alternating colors. Any time you move a face-up card onto another from the tableau, you can turn over the face-down card you just unblocked. You can put a king there if you find yourself with any empty space in a pile. It is important to note that only a king may be placed in an empty pile. 

Whenever you have an ace, you will want to move it to a foundation pile. The ace is always the base of your foundation. When you are out of moves with your current playable cards, you will draw one or three cards, depending on your choice when you set up your game. Stack columns by adding one sequence on top of another. For example, you can move a stack containing 5,4 and 3 onto a stack containing 7 and 6 as long as the 6 and 5 are alternating colors.

Repeat this process with stacks until you have moved all your cards from the tableau into the foundation piles. That is how you win at classic solitaire!

Classic Solitaire Rules

There are three major rules that any player of classic solitaire online must know and follow.

  1. Groups of cards or individual cards from your stockpile can be moved in the tableau only when they are moved on top of a card that is a different color and in a descending rank. An example is that a jack of spades may be transferred onto a queen of hearts.
  2. You may place only a king on an empty tableau.
  3. To win, you have to move all the cards in the tableau to the four foundation piles. This must be done by suit and in the order of ace to king. 

How to Set Up Classic Solitaire

The setup for classic solitaire is straightforward. That is another reason it is so well-loved by players of all skill levels and ages. The online game is played with a standard 52-card deck. It is shuffled and divided into seven columns placed face-down to set up the game. Each new card is placed into the next column. The tableau will increase in size from the direction of left to right. The right-most pile will contain seven cards, and the left-most pile only one. To better illustrate this, the first seven cards create the seven columns, the eighth card goes into the second column, and so forth.

Once the piles are complete, they should form a reverse staircase that cascades towards the right. Before beginning, the only card in these piles that will be turned over to see the suit and value will be the last in each column.

How to Play Classic Solitaire Online in 7 Simple Steps

One of the great things about playing the classic solitaire game online is that it is simple, making it loved by every classic solitaire player of all ages and skill levels. There are seven simple steps to playing free online classic solitaire.

  1. Choose the number of cards of wish to draw – You may choose between drawing one card or a stack of three cards at a time. If you are a classic solitaire beginner, drawing one card is a great place to start. Drawing three cards can be more of a challenge and is perfect for those who have mastered one card at a time and are looking to advance their skills.
  2. Flip a face-down card over – To see the value of a face-down card, click on it to flip it over. This step allows you to decide your next move.
  3. Drag face-up cards to cards of the opposite suit and color – You may move any contrasting color and suit card to another if it is one rank lower than the card you wish to place it on. For example, an eight of hearts may be dragged to a nine of spades because it is a lower rank and because hearts is a red suit and spades are a black suit. 
  4. Continue drawing cards by clicking on the deck – When you click on the deck in the upper left corner of your online game, it will draw either one or three cards, depending on which option you choose. It is important only to draw cards after you are out of moves with your existing cards.
  5. Double-click on aces to add to your card foundations – You may also drag them to your foundations. Aces must be the first card in each card foundation, and ascending cards placed on top of them.
  6. Move your kings to your empty stacks – Because they are your highest value card, place them in your open piles and then drag descending cards to that stack. They will be at the bottom of your card foundation.
  7. Fill your foundations in ascending order by suit – You want to fill in your four foundation stacks with the cards by suit (hearts, spades, clubs, and diamonds) from lowest in value to highest in value (ace, 2-10, jack, queen, king).

You can see that by following the above simple steps of playing classic solitaire free online can be enjoyable and easy to master!

Getting the Most out of Classic Solitaire: 10 Tips & Reminders

When looking to become proficient in classic solitaire online, there are a few tips and reminders that will make it much more likely you will succeed in winning each classic solitaire game online. There is always a little luck in drawing the cards, but the strategy is more important than luck! Here are ten tips to get you started.

#1 Master the rules

Just like everything, practice makes perfect. The more you go through setting up and playing the classic solitaire online, the better you will get. 

#2 Focus on larger stacks first

You can uncover more hidden cards when you work with larger stacks of cards. In classic solitaire, the more useful cards you reveal, the more moves you can make.

#3 If playing timed, move quickly

Not all online classic solitaire games are timed, but if yours is, remember to make the moves that score you the highest, the quickest.

#4 Consider the color

This is especially important when moving a king to an empty pile because the king’s color determines the order in which you must sequence the rest of the cards. Make sure to look at all your cards in play before doing so.

#5 Tackle face-down cards first

Always uncover and free these cards first. Face-down cards offer no mobility and can mean you are missing available moves.

#6 Distribute tableau piles evenly

New classic solitaire players commonly try to complete a single pile. That is a big mistake. By distributing into even piles, you get a larger choice of card sets and can work through waste cards faster.

#7 Create stacks of similar suits

This is a tip you won’t want to forget, especially as you near the end of your online classic solitaire game. It is a great way to get face-down cards unstuck and makes building useful chains of cards easier. 

#8 Steer clear of emptying a space without a king

Empty tableau slots without a king are useless. So don’t empty one if you don’t have a king in play to move.

#9 Build same suit piles on an open board

When you can access many cards on your tableau, try making piles that use a similar suit. For example, if you have the 10 of clubs on top of the jack of hearts, try to keep moving more clubs and hearts to that pile. This comes in handy if your online classic solitaire game gets stalled. You may have an ace trapped under an unmovable column.

#10 Keep an open mind to change strategies

When you are struggling, frustration can set in, and that’s understandable. Instead of quitting and starting a new online classic solitaire game, try to change your strategy. It may just help you get unstuck.

What Is the Average Win Rate of Solitaire?

Regarding solitaire – classic card games, the odds of winning at online classic solitaire are very good. Once you know the rules for playing classic solitaire online, almost 80% of online classic solitaire games are winnable. Those odds are excellent and should encourage you to learn and play classic solitaire online! Certain variations have higher odds of winning than others. Although, on average, almost 80% of classic solitaire games are technically winnable, it is important to note that the average classic solitaire player will win 40-60% of their games. This is highly variable depending on the difficulty of the online classic solitaire game they play and the skill level they possess.

The more you play classic solitaire online, the higher your average win rate will be as you get better and quicker at the game!

Play Classic Solitaire on Solitaires.com

It is impossible not to enjoy playing classic solitaire card games online. Classic solitaire is easy, fun, and a great way to pass the time online. Because it is so easy to play solitaire free online classic, it is great not just at home but when traveling and needing to keep your mind engaged while waiting at an airport or in a car. Easily accessible on a phone, tablet, or laptop, you can play classic solitaire online anywhere at any time! Classic solitaire has many advantages: improving your cognitive skills, teaching focus and patience, calming your mind, and improving your problem-solving skills. Those reasons alone are the perfect reason to start playing free classic solitaire online!

Ready to dive into the world of online solitaire? Explore a variety of engaging solitaire games and challenge yourself with different twists on the classic game. Whether you prefer the strategic depth of Scorpion Solitaire or the captivating Spider Solitaire, you will find endless hours of entertainment.