Solitaire Win Rates: Every Game Compared
What percentage of deals are actually winnable? We break down win rates for every major solitaire variant, explain what the numbers mean, and tell you which games reward skill vs. luck.
Not all solitaire games are created equal. FreeCell is solvable 99.999% of the time. Pyramid Solitaire under classic rules is winnable less than 2% of the time. Klondike Turn 1 sits somewhere in the middle at roughly 35–45%. Here's a complete breakdown of win rates across every major variant — with what each number actually means for your play experience.
What "Win Rate" Actually Means
There are two ways to measure win rates and they produce very different numbers:
- Theoretical win rate: The percentage of deals that are winnable by a perfect player with perfect information. This is a mathematical property of the shuffled deck.
- Practical win rate: The percentage of deals a real human player actually wins, including suboptimal moves and incomplete information.
The numbers below are theoreticalunless noted. A real player's win rate will always be lower — sometimes dramatically so.
Klondike Solitaire
Turn 1 (draw one)
~79–91%
Theoretical max
~35–45%
Human practical
~9–21%
Unwinnable deals
Medium
Difficulty
Turn 1 is the most forgiving Klondike variant. Drawing one card at a time gives you more information and more flexibility. Most unwinnable deals are lost due to buried Aces that can't be reached — not bad play.
Turn 3 (draw three)
~82–91%
Theoretical max
~11–18%
Human practical
~8–18%
Unwinnable deals
Hard
Difficulty
Turn 3 is paradoxically more winnable in theory (because a perfect player can plan around the cyclic stock) but far harder in practice. The gap between theoretical and practical is the largest of any variant. Human players win only 1-in-6 deals on average.
FreeCell
99.999%
Theoretical max
~80–95%
Human practical
~0.001%
Unwinnable deals
Medium
Difficulty
FreeCell is the closest thing to a "fair" solitaire game. Every card is face-up from move one, so there's no hidden information. Of the first 32,000 standard deals, only one (deal #11982) is provably unsolvable. With good strategy and patience, 80–95% of deals are completeable by human players.
Spider Solitaire
1-Suit Spider
~99%+
Theoretical max
~60–70%
Human practical
Easy
Difficulty
2-Suit Spider
~50–70%
Theoretical max
~25–40%
Human practical
Medium
Difficulty
4-Suit Spider
~20–30%
Theoretical max
~5–15%
Human practical
Hard
Difficulty
Spider's win rate depends almost entirely on the suit count. Adding more suits creates dramatically more blocked positions. With 4 suits, the probability of a deal with no winning path at all increases sharply — meaning luck of the draw matters more than in FreeCell.
Pyramid Solitaire
~0.5–2%
Theoretical max
~0.5–2%
Human practical
Hard
Difficulty
Pyramid has the lowest win rate of any popular solitaire variant. Most deals are mathematically unwinnable — the required pairs (summing to 13) simply don't appear in accessible positions. When a deal is winnable, an experienced player can usually find the winning line, so the theoretical and practical win rates nearly converge.
Winning Pyramid Solitaire is less about skill and more about recognizing a winnable deal quickly, then executing correctly. The game is a puzzle, not a strategy exercise.
TriPeaks Solitaire
~70–85%
Theoretical max
~45–60%
Human practical
Easy
Difficulty
TriPeaks is the most beginner-friendly game with a meaningful win rate challenge. Most deals are winnable, but poor chain management can turn a winnable deal into a loss quickly. Skill matters substantially — the gap between a novice and an experienced player is 20–30 percentage points.
Canfield
~30–35%
Theoretical max
~5–15%
Human practical
~3% payout rate
Original casino
Hard
Difficulty
Canfield was the original casino solitaire game — players paid $1 per card and were paid $5 for each card moved to the foundations. At a ~3% practical win rate per card, the house had a massive edge. Modern play with better information produces higher practical rates, but it remains one of the hardest standard variants.
Other Variants at a Glance
| Game | Theoretical | Human Practical | Key Factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golf Solitaire | ~40–60% | ~20–35% | Column layout luck |
| Yukon Solitaire | ~60–75% | ~30–40% | Sequence planning |
| Forty Thieves | ~10–15% | ~2–5% | Two decks, strict rules |
| La Belle Lucie | ~5–15% | ~2–5% | Redeal limit |
| Gaps Solitaire | ~5–10% | ~3–7% | Shuffle order |
| Scorpion | ~40–55% | ~10–20% | Hidden card timing |
| Baker's Dozen | ~80–90% | ~40–55% | Initial sort |
Skill vs. Luck: What the Numbers Tell Us
The gap between theoretical and practical win rates is the clearest measure of skill in solitaire. A large gap means skill matters a lot; a small gap means the deal mostly determines the outcome.
| Game | Skill Gap | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Klondike Turn 3 | ~65–70% | Mostly skill (given a winnable deal) |
| Klondike Turn 1 | ~40–50% | Skill-dominant |
| FreeCell | ~5–20% | Almost pure skill |
| TriPeaks | ~20–35% | Skill-dominant |
| Spider 4-Suit | ~15–20% | Mixed |
| Pyramid | ~0% | Luck-dominant |
| Forty Thieves | ~8–10% | Mixed |
Keep reading
Solitaire Strategy: How to Win More Often
The principles behind winning Klondike and FreeCell more consistently.
Is Every FreeCell Game Winnable?
Why 99.999% of FreeCell deals are solvable — and which one isn't.
TriPeaks Solitaire Strategy Guide
Chain building and peak clearing order to boost your TriPeaks win rate.
Pyramid Solitaire Tips & Strategy
How to identify winnable deals and execute correctly at under 2% win rate.