How to Win Spider Solitaire: Strategy Tips

Spider solitaire is a popular (some might say addicting) game that is packaged with Windows, and also available at many websites to play online or as a free download. Spider Solitaire a tough game to beat in advanced play, but here are some steps to take to increase your odds.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Spider solitaire (on your computer, or online)

1. 
    
   Spider Solitaire: Easy or Hard?

   **Master the Easy Levels**
   
   Spider Solitaire comes in three levels: Easy (one suit), Medium (two suits), and Difficult (all four suits). Jumping right to Difficult is like learning to swim by jumping into the pool with all your clothes on. Spend some time at the Easy and Medium levels to get a good feel for the game, and to begin to understand some of the strategy options available to you.

2. **Ignore the Score**
   
   Spider Solitaire has a built in counter that keeps track of the number of moves you make, and scores you accordingly. It takes a real master at the game to try to win and minimize the number of moves at the same time. Ignore the score, and just concentrate on playing a winning hand.

3. **Undo Like Crazy**
   
   Ctrl-Z will (most of the time) undo your last move. Use it often, when a move you made seems like a step backwards. This is one of the best ways to stay on a winning track.

4. 
    
   Which Six is Best to Move?

   **Rethink the Obvious**
   
   Sometimes the obvious move -- pulling the 8-hearts down onto the open 9-hearts -- isn't always the best move. Pulling the open 8-spades might be an even better move if it opens up an empty column, or reveals a particularly useful card underneath. Even thought the 9-hearts/8-spades combination mixes suits, and blocks you from moving your column for the time being, it still may be the best move available. Judge carefully.

5. **Build a Junk Pile**
   
   Sometimes, you just have move cards to in order to free up options underneath, even though the move does some damage. Have a column (or two) of cards that you just dedicate to being a junk pile -- one with no hope of emptying until very late in the game -- can be an effective strategy in Spider Solitaire.

6. **Make Full Use of Empty columns**
   
   Once you've got yourself an empty column, don't be in a rush to put a permanent card there. Having an empty column (or better yet, two or three empty columns) opens up a world of flexibility in terms of being able to rearrange cards all over the board. Use the empties to build as many single-suit runs of cards as you can.

7. 
    
   Can You See How to Open Two Columns Here?

   **Split Your Runs, Sometimes**
   
   Say you've got a nice run going, 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2 of spades. But now you got an Ace of hearts to get rid of. Do you put it on the end of the nice spades run, and block yourself from moving it? Perhaps. But another option is to move a few cards off the run to another column. Maybe you can move the 3 and 2 of spades to an open 4, and then move the Ace of hearts onto that column, leaving the (now shortened) run of spades available to move. It's a judgement call.

8. **Always Ask: What Did I Gain**
   
   You've made your next move. Was it a good one? Are you now in a better position than you were a moment ago? If the answer is clearly "No", then hit undo, and look for other options. If the answer is "I'm not sure", then explore what other options might be available, and perhaps use repeat undos to see which would be best.

9. 
    
   You Can Win at Spider Solitaire

   Spider Solitaire is an enjoyable and challenging game. If you don't have it on your system, there are plenty of free options available, to download or play online.

[melstring]

on 9/5/2009 Great tips David. We all should admire excellence in anything!

[melstring]

on 9/5/2009 I find I can win 99.9% of the intermediate level games if I chose my games carefully> For example: a deal that has 6s, 7s, 8s & 9s, no more than one or two queens and jacks, no end cards - aces and kings and no more than two of any card. I can win 93% of all direct deals with tenacity because the undo feature if yours goes back to the deal offers an infinite number of possible outcomes. Others, of course, may have better things to do. I cannot seem to win any of the advanced games. What am I missing (aside from the obvious lack of a life)?

[ScarlettOHairy]

on 2/10/2009 I've never played Spider Solitaire but have heard about it from my sister. It sounds like YOU have an addiction, David! I guess we all need something besides eHow to occupy our time. Great article! 5*