Spider Solitaire Strategy: How to Win More Games
Updated July 2026
Spider is the marathon of the solitaire family: two full decks, ten columns, and a win that requires assembling eight complete King-to-Ace runs. One-suit Spider is a relaxing exercise; four-suit Spider is one of the hardest widely-played solitaires. The gap between losing often and winning often comes down to a handful of habits. These apply whether you play our free Spider or any other version. (Rules first? See how to play Spider Solitaire.)
1. In-suit builds are the only builds that matter
Spider lets you stack any card on any card one rank higher, regardless of suit — but only same-suit sequences move as a group. An off-suit stack is a parking spot, not progress: it saves a card from clogging elsewhere, but the pile it sits on is frozen until you unpick it. When you have a choice, always build in suit, and think twice before burying a card you'll need under an off-suit placement. In 2- and 4-suit games this single habit decides more outcomes than anything else.
2. Face-down cards are the real enemy
Every face-down card is information you don't have and a card you can't use. Early game, prefer the move that turns a card face up over the move that merely tidies sequences — even when the tidy move looks satisfying. Between two columns, dig where the face-down pile is shallower: emptying a 2-deep column beats chipping at a 5-deep one.
3. Fight for an empty column, then spend it wisely
An empty column is Spider's most valuable resource — a free cell that fits an entire sequence. With one empty column you can relocate almost any single stack; with two you can re-sort nearly anything on the board. Two rules for using them:
- Don't refill an empty column casually. Park something there only as part of a plan that either turns a face-down card or extends an in-suit run — and preferably one that empties the column again afterwards.
- Use it as a workbench. Move an off-suit blocker onto the empty column, merge the in-suit cards it was hiding, then decide what permanently lives there — usually a King, since Kings can never be placed on anything.
4. Deal a new row as late as possible
Dealing from the stock drops one card on every column, burying all ten of your tidy endings at once. Before you deal: make every free move that turns a card, merge every in-suit pair you can, and try to leave no column mid-surgery. One caveat — don't waste moves making off-suit stacks "neat" right before a deal; those piles are getting buried anyway. (Most versions also require every column to be non-empty before dealing, so plan what lands in an empty column rather than letting the deal decide.)
5. Break big off-suit piles before they set like concrete
It's tempting to keep stacking 9-8-7 in mixed suits because the moves are legal. But every off-suit junction is a future crowbar job: the cards above it must all relocate before the cards below move again. When the board is quiet, spend spare moves converting off-suit junctions into in-suit ones — swap the red 8 for the black one while both are reachable. Quiet turns are when winners do their maintenance.
6. Don't rush completed runs off the board — usually
A finished King-to-Ace run flies off automatically in most versions, but where you control it, remember a full run sitting on the table is thirteen movable in-suit cards — occasionally more useful as a workbench than as a trophy. This is a niche consideration, but in 4-suit endgames it can be the difference between unlocking the last column and stalling.
7. Pick the right difficulty to actually learn
One-suit Spider teaches the skeleton: empty columns, deal timing, dig priorities. Two-suit adds the in-suit discipline. Move up when your win rate feels comfortable, not before — grinding 4-suit losses teaches less than winning steadily at 2-suit. And expect to lose some 4-suit deals no matter what: even perfect play doesn't win them all.
The pre-move checklist
- Does this move turn a face-down card? (Best.)
- Does it extend an in-suit sequence? (Good.)
- Does it bury a card I'll need under an off-suit pile? (Avoid.)
- Am I about to deal with a column mid-surgery? (Fix that first.)
- Is my empty column doing work, or just holding a random card?
If you enjoy this kind of planning, the same muscles work in FreeCell — our strategy guide for it covers the open-information cousin of Spider.