Solitaire Draw 3: 24 stock cards, one deck, and every copy counts
Solitaire Draw 3 is Klondike dealt from a single deck and turned three cards at a time. The stock holds just 24 cards. In Solitaire Double the stock holds 59 and every card has a twin; here a card you need has exactly one copy, and it may sit in the middle of a triple you cannot break.
How much that matters shows in the openings. In 88.0% of one-deck deals at least one Ace starts face down (10,000 deals; 87.4%–88.7%), and 8.6% give no move among the seven face-up cards (8.1%–9.2%). Our simple program won 12.3% of Draw 3 deals when no Ace was hidden (1,196 deals; 10.6%–14.3%) and 10.1% when two or more were (5,333 deals; 9.4%–11.0%). Overall it won 10.6% of 10,000.
At a glance: the Draw 3 deal, one deck vs two
| Measure | Draw 3, 1 deck | Solitaire Double, 2 decks (Turn 1 only) |
|---|---|---|
| Cards in the stock | 24 | 59 |
| No move among face-up cards at the start | 8.6% (8.1–9.2%) | 2.7% (2.4–3.0%) |
| Aces starting face down | 1.60 of 4 (1.59–1.62) | 2.79 of 8 (2.76–2.81) |
| Program won, no Ace hidden | 12.3% (10.6–14.3%), 1,196 | not measured |
| Program won, 2+ Aces hidden | 10.1% (9.4–11.0%), 5,333 | not measured |
| Program won, all deals | 10.6% (10.0–11.2%), 10,000 | 81.5% (80.7–82.2%) at Turn 1 |
| Planning search, proven winnable | 66.2% (63.2–69.1%), 1,000 | not run |
The deal-inspection figures are shared by both one-deck draw modes, since the layout is the same. The two-deck game has no Draw 3 mode here, so there is no direct two-deck Draw 3 comparison.
What the numbers say about luck vs play
Hidden Aces cost the program about two points. The draw mode cost it about 32 points (42.3% at Turn 1 against 10.6% at Turn 3). And a search that knows every card proved at least 66.2% winnable. How you work the stock matters far more than how the Aces fell.
Rules here
- Cards: one deck, 52 cards.
- Tableau: seven columns of one to seven, top card up.
- Stock: 24 cards, three per turn, top one playable, unlimited passes.
- Foundations: four, Ace to King.
- Building: down in alternating colors, runs move as a unit.
- Empty columns: Kings only.
- Same game as Klondike Turn 3.
Working a short stock
Count the triples
24 cards make eight triples. Knowing which card tops each one tells you what is reachable without playing.
One waste play reshuffles the rest
Taking a single card off the waste moves every later triple by one card. Use it deliberately.
Find the hidden Aces
Work the columns with the most face-down cards first; that is where missing Aces usually are.
Expect several passes
The program's wins used 3.81 passes on average (3.73–3.90).
Draw 3 on freecell-two-decks.com
Free in any modern browser on computer, tablet or phone, with no sign-up. Hint, unlimited Undo, Restart, Auto Play, zoom, drag or tap to move, 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 these simulations in September 2026 on this site's Klondike code.
- Rules from the code: three-card draw, unlimited passes, Kings-only spaces.
- 10,000 numbered deals, each opening layout inspected for hidden Aces and dead starts.
- A simple program with face-up cards only and no Undo; a floor.
- A planning search on 1,000 deals that knows hidden cards; a ceiling.
- Published figure for Turn 3: 81.945% (Blake and Gent, 2026).
- 95% Wilson score intervals throughout.
Python 3.11, standard library only. Claude, an AI assistant by Anthropic, helped write the code and draft this page; every figure comes from running the code.
Questions
Do hidden Aces ruin a deal?
Not much: 12.3% against 10.1% for our program.
Is there a two-deck Draw 3?
Not on this site.
What next?
Try Turn 1, Solitaire Double, or the site's main game, FreeCell Two Decks. All games are on the games page.
By Admin, freecell-two-decks.com (Forty Media). Research run September 2026.