Baker's Solitaire: the one-deck cell game at its strictest
Our home game, FreeCell Two Decks, spreads 104 open cards over ten columns and gives you eight cells. Baker's Solitaire goes the other way on every count. One 52-card deck, eight columns, four cells, and two tough rules: cards build down in the same suit only, and on this site only a King may fill an empty column. With a single deck, every card has exactly one same-suit card it can rest on in the tableau. There is no twin to call on.
That shows in the verdicts. Our solver settled every one of 10,000 deals on this site's rules: 31.8% can be won (95% range 30.9%–32.8%) and 68.2% are proven impossible (67.2%–69.1%). Set that beside FreeCell Two Decks, where a solver with a smaller budget proved none of 400 deals impossible (0.0%–1.0%). There is no two-deck Baker's on this site and we ran none, so we cannot say how a doubled deck would change these rules.
At a glance: a single deck, one suit per build
| Game and rule | Winnable | Proven impossible | Deals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baker's, one deck, Kings only in gaps (this site) | 31.8% (30.9%–32.8%) | 68.2% (67.2%–69.1%) | 10,000 |
| Baker's, classic rule: any card in a gap | 76.0% (74.1%–77.8%) | 24.0% (22.2%–25.9%) | 2,000 |
| FreeCell, one deck, alternating colors | 99.7% solved (99.5%–99.8%) | 0.0% (0.0%–0.04%) | 10,000 |
| FreeCell Two Decks, 104 cards, 8 cells | 88.0% solved (84.4%–90.8%) | 0.0% (0.0%–1.0%) | 400 |
The Baker's figures are exact: every deal was either won or proven lost. The classic figure agrees with the published 75.05% (Blake and Gent, 2026). The FreeCell rows are solver results with some deals undecided (0.3% and 12.0%), so read them as "at least".
Baker's rules on this site
- Deck: one standard 52-card deck, all face up.
- Tableau: eight columns, four of seven cards and four of six.
- Free cells: four, one card each.
- Foundations: four, one per suit, Ace to King.
- Building: down in the same suit only.
- Empty columns: a King, or a same-suit run headed by a King.
- Group moves: ordered runs may move together, limited by empty cells. Empty columns do not add to the limit.
Playing one deck, one suit
Each card has one tableau home
In a two-deck game a 6 of spades has two 7s of spades to sit on. Here it has one. If that 7 is buried deep, the 6 needs a cell or the foundation. Map those single homes before your first move.
Find the four Kings
Only a King can use a cleared column. A King near the bottom of a short column is an asset; a King buried under ten cards is a problem to plan around.
Don't clear a column with no King ready
An empty column that no King can reach does nothing. Clear it when the King is ready to move in.
Solutions are short and tight
The solver's first solution averaged 39.1 moves (38.8–39.4, 3,184 solved deals), against 62.2 for one-deck FreeCell and 148.0 for FreeCell Two Decks. Short lines leave little slack: one wasted cell can close the only way through.
Half the deals open with a free Ace
49.7% of deals (48.7%–50.6%, 10,000 deals) had an Ace playable at once. In the rest, dig where every card you lift has a same-suit home.
Know when to deal again
Two deals in three cannot be won on these rules. If two different plans hit the same wall, a new deal is a sensible choice.
Playing on freecell-two-decks.com
Baker's Solitaire is free in any current browser on computer, tablet or phone, with no account. Hint, unlimited Undo, Restart and Auto Play are included, with zoom, fullscreen, drag or tap moves, a counter for wins, time and moves, and sound and table-color settings.
How the figures were made
The freecell-two-decks.com team ran this research in September 2026 on this site's own Baker's rules, in Python 3.11 with the standard library only.
- Rules from the code: FreeCell's layout with same-suit building, Kings only in gaps, and group moves limited by free cells.
- Two versions: the site rule and the classic any-card-in-a-gap rule.
- Numbered deals: seeds 1 to 10,000 for the site rule, 1 to 2,000 for the classic rule.
- A solver that finished every search, so each deal is won or proven impossible, none undecided. All cards are visible, so it sees what you see.
- Checks: the classic result (76.0%) matches the published 75.05% from Blake and Gent (2026), and an independent brute-force program agreed on deals 1 to 5. No published figure exists for the Kings-only rule.
- No two-deck Baker's was simulated.
- 95% ranges are Wilson score intervals.
Claude, an AI assistant by Anthropic, helped write and review the code and draft this page. Every figure comes from running the code, and the team checked them.
Baker's questions
Why do I lose so often?
Because 68.2% of deals have no solution on these rules, even for a program that sees every card.
Would two decks make it easier?
We don't know; no two-deck Baker's was measured. What we can show is that FreeCell Two Decks, with alternating colors and any card in a gap, had no deal proven impossible.
Why is the classic version so much kinder?
Letting any card into a gap turns it into general workspace: 76.0% winnable against 31.8%.
What next?
Eight Off keeps same-suit builds but gives eight cells. FreeCell is the forgiving one-deck cousin. All games are on the games page.
By Admin, freecell-two-decks.com (Forty Media). Research run September 2026.