You need 104 cards to play Spider Solitaire. In other words, you need 2 standard decks of 52 playing cards with the Jokers removed. In the initial stock pile, you will have two identical cards of each kind — that is, you will have 2 Aces of Hearts, 2 Aces of Clubs, 2 Aces of Spades, 2 Aces of Diamonds, 2 Kings of Hearts, and so on.
Does suit matter in Spider Solitaire?
Yes, suit does matter in Spider Solitaire. The reason for this is that you must build a pile of 13 cards of the same suit, ordered consecutively from Ace low through King high. Once all the cards of a given suit, such as the Hearts, Spades, or Clubs, are placed on top of a pile in ascending order, it will be eliminated from play.
Remember, you can only move cards from one pile to another if they match in suit. That is why the suit plays a crucial role in the game of Spider Solitaire.
Can you play Spider Solitaire with one deck of cards?
Yes, you can play solitaire with a single deck of 52 playing cards (of course, with joker cards removed). It is called Spiderette Solitaire.
Instead of creating 10 initial stacks, you can change that to six piles of cards on the tableau, four of five cards and two of six cards.
How do you make Spider Solitaire with one deck?
Spider Solitaire with one deck is called Little Solitaire and it provides you with many options to make. As it uses a single deck, you will have a total of 52 standard playing cards to move around and form the foundation piles. However, this version of solitaire is quite different from the classic Spider Solitaire, Poker Solitaire, Yukon Solitaire, or even Klondike Solitaire.
Layout of Single-Deck Spider Solitaire (AKA Little Spider Solitaire)
Here is how to set up Little Spider:
- Start by dealing the whole 52-card deck into 8 tableau piles, with each pile made up of two rows of face-up cards
- You must leave room between the two rows for a 3rd row, essentially the foundation pile
- The first row is called lower tableau, while the second row is known as upper tableau
- Move the two Aces of a similar color (either black or red) to the foundation pile (third row in between the first two rows) as they become available during exposing the face-down cards
- Move the two Kings of the opposite color (either red or black, respectively) to the foundation row
Gameplay of Single-Deck Spider Solitaire Rules
- A face-up card can be moved from one pile to another on the tableau, as long as it follows the ranking order. For this game, an Ace is ranks higher than a King
- Any face-up card in the upper tableau (second row) can be moved to any of the foundation stack, as long as the ranking order is followed and the cards are of similar suit. For instance, if a Deuce of Hearts is in the foundation pile, the 3 of Hearts may be moved to the foundation from the upper tableau.
- Any revealed card in the lower tableau can be moved to the foundation stack above it, as long as it follows the correct rank order and the cards are of matching suit
- Any empty space created in the tableau cannot be filled
- A card cannot be removed from the foundation pile once it has been placed there
- An Ace and a King cannot be placed on top of one another in the foundation piles
Goal of Little Spider Game
The goal of the Spider Solitaire game with one deck is to create four complete foundations. Two foundations will be arranged in ascending order from an Ace up to a King, while the other two are arranged in descending order from a King down to an Ace. You must complete all four foundations to win the game.
How do you win Spider Solitaire?
The goal of spider solitaire is to build 8 foundation piles, with each stack made up of 13 cards of the same suit and ordered in ascending sequence from the Ace up to the King. For example, a foundation pile of 13 cards of Hearts must be ordered as follows: AH, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H, 6H, 7H, 8H, 9H, 10H, JH, QH, KH.
Every time you complete a full suite of thirteen cards, the whole pile will be lifted off the foundations and eliminated out from play. As such, you win Spider Solitaire when all eight foundation piles (two each of Hearts, Spades, Clubs, and Diamonds) are eliminated out of play.
Is solitaire the same as Spider?
No, solitaire is not the same as Spider Solitaire. The two versions of solitaire are quite different…
- In standard solitaire games, your goal is to flip over all the hidden cards face up and arrange them into piles of alternative color and correct ranking order. In Spider Solitaire, you are turning the hidden face up so that you can create eight foundation piles, two of each suit. You can also arrange face-up cards in tableau piles in Spider, but they must be of the same color and suit.
- The foundation piles of regular solitaire are all ordered ascending from Aces up to Kings of the same suit. In Spider, half of the foundation piles are in descending order from Kings down to Aces, while the rest are ascending from Aces up to Kings.
- Each complete foundation pile in regular solitaire remains below the tableau. However, in Spider Solitaire, each completed foundation pile is lifted off and eliminated altogether from play.
- Also, Spider Solitaire uses two 52-card decks, while regular solitaire can uses one deck of 52 playing cards
- About 80% (1 in four games) of regular solitaire games are solvable, while 1 in 3 games of Spider Solitaire are winning for a win percentage rate of around 33%.
The Basics of Playing Spider Solitaire
The Objective of Spider Solitaire
Spider Solitaire is a quick and easy card game typically played using two standard decks of 52 playing cards from the stock pile. The goal of the game is to bring together 13 suited cards on top of a pile in ascending order from the Ace to King.
The stack is discarded from play once the complete suit has been assembled in the said order. You can only win if all the 8 suits are discarded.
The Setup of Spider Solitaire
The setup is a crucial part of the Spider Solitaire game. As noted above, you will need two standard 52-card decks. Jokers must be removed before the two decks are shuffled together.
The Deal in Spider Solitaire
The deal in Spider Solitaire is made by dealing 10 piles of 5 cards in a row. You deal the first 4 cards face down, with the top cards facing up (as shown below).
The Spider Solitaire Gameplay
You must first shuffle the cards
Ten cards are dealt out initially to the tableau in a row. They should face down before dealing out additional 3 rows of ten cards that are face down.
Follow up with another 4 cards with their face down. Then deal out another face-up card at the base of a 10-card pile. These will be the 4 leftmost stacks.
Put the remaining cards in a pack face down to your right. They will form the stock.
A chain of available cards can be split at any time by discarding some cards. For instance, if a pile from top to bottom contains the numbers 4, 5, 6, and 7, the first one, two, or three cards may be moved together, but the 7 cannot be moved until the three cards covering it are removed. Once all face-up cards on a stack are stripped away, the next card below is turned face up and becomes viewable.
A moveable unit of cards, no matter the color or suit, may be put in a space or on a card of the next-higher rank to the bottom card of the unit. For instance, if the bottom card of a unit is the J, it can be moved to any of the four queens.
A king can only be moved onto a spot. Alternatively, any moveable unit may be used to fill the slots.
When all feasible or preferred movements have been exhausted, the player deals another row of 10 face-up cards. However, before such a contract can be struck, all available spaces must be filled. The last deal is merely four cards, which are dealt to the initial four piles.
What is the goal of Spider Solitaire?
The goal of spider solitaire is to form a 13-card stack of suited cards on top of a pile in ascending order from an ace to the king. The ultimate objective is to assemble all eight suits of 13 cards ordered in ascending manner.
Can every Spider Solitaire game be won?
No, every spider solitaire game cannot be won. According to game statistics, around 80% of Spider solitaire games are winnable.