How to Play Klondike Solitaire: Rules and Setup

The tableau has seven columns: the first has 1 card, the second 2, and so on to 7, with only the top card of each column face up. The remaining 24 cards make the stock (draw pile); cards drawn go to the waste pile. Four foundation piles start empty and are built by suit, Ace through King.

Tableau building: you may place a card on a tableau column only if it is one rank lower and the opposite color of the card below it (e.g., a red 6 on a black 7). An empty column may be filled only by a King (or a sequence starting with a King). Foundations: build each suit up from Ace to King; only Aces may start a foundation. The stock is turned over one or three at a time (house rules vary); the waste's top card is playable. When the stock is empty, the waste is turned over to form a new stock (in standard Klondike). You flip the top face-down card of a column when it becomes exposed.

Myth: you can move any card to an empty column. Fact: only a King (or a King-led sequence) may start an empty column. Myth: foundations must be built by color. Fact: each foundation is a single suit, Ace to King. Myth: you lose if the stock runs out. Fact: you recycle the waste into a new stock and keep playing.

1. Deal seven columns (1 to 7 cards), top card face up. 2. Turn the stock one card at a time to the waste. 3. Move waste or tableau cards onto tableau columns in descending, alternating-color order. 4. Send Aces up to start foundations, then build each suit Ace-to-King. 5. Fill empty columns only with a King or King sequence. 6. Flip a face-down card when its column top is cleared. 7. Win by moving all 52 cards onto the four foundations.