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How to Play Spider Solitaire: Your One-Stop, Zero-Stress Guide

Spider is the “boss level” of classic solitaire family; big piles, bigger decisions, and the kind of win screen that makes you screenshot and brag. Ready to weave your web? Let’s break it down step by step.

1. What Spider Looks Like

Decks used: two full decks (104 cards). Layout in a flash:

  1. Ten tableau columns in a single row.

  2. The first four columns start with six face-down cards + 1 face-up on top.

  3. The last six columns start with five face-down cards + 1 face-up on top.

  4. A leftover stack of 50 face-down cards, your “stock”, sits in the corner.

  5. No foundation piles at the start. You’ll build complete in-suit runs inside the tableau and whisk them away as you finish them.

Every top card in the tableau is playable; buried cards flip when uncovered.


2. Three Flavors of Spider

  1. One-suit Spider (all spades): Best for beginners; almost every deal is winnable.

  2. Two-suit Spider (usually spades + hearts): Middle-difficulty sweet spot.

  3. Four-suit Spider (full rainbow): Legendary challenge; expect more losses than wins, but every victory feels epic.

Start on one-suit and climb the ladder when you feel comfy.


3. The Core Rules (Tattoo These on Your Brain)


4. Your First Turn: A Friendly Walk-Through

  1. Scan for easy drops: Move any face-up card onto the next-higher rank (Q on K, 7 on 8). Suit doesn’t matter for simple parking.

  2. Flip hidden cards early: Uncovering stuff = more options.

  3. Create an empty column: This is massive, empty space is your portable storage.

  4. Build pure runs when possible: Whenever you can line up, say, 10♠ 9♠ 8♠, do it; it sets you up to move longer sequences later.

  5. Deal from the stock only when stuck or when every column has some breathing room; dumping new cards onto chaos makes bigger chaos.


5. Rookie Traps to Dodge


6. Power Tips That Make You Look Psychic


7. Average Play Times (One Deal)


8. Practice Path to Mastery

  1. One-suit Spider until you hit ~80 % win rate.

  2. Two-suit Spider: aim for 60 % success.

  3. Four-suit Spider: celebrate every victory; that’s normal.

  4. Speed challenge: time yourself finishing one-suit deals under four minutes.

  5. Swap deal numbers with friends and race; humble brag rights included.


9. Why Spider Rocks (and Sometimes Hurts)

Pros

Cons


Deal Yourself In

Fire up any Spider Solitaire app (start with one-suit mode) or lay out two physical decks and experience the thrill of taming a 104-card beast.

When you need a gentler break, hop over to Solitaire Home Story for classic Klondike levels, cozy visuals, and every puzzle guaranteed winnable. Perfect palate cleanser between Spider battles.

Now shuffle, stack, and show that web who’s boss. Happy dealing!

How to Play Spider Solitaire: One-Suit to Four-Suit Guide