How to set up Solitaire

In this guide you will learn how to set up a game of classic Solitaire also known as Klondike Solitaire or Patience. For the setup of Solitaire you will need a standard 52-card playing deck as well as a space to lay the cards. To learn how to set up solitaire let’s go over a couple of terms that you will need to know.

Key solitaire terms to know when setting up a game

• Tableau: This refers to the main playing area where the cards will be laid out
• Foundation Piles: These relate to four spaces, one for each suit, which will be used to stack cards in ascending order starting with the ace in each suit
• Stockpile: This is the stack of cards that you will draw from. It is comprised of all the cards that are not currenlty on the tableau.
• Waste Pile: The waste pile inclues cards that have been drawn from the stockpile and are awaiting to be played.

How to setup a game of Solitaire

These are the three simple steps to setting up a game of solitaire.

Step 1: Setting up the tableau

The initial tableau is set up with a total of 28 cards taken from a standard deck of 52-cards. These 28 cards are dealt onto the tableau in seven columns. Start by dealing cards from the left of the tableau to the right seperating them into each column from column one all the way to column seven. Each column number corresponds with the amount of cards that that column will hold. The last card in each column should be deals up to face the player.

To simplify the process of dealing the cards into the tableau, they will be dealt in seven rows, left to right, which will create the seven columns.

• Row 1: A total of seven cards will be dealt from left to right across all columns with the first card dealt in the first column face up.
• Row 2: Six total cards will be dealt from column two through seven starting with a face up card in the second column
• Row 3: Five total cards will be dealt from column three through seven starting with a face up card in the third column.
• Row 4: Four total cards will be dealt from column four through seven starting with a face up card in the fourth column.
• Row 5: three total cards will be dealt from column five through seven starting with a face up card in the fifth column
• Row 6: two total cards will be dealt from column six through seven starting with a face up card in the sixth column
• Row 7: Flip the last card face up in the seventh column.

If you have completed the deal correctly, you should have deal a total of 28 cards across the seven columns on the tableau. These cards will range from one in the first column up to seven in the last column.

Step 2: Setting up the foundation piles

Next you will need to clear space on the tableau for the four foundation piles to sit. At the start of the game these four foundation piles will not have any cards in them. They will serve as placeholders which will be used to place the aces for each corresponding suit. Once all of the cards have been stacked into the foundation in ascending order the game will be complete.

Step 3: Setting up the stockpile and waste pile

The final set in setting up a game of solitaire is to clear a space for the stockpile as well as the waste pile. This space will be used by the player to draw cards off the stockpile and into the waste pile. The cards can then be taken from the waste pile and played onto the tableau or directly into the foundation.

The number of cards that you draw from the stockpile depends on the variant of Solitaire that you are playing. In many versions of classic solitaire this number is either three or one. If you are playing one turn solitaire you can simply flip the top card over into the waste pile and choose to play it. While with three turn solitaire you must flip three cards over with the option to play the top most card, and you are only able to play the cards under the top card if it is moved over onto either the foundation or tableau.

That completes this guide on how to set up a game of solitaire in three simple steps. Starting with the set up of the tableau, moving onto the creation of the foundation piles and lastly finishing off with the stockpile and waste pile. If you are planning to play many games of solitaire it can become tiresome to deal out a round each time. For this we recommend using an online version of solitaire which will automatically set up a game for you in a fraction of the time.

While this guide covered how to set up a game of classic klondike solitaire there are many other fun solitaire variants that you can set up and play. These other popular variants include: Spider solitaire, tripeaks and freecell.