So, you think you’re good at Solitaire. You’ve mastered Klondike. You can breeze through Spider with your eyes half-shut. Then you stumble upon 40 thieves solitaire online free and suddenly, you’re losing. A lot. Honestly, it’s humbling. Most people jump into this game thinking it’s just another casual time-waster, only to realize they’ve walked into a mathematical buzzsaw.
Forty Thieves isn't just another card game. It’s a brutal test of patience and foresight. While your standard Windows Solitaire has a win rate that makes you feel like a genius, Forty Thieves sits comfortably at a win rate of about 3% to 5% for most players. Yeah, you read that right. You are going to lose roughly 95 out of 100 games. But that’s exactly why people get hooked on it.
What is Forty Thieves Solitaire anyway?
Basically, the game uses two full decks of cards. That’s 104 cards in total. The setup is pretty iconic: you’ve got 40 cards dealt face-up into ten columns (four cards each). That’s where the "Forty Thieves" name comes from. The remaining 64 cards sit in the stockpile, waiting to ruin your day.
The goal is the same as most solitaire variants—get everything into the foundation piles, built from Ace to King by suit. Since there are two decks, you’re looking at eight foundation piles. Sounds simple, right? It isn't.
The Rules That Make You Sweat
The reason this game is so much harder than Klondike is the movement restriction. In Forty Thieves, you can only move one card at a time.
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In other games, if you have a sequence like 7-6-5 of Hearts, you can just grab the whole stack and move it. Not here. If you want to move that 7-6-5 stack onto an 8 of Hearts, you have to move the 5, then the 6, then the 7—and you can only do that if you have enough empty tableau spots to act as "parking spaces." It’s basically a high-stakes game of musical chairs.
- Building Down: You build columns down by rank and must match the suit. A 9 of Spades can only go on a 10 of Spades.
- Empty Spaces: Any card can fill an empty column. This is your only lifeline.
- The Stockpile: You only get one pass. Once you flip through those 64 cards, that’s it. No redeals. No second chances.
Why 40 Thieves Solitaire Online Free is the Best Way to Play
Playing this with physical cards is a nightmare. Shuffling two decks and dealing out 40 cards takes forever, and one accidental bump of the table ruins the whole thing. Playing online is just better.
Most modern platforms like Solitaired or Arkadium offer features that make the 5% win rate a little less painful. You get an "Undo" button, which is basically mandatory unless you’re a masochist. Some versions even have "Easy" modes that allow you to move entire sequences, but purists will tell you that’s not real Forty Thieves.
The Strategy Nobody Tells You
If you just start clicking cards because they "fit," you’ve already lost. Expert players like Ken Millar have noted for years that the obvious move is often a trap.
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Empty Columns are Gold
Your first priority—always—is to clear out a column. An empty column is a temporary storage unit. Without one, you can't move sequences. If you have two empty columns, you’re suddenly playing a different game. You can shuttle cards back and forth, uncovering those buried Aces that are inevitably sitting at the bottom of the fourth pile.
The "Ace Hunt"
Because you only go through the stock once, you need to find the Aces early. If an Ace is buried under a King and a Queen in the tableau, you need to move those high cards to an empty spot immediately. If the Aces stay buried, the game ends before it even begins.
Don't Empty the Stock Too Fast
It’s tempting to keep clicking the stockpile when you’re stuck. Don't. Every card you flip into the waste pile is a card that might block something else later. Scan the tableau for every possible move before you touch that deck.
Common Myths and Mistakes
A lot of people think Forty Thieves is 100% luck. It’s not. While some deals are mathematically impossible (about 10-15% of deals), a skilled player can push their win rate toward 15% or even 20% with perfect play.
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Another mistake? Filling empty columns with low cards. Unless you’re clearing a path to an Ace, try to save your empty columns for Kings or high-ranking sequences. If you put a 2 of Diamonds in an empty column, that column is basically dead until you find the Ace of Diamonds in the foundation.
Variations to Keep Your Sanity
If the 5% win rate is making you want to throw your laptop across the room, there are "cousin" games that are a bit friendlier:
- Josephine: It’s identical to Forty Thieves, but you can move sequences. This bumps the win rate up significantly.
- Ali Baba: Only one deck, but very similar mechanics.
- Thieves of Egypt: A hybrid that feels a bit more like Klondike but keeps the two-deck challenge.
Ready to Test Your Luck?
If you're looking for 40 thieves solitaire online free, you're basically signing up for a mental workout. It’s the ultimate "just one more game" experience because you always feel like you almost had it.
Your next steps to becoming a pro:
- Open a free game on a site that offers an "Undo" feature—you're going to need it for the first few rounds.
- Focus entirely on clearing one column in the first 10 moves. If you can't see a path to an empty column, restart the deal.
- Track your win percentage. Don't get discouraged by a 0% start; it takes most people about 20 games to get their first real "session" win.
Stop playing the easy stuff. Give the Thieves a shot and see if you can actually beat the 5% odds.