Diplomat: two decks, a thin table and a very deep stock
Diplomat shows a different side of doubling the deck. Of its 104 cards, only 32 are dealt, face up in eight columns of four. The other 72 form a stock that you turn once, one card at a time. Two decks here do not mean a bigger table; they mean a stock more than twice as long as the whole Klondike deal.
Our look-ahead program, which plays every useful table move before turning another stock card, won 47.9% of 2,000 deals (95% range 45.7%–50.0%). In an average game it got 76.0 of 104 cards home (74.8–77.2), win or lose. There is no one-deck Diplomat on this site and no published study, so we cannot isolate what the second deck does to this game. We can show where it sits among the 104-card games we measured.
At a glance: Diplomat and the other two-deck games
| Measure | Result | 95% range | Deals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diplomat: look-ahead program won | 47.9% | 45.7–50.0% | 2,000 |
| Diplomat: cards home at the end (of 104) | 76.0 | 74.8–77.2 | 2,000 |
| Diplomat: moves in won games, stock turns included | 351.0 | 348.4–353.6 | 957 wins |
| Diplomat: an Ace playable from the opening table | 49.2% | 47.0–51.3% | 2,000 |
| Forty Thieves: similar program, same one-pass idea | 5.8% | 5.0–6.7% | 3,000 |
| Solitaire Double: priority-list program | 81.5% | 80.7–82.2% | 10,000 |
Diplomat's wins were the longest of any game we measured, about 351 moves. The program could not see the stock and never undid a move, so 47.9% is a floor for a person. We did not run a solver, so how many deals can be won is unknown.
Why Diplomat beats Forty Thieves by so much
Both games deal two decks, keep a one-pass stock and move single cards. The difference is the building rule. Forty Thieves demands the same suit; Diplomat takes any suit. With 104 cards that matters enormously: any 7 on the table has up to eight 6s that can go on it, not two. That is the second deck working in your favor.
Rules on this site
- Cards: two decks, 104 cards.
- Table: eight columns of four, face up.
- Stock: 72 cards, one at a time to the waste, one pass.
- Foundations: eight, by suit, Ace to King.
- Building: down by one rank, any suit.
- Moves: one card at a time.
- Empty columns: any card.
Making the long stock work for you
Clear the table first, every time
The program's one firm rule was to turn the stock only when nothing on the table improves the position. With 72 cards to go through once, that discipline carries most of the result.
Count on twins
If one 5 of clubs is stuck, the other may be on its way. Keep a mental note of which twin has already shown up.
Hold one empty column
Any card can use it. It is the tool that pulls a card out from under the waste or untangles a mixed run.
Mixed runs must unwind
Table builds ignore suit, foundations do not. Only build what you can take apart one card at a time.
Near misses are normal
76 cards home on average means many losses stop a few cards short. Undo lets you replay the last stretch.
Diplomat on freecell-two-decks.com
Free in any modern browser on computer, tablet or phone. No download, no account. Large cards with zoom, Hint, unlimited Undo, Restart, Auto Play, drag or tap, a count of wins, time and moves, and settings for sound, fullscreen and table color.
How we measured it
The freecell-two-decks.com team ran this test in September 2026 on this site's Diplomat rules.
- Rules from the game code: eight face-up columns of four, 72-card one-pass stock, any-suit building, single-card moves, any card in a space.
- Deals 1 to 2,000 from fixed seeds.
- One program: looks up to 300 positions ahead over table and waste moves, does not know the stock order, never undoes.
- No greedy baseline, no solver, no one-deck version and no published figure.
- Ranges: Wilson score for percentages, normal intervals for averages.
Python 3.11, standard library only. Claude, an AI assistant by Anthropic, helped write and review the code and draft this page; every figure comes from running the code.
Diplomat questions
How often can Diplomat be won?
We have only a floor: 47.9% for a program that cannot see the stock.
Is it harder than Forty Thieves?
For our programs, much easier: 47.9% against 5.8%, thanks to any-suit building.
Can I move a run?
No, one card at a time.
What next?
Try the site's main game, FreeCell Two Decks, where all 104 cards are visible, or the full list on the games page.
By Admin, freecell-two-decks.com (Forty Media). Research run September 2026.