I was bitten by the Spider
Solitaire Game bug.
Here in lies some of the things I’ve learned in my 1,000s of
hours seeking revenge for that moment when I was bitten by the spider.
I now spend my time playing the Advanced Spider Cards Four Suit game.
The version of spider cards that I play is the copy that came with my
computer, published by Microsoft.
As with all solitaire games; you are playing against yourself. The way
to keep score of who is winning (you vs. spider) is to monitor the
Spider Cards Win/Loss ratio or win percentage that is displayed at the
end of each game. The way I look at it, if my stats improve, I am
winning. If my advanced Spider Cards Four Suit game win/loss ratio
falls, I am trapped in the spider’s web.
When I play while watching TV or on the phone or killing time between
tasks, I win occasionally. If I sit down and
PLAY TO WIN,
I can win on a regular basis. Sometimes a game may take an hour or
more. Time can get away from you if you are a serious player.
If
you want to win Spider Cards Four Suit game, you must take it seriously.
This article assumes that you know how to play Spider Cards and that
you would like to improve your win percentage or to beat advanced
spider cards 4 suit game for the first time. While I’m not an
expert I do win on a regular basis. Whether you are a casual player or
a hardcore Spider Cards player, you may benefit from some of my
observations.
Of
course to win Spider
Cards you must remove all cards from play by making 13 card runs of the
same suit, ace through king. There are 3 levels of difficulty to choose
from. The 1 suit (all Spades) game, 2 suit (spades and Hearts) game and
the 4 suit (all 4 suits) game. The 4 suit game is for the more advanced
player.
To do this, there will be occasions when you will need to breakup
existing runs to create larger runs. You may have spent a lot of time
building that run but to win you must break it up. There are no
straight lines in this game; it may take 10 moves to place 1 cards in
the desired location. That is just the nature of Spider Cards, do not
try to fight it or the spider wins.
The
best tip I can give a player is to
play the game as though you were playing the game Free Cell.
If you have
never played Free Cell, take a moment and try a few games.
Its
fun and you will see how learning to play Free Cell can improve your
winning Spider Solitaire strategies.
In Spider Cards, if
you have an
empty tableau pile you can make an unbelievable number of moves that
can not otherwise be accomplished. AND, if you have 2 empty
tableau piles, you have a great chance at squashing the spider.
For the remainder of this
article, I will refer to the “tableau pile” as a
“cell”.
Winning
Spider Solitaire Strategies I Use
Spider
Solitaire Strategy
1 Acquire
a “free” cell
Each
time you replenish the cells from the stock pile your first priority
should be to acquire an empty or “free” cell. This
might
mean giving up an obvious move were you match up cards of the same
suit. With a free cell you can accomplish so much more and
there
is a good chance when you’re done, those cards will be paired
up
anyway.
Always select the cards
from the cell
with the fewest cards in the blind. This means on the initial
Spider Solitaire deal select cards from the right cells first. Remember
your goal is to ACQUIRE a free cell.
Spider Solitaire
Strategy 2
Before a new deal
Before a new deal,
position the cards
in play in away that will increase your chances of acquiring a free
cell early in the new dealt. Do this by keeping the exposed cards to a
minimum on small blinds and one suit strings on empty cells.
Spider Solitaire
Strategy 3
Costly Kings
The only time you can move
a King is to
a free cell. That means that for the remainder of the game, you can
never use that cell again as a free cell. Only move a king as a last
resort. Kings COST you a free cell.
Spider Solitaire
Strategy 4
End All Aces
When an ace is exposed in
a cell, no
other cards can be played on that cell. If you can avoid
exposing
an ace, do so. This will increase the number of cells in play by 10%.
This is the one exception to rule #4 (splitting pairs). All
Aces
END any chances to play additional cards on that cell.
Spider Solitaire
Strategy 5
Split those Pairs
In every game there comes
a time when
like cards are placed on one another; example a 4 dealt on a 4. When
you finally get the 5 you need to move a 4 off the cell,
you’ll
find that now you need another 5. It might just be my bad
luck
talking but I SPLIT PAIRS. Don’t split aces, this
ain’t blackjack.
Spider Solitaire
Strategy 6
The Pit Cell
The major goal of each
hand is to
obtain a free cell. That involves keeping your cells short and one
suited. To do this create a cell for your unwanted cards. I call it the
Pit or garbage cell. Pick a cell that is going to be difficult to empty
(paired kings) or has paired aces (you do not want to slit) and toss
cards in there to keep your other cells short and single suited. This
will help you acquire more free cells.
Tips to
Improve Your Win/loss Ratio
[top]
When
I play Spider Solitaire I try to keep these ideas in mind. While these
are game hints and not winning strategies, they may make the game
easier to play which should help improve your win percentage
statistics.
Spider Solitaire
Tip 1 Mix
those colors
All thing being equal (all
rules
applied) if you have 2 cards you can play, mix up the colors.
As
the cells grow in length and the cards get harder to distinguish, you
may not notice an off suit card in the middle of your straight. However
if the card is a different color, it will stand out.
Spider Solitaire
Tip 2
Check your end game
When the game is over and
you lost,
look at the remaining cells. Look for a pattern in the number of cards
remaining in the blinds. If you notice a pattern, for example; the
blinds on the right are generally smaller; you may not be scanning all
cells equally when looking for moves. Try to avoid
concentrating
on one area of the game board.
Spider Solitaire
Tip 3 Play
your hunch
If you desperately need a
9 and there
aren’t many 9s in play, chances are a 9 will be dealt next
draw.
Plan for it…you never know?
Spider Solitaire
Tip 4 Too
many all a-like, all at-once
Did you ever get 4 10s on
a draw and
already have 5 of them in play. The first reaction is to bury them.
Then near the end game you need 10s. It’s obvious
that if
the majority of 10s are dealt at once, 10s will be scarce later on in
the game. Keep some of those all a-like, all at-once cards handy for
the end game.
Spider Solitaire
Tip 5 I
can win this
We all have those games we
know we can
win but can’t find the right move. Take a break. It
doesn’t
have to be a long break. Get a soda, pet the dog, give your lover a
kiss, it doesn’t mater. As soon as you return
you’ll see a
completely different game. Just keep in mind you can’t
win’em all.
Spider Solitaire
Tip 6 The
computer can be wrong
Sometimes you have planed
4 or 5 moves
ahead to move a large run of cards, and in the middle of that move, the
computer stops you. The computer tells you, you have lost. Return to
the game and complete your moves. I have won many games after the
computer said I had lost.
Spider Solitaire
Tip 7 Do
not rely on the “Hint” key
If you rely solely on the
hint key to
determine if there are any more moves, you are missing many
opportunities. The hint key will show you the obvious moves remaining
not the necessary moves to win. Hint will not show you compound moves.
Hint can not show that to make a great move you must first make two
other moves. Compound moves are where the games are won.
Spider Solitaire
Tip 8 One
string = One card
If you have a run of cards
of the same
suit (string) consider them as one card and move them as such. Do not
hesitate to breakup this string for the greater good.
Good luck to
you and above all HAVE FUN!
