Baker's Dozen Solitaire is one of the most skill-friendly solitaire games ever designed. All 52 cards are dealt face-up across thirteen columns of four, Kings are automatically shuffled to the bottom of each column, and you move one card at a time to build four foundations from Ace to King. With every card visible from the very first move and a win rate of around 90%, Baker's Dozen is rare among solitaire games: a puzzle you can actually solve most of the time if you think clearly.
What is Baker's Dozen Solitaire?
Baker's Dozen Solitaire is a single-player card game played with a standard 52-card deck. The full deck is dealt face-up into thirteen columns of four cards each. Before play begins, every King is automatically moved to the bottom of its column — a mechanic that levels the playing field and gives players a fighting chance. Your goal is to build four foundation piles, one per suit, from Ace through King.
The name "Baker's Dozen" refers to the thirteen columns in the layout — the same number as a baker's traditional count of thirteen items in a dozen. The game belongs to the same patience family as FreeCell and Forty Thieves, where skill dominates and luck plays a limited role. Because every card is face-up from the start, Baker's Dozen is essentially a logic puzzle: all the information is there, and it's up to you to find the path through.
Unlike Klondike or Spider, Baker's Dozen allows only one card to move at a time and builds the tableau downward by rank only, regardless of suit. This constraint sounds harsh, but the King-settling rule and the all-face-up deal compensate generously. Players new to solitaire who have been frustrated by Klondike's randomness often discover Baker's Dozen and find it a revelation: a game where good play is reliably rewarded.
How to play Baker's Dozen Solitaire
Step 1 — Examine the deal
All 52 cards are face-up. Kings have been settled to the bottom of each column. Take a moment to survey the board — unlike hidden-card games, you have complete information. Note which Aces are accessible (at the top of their column) and which are buried.
Step 2 — Send Aces and 2s to the foundations
Each foundation starts with an Ace and builds A→2→3→...→K by suit. The moment an Ace is the top card of a column, move it to its foundation. Follow with the 2 of the same suit as soon as it becomes accessible.
Step 3 — Build the tableau downward by rank
You may place the top card of any column onto another column if it is one rank lower than the destination's top card. Suit doesn't matter — a 7 of any suit goes onto an 8 of any suit. Building in rank order frees up deeper cards and creates pathways to the Aces and 2s you need.
Step 4 — Move to empty columns strategically
Any single card may be moved to an empty column. Empty columns are temporary parking spots — use them to reorganize sequences or expose buried Aces. Fill them deliberately rather than immediately.
Step 5 — Plan your column reductions
Your aim is to reduce column heights so that needed cards become accessible. Before moving a card, trace its chain: if I move this, what becomes playable? Does that move unblock a foundation card? Baker's Dozen rewards thinking two to three moves ahead.
Step 6 — Win by completing all four foundations
The game is won when all four foundations are complete — each containing all 13 cards of one suit from Ace through King. With clear thinking and the all-face-up information advantage, roughly 90% of Baker's Dozen deals are winnable.
The Baker's Dozen play area
The Baker's Dozen board has two main sections. At the top, four foundation slots run side by side — one per suit, starting empty, accepting cards in the order Ace through King. Below them, thirteen tableau columns hold four cards each, all face-up. The columns scroll horizontally on smaller screens.
Because the game has no stock, no waste pile, and no hidden cards, the play area is unusually clean. The only interaction is clicking a top card to select it, then clicking a destination. Double-clicking the top card of a column sends it to its foundation automatically if a valid placement exists — saving many repetitive clicks in the endgame.
Available moves in Baker's Dozen
Baker's Dozen moves are intentionally limited to one card at a time.
Move to tableau. The top card of any column may be moved to another column if it is one rank lower than the destination's top card. Suit is irrelevant — pure rank. Any card may go to an empty column.
Move to foundation. The top card of any column may be moved directly to its matching foundation if it is the correct next card in that foundation's sequence (Ace first, then 2, 3, and so on up to King by suit).
No stock or waste. There is nothing to draw. All 52 cards are in play from the first move. You cannot generate new cards — you can only rearrange what is already there.
No multi-card moves. Unlike Klondike or Scorpion, only the single top card of a column can be moved at one time. This is the core constraint that drives Baker's Dozen strategy.
Baker's Dozen Solitaire strategy
Map the Aces before your first move
Before touching a single card, find all four Aces on the board. Note how many cards are on top of each one. Two Aces at the top of their columns is a favorable deal; all four Aces buried under two or three cards is going to require work. Knowing this upfront shapes your entire opening sequence.
Don't stack same-rank cards in a column
In Baker's Dozen, a card can only be placed on a card of one rank higher. This means a 5 sitting on a 5 is permanent — neither can go anywhere until both have destinations elsewhere. Avoid creating same-rank stacks unless you have a clear plan to resolve them.
Use empty columns for temporary holds, not permanent storage
An empty column is valuable precisely because it is empty. If you park a card there and immediately bury it with another card, you've converted a flexible space into a fixed stack. Use empty columns to temporarily hold a card that is in the way, move the blocked card, then reclaim the temporary card from the empty column.
Foundation timing matters even in Baker's Dozen
Unlike simpler solitaire games, Baker's Dozen can reach positions where sending a card to the foundation too early blocks a move you need. For example, if the 6 of Clubs has just gone to the foundation and you still have 5s of other suits sitting on top of useful cards, those 5s have fewer places to go. Keep the foundation suits roughly balanced.
Work on the longest columns first
Columns with four cards present more risk than columns that are already shorter. A four-card column has up to three non-top cards that may be needed soon but are currently inaccessible. Prioritize reducing the taller columns early, even if shorter columns offer more immediate foundation moves.
Look for the unbreakable chains
Some deals present what Baker's Dozen players call an unbreakable chain — a cycle where card A is needed to move card B, which is needed to free card C, which is sitting on top of card A. These dead-ends account for most of the losing 10% of deals. Identifying a chain early and redealing rather than fighting through it is a legitimate advanced strategy.
Advertisement
Odds of winning Baker's Dozen Solitaire
Baker's Dozen Solitaire has a theoretical win rate of approximately 90% — meaning that roughly nine deals in ten are winnable with optimal play. This places it firmly in the "skill-dominated" tier alongside FreeCell (99.999%) and well above Klondike (~82% theoretical, 40–50% in practice).
The all-face-up deal and the King-settling rule are the two design decisions that push the win rate this high. Hiding no cards means there are no surprise blockages from a face-down pile revealing an unexpected card. Settling Kings to the bottom of columns at deal time prevents the most common blocking scenario in high-card games.
The losing 10% of deals tend to involve a specific configuration of Aces buried under high-rank sequences that form unbreakable cycles — positions where there is simply no sequence of legal moves that exposes all four Aces before the board locks. These positions are recognizable after a few minutes of play, which means the practical approach is: if you haven't found a path to all four Aces within the first 10–15 moves, you are likely in a losing deal and may as well start fresh.
History of Baker's Dozen Solitaire
Baker's Dozen Solitaire is an old patience game with documented roots in British card game literature from at least the late nineteenth century. It appears in many classic patience game collections under variations of the Baker's Dozen name, with the thirteen-column layout being the definitive identifying feature. Some sources list it as a precursor to the family of games that would later include FreeCell.
The King-settling rule is the game's most distinctive design feature and may have been introduced specifically to improve playability — without it, a deal with all four Kings at the tops of columns would be immediately unwinnable, frustrating players before the game could begin. By guaranteeing that Kings start at the bottom, the designer ensured that foundation building could always at least commence.
Baker's Dozen Solitaire remains a staple of comprehensive solitaire collections today. It attracts players who want a game with clear information, a real skill ceiling, and a win rate high enough to keep the experience rewarding. Among players who study solitaire game theory, it is often cited as a model of balanced game design — constrained enough to require skill, open enough to reward it.
Frequently asked questions
What is Baker's Dozen Solitaire?
- Baker's Dozen Solitaire is a single-player card game with 13 columns of 4 face-up cards each. Kings start at the bottom of their column (settled during deal). Build four foundations A→K by suit, moving one card at a time. Tableau builds downward by rank only, any suit. Win rate ~90% — one of the most skill-friendly solitaire games.
Why are the Kings moved to the bottom in Baker's Dozen?
- Kings at the bottom is a deliberate design feature called 'King settling.' Without it, a deal with Kings at the tops of columns would block any card from being placed there — immediately creating an unplayable position. Settling Kings at the bottom ensures foundations can always be started and that the game is fair from the first move.
Can you move more than one card at a time in Baker's Dozen?
- No. Baker's Dozen allows only one card to move at a time — the top card of any column. This is the central constraint that makes the game a careful planning exercise rather than a shuffle-and-stack race.
Does suit matter for tableau builds in Baker's Dozen?
- No — suit is irrelevant for tableau placement. You only need the moving card to be one rank lower than the destination's top card. This differs from Klondike (alternating colors) and Scorpion (same suit). The suit restriction only applies when sending cards to the foundation.
What is the win rate for Baker's Dozen?
- Approximately 90% of Baker's Dozen deals are winnable with optimal play. This is much higher than Klondike (~40–50% in practice), higher than FreeCell's famous 99.999%, and far higher than Scorpion (~15%). The all-face-up layout and King-settling rule both contribute to this generous rate.
What makes a Baker's Dozen deal unwinnable?
- The roughly 10% of unwinnable deals usually involve an unbreakable cycle: card A needs card B to be moved first, card B needs card C, and card C is locked under card A. These positions are typically recognizable within 10–15 moves. If you can't see a path to all four Aces by then, redeal.
Can I use empty columns in Baker's Dozen?
- Yes — any single card can be placed in an empty column. Empty columns function as temporary parking spots. The key is to use them as pass-through spaces (place a card there briefly while you reorganize, then retrieve it) rather than permanent storage.
Is Baker's Dozen Solitaire related to FreeCell?
- They share similar DNA: both are skill-dominated, all-cards-face-up solitaire games. FreeCell uses 8 columns with four dedicated free cells for parking individual cards. Baker's Dozen uses 13 columns, no dedicated free cells, and limits moves to one card at a time (FreeCell can move effective sequences). Both reward planning over reactivity.
What is the best opening move strategy for Baker's Dozen?
- Start by locating all four Aces and sending any accessible ones to their foundations immediately. Then work downward from the tops of the tallest columns, looking for moves that bring buried Aces or 2s closer to the top. Avoid filling empty columns permanently early in the game — that flexibility is precious.
Advertisement