You’re probably used to Solitaire being a mindless way to kill five minutes while waiting for a meeting to start. Most people are. But the forty thieves card game is a different beast entirely. It’s mean. It’s stubborn. Honestly, it’s one of the few card games that feels like it’s actively rooting against you. If Klondike is a walk in the park, Forty Thieves is a trek through a swamp with a heavy backpack.
Most players lose. Frequently.
In fact, the win rate for a standard game of Forty Thieves is notoriously low—often cited by mathematicians and card game historians as hovering somewhere around the 10% to 15% mark for average players. That’s because you aren't just fighting the deck; you’re fighting the math. With two full decks of cards and ten columns of "thieves" staring you down, the sheer number of variables is staggering. It’s why some people call it "Napoleon at St. Helena." Legend says the emperor played it during his exile to keep his mind sharp, though whether he actually won is anyone's guess.
The Basic Mess You’re Dealing With
So, how does this actually work? You take two decks. You shuffle them together. You deal out 40 cards into ten piles, four cards each. All of them are face up. That’s the "thieves" part. The rest of the cards stay in the draw pile (the stock). Your goal is to move everything to the eight foundation piles, starting with the Aces and building up to the Kings.
Sounds simple? It isn’t.
Unlike more forgiving versions of Solitaire, you can only move one card at a time. You can’t grab a stack of cards and move them just because they're in order. If you have a Red 7 on a Black 8, and you want to move them both? Too bad. You have to find a spot for that 7 first. This single rule is what makes the forty thieves card game a nightmare for the uninitiated. It requires you to look ten steps ahead, almost like chess, but with the added chaos of a randomized deck.
The Foundation is Everything
You have eight foundations because there are eight suits across two decks.
- You must build them from Ace to King.
- You can only move the top card of any column.
- You can only move a card to a column if it’s one rank lower and the same suit.
That last point is the killer. In Klondike, you alternate colors (Red 9 on Black 10). In Forty Thieves, it’s suit-on-suit. If you have the 6 of Hearts, it can only go on the 7 of Hearts. This restriction narrows your options significantly and is usually the reason games stall out within the first three minutes.
Why You Keep Losing (And How to Stop)
Most people fail because they treat the stock pile like a safety net. It’s not. In Forty Thieves, you only get one pass through the deck. Once those cards are gone, they're gone. If you've left a King buried under a pile of junk in the columns and you've already flipped past the Ace you needed, you're done. Game over.
Empty columns are your only real weapon.
When you clear out one of the ten columns, you get a "hole." This is gold. This is your maneuvering room. Since you can only move one card at a time, you use these empty spaces as temporary parking spots. Without them, you're basically stuck with whatever the initial deal gave you. Experienced players will often sacrifice a move that looks "good" (like putting a card on a foundation) just to keep a column open.
The "Ace First" Trap
It’s tempting to slap every Ace you see onto the foundation immediately. Generally, that’s a good move. But sometimes, holding back a lower card can actually help you clear a column. If you have a 2 of Spades that could go to the foundation, but it’s currently holding up a 3 of Spades that you need to move to free up an empty spot, you might wait.
Nuance is everything here.
There's a reason why digital versions of this game often include an "Undo" button. Without it, the game is a masterclass in frustration. But if you're playing with real cards on a real table—which I highly recommend for the tactile satisfaction—you have to be disciplined. Don't touch the stock pile until you have exhausted every single possible move in the columns. Every single one.
Variations That Might Save Your Sanity
If the standard forty thieves card game feels too much like a math exam, there are "easier" versions that use similar mechanics but give you a bit more breathing room.
- Lucas: All Aces are moved to the foundations before you start. This clears up the board and gives you a head start.
- Streets: You still build down by suit, but you alternate colors. This feels more like the Solitaire most people grew up with.
- Big Forty: You’re allowed to move sequences of cards instead of just one at a time. This changes the game's win rate from "infuriating" to "actually possible."
- Rank and File: Similar to Forty Thieves, but the bottom three cards of each pile are face down. It adds a memory element that some people love and others absolutely despise.
The Mental Toll of High-Level Play
Why do people play this? Why sit there for twenty minutes just to lose?
It’s about the "perfect game." Because Forty Thieves is an open-information game (mostly), it feels like a puzzle that should be solvable. When you lose, it rarely feels like bad luck—even though luck is a huge factor. It feels like you made a tactical error five minutes ago that finally caught up to you.
Research into cognitive aging often points toward complex card games as a way to maintain "executive function." This isn't just about memory; it's about cognitive flexibility. You have to constantly re-evaluate your strategy based on the cards that emerge from the stock. You're balancing short-term gains (moving a card now) against long-term stability (keeping a column open for later).
Advanced Tactics for the Dedicated
If you're serious about winning, you need to change how you look at the board.
Stop looking for "moves" and start looking for "chains." If you move the 5 of Diamonds, does that free up the 6 of Clubs? And if that 6 of Clubs moves, does it allow you to place a 5 of Clubs that was blocking an Ace? If the answer is no, then moving that 5 of Diamonds might actually be a mistake.
Watch your Kings. Kings are the end of the line. They are heavy. If a King is sitting on top of a pile and you don't have an empty column to move it to, it’s basically a paperweight. You cannot build anything on top of a King. If you have two Kings in your stock pile and no empty columns, you’re basically playing with a smaller deck.
Don't ignore the middle cards.
Everyone focuses on the Aces and the Kings. But the 7s, 8s, and 9s are the connective tissue of the forty thieves card game. These are the cards that allow you to shift sequences around once you finally open up some space. If you bury your 8s, you'll find that your foundation piles stall out halfway through, and you'll be left staring at a board full of 4s and 5s with nowhere to go.
Actionable Steps to Improve Your Game
If you want to actually win a game of Forty Thieves this week, follow these specific steps:
- Scan for Aces immediately: Don't even look at the stock pile until every available Ace and any immediate subsequent cards (like a 2 on an Ace) are moved to the foundation.
- Prioritize clearing a column above all else: Even if it means making a "suboptimal" move, getting one empty space on the board increases your chances of winning by an order of magnitude.
- Count your remaining cards: Since you only go through the stock once, keep a mental note of how many cards are left. If you're near the end and still haven't seen a specific King or Ace, your strategy needs to become much more aggressive.
- Play a "dry run" version: If you're learning, try playing where you can move cards regardless of suit just to get a feel for the deck's flow. Once you understand how the cards cluster, move back to the strict suit-on-suit rules.
- Use the "one-move-back" rule: If you’re playing physically, allow yourself one "undo" per game. It helps you see where the branching paths of the game truly lie without the soul-crushing weight of a permanent mistake.
The forty thieves card game is a test of patience. It’s a slow-burn challenge that rewards foresight and punishes impulsivity. It's not for everyone, but for those who enjoy the "grind" of a difficult puzzle, there's nothing quite as satisfying as finally clearing that last King and seeing the foundations complete.
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Grab two decks. Clear off a large table—you're going to need the space. Start dealing. Just don't say I didn't warn you when you're still sitting there three hours later trying to get that one elusive win.