Vegas solitaire scoring
Vegas scoring turns ordinary Klondike into a running bankroll: each deal "costs" $52 and every card you get onto the foundations "pays" $5. The tracker below does the arithmetic for a real deck on a real table: tap in your foundation cards after each deal and it keeps the per-deal result and the session total, with cumulative mode if you want it.
For fun only. The dollars here are points. This page takes no money, pays no money and has no link to any gambling site. Please do not use it to keep track of real bets.
Vegas solitaire tracker
Balance $0
| Deal | Draw | Cards | Result | Balance |
|---|
How Vegas scoring works
- The buy-in: every deal starts at minus $52, a dollar for each card in the deck.
- The payout: every card that reaches a foundation earns $5.
- The pass limit: playing draw three, you may go through the stock three times. Playing draw one, you get a single pass.
- Cumulative or not: with cumulative on, the total carries from deal to deal. With it off, every deal starts again at minus $52.
That is how the MobilityWare Solitaire help center describes its Vegas mode, and Solitaire.com's scoring guide gives the same $52 start and $5 per card. Some apps let you change the pass limit; when you play with real cards, agree on the rules before the first deal and set them in the tracker.
The numbers that matter
A deal is a profit only from 11 foundation cards up, because 52 / 5 = 10.4. Here is what a deal pays at a few points:
| Foundation cards | Deal result |
|---|---|
| 0 | -$52 |
| 5 | -$27 |
| 10 | -$2 |
| 11 | +$3 |
| 13 | +$13 |
| 20 | +$48 |
| 26 | +$78 |
| 39 | +$143 |
| 52 | +$208 |
So one cleared deal (+$208) pays for four deals where you get nothing up (-$208). Over a session the question is your average: an average of 11 or more foundation cards per deal means you are ahead. The tracker shows your average so you can see where you stand.
Draw one, one pass vs draw three, three passes
The two settings are not equal, and it helps to know why. In draw one with a single pass, you see every stock card exactly once, in order, and anything you cannot use right then stays buried in the waste. In draw three with three passes, you only see every third card on a pass, but you get three looks, and every waste card you play shifts which cards show up next time. Neither is clearly easier for every player, which is one reason to log the draw setting with each deal and compare your own averages.
Cumulative mode, with an example
Start a session at $0 with cumulative on. Deal one: 8 cards, -$12, balance -$12. Deal two: 23 cards, +$63, balance +$51. Deal three: 0 cards, -$52, balance -$1. With cumulative off, the score shown after deal three would just be -$52; the tracker still adds up the session underneath so you can see the net.
Where the idea comes from
Paying per card against the price of a deck is older than computers. The Wikipedia article on Canfield tells how gambler Richard A. Canfield sold decks for about $50 at his Saratoga Springs casino around 1900 and paid $5 per foundation card, though in his game, now called Canfield solitaire, rather than Klondike.
Playing for a better Vegas score
- A lost deal still pays. Every foundation card is $5 whether or not you finish. When a deal is clearly stuck, send everything you can to the foundations before you give up.
- Make every table move before turning a card. With a pass limit, the stock is a resource you cannot refill. A tableau move first can create a home for the next stock card.
- Get the Aces and 2s up early. They are worth the same $5 as a King and almost never help on the tableau.
- Know when you are ahead. Once a deal reaches 11 foundation cards it is in profit. Past that, there is no reason to take risks that could block the rest of the deal.
New to the game itself? The full Klondike rules, setup and strategy are on our solitaire page.
Vegas solitaire questions
How much do you start with in Vegas solitaire?
Each deal starts at minus $52: you "buy" the deck at $1 a card. Every card you move to a foundation pays $5. It is pretend money, a way of keeping score.
How many cards do you need to break even?
Eleven. Ten cards pay $50, two short of the $52 buy-in. Eleven pay $55, a $3 profit. Clearing all 52 cards nets $208.
How many times can you go through the deck in Vegas solitaire?
Draw-three games allow three passes through the stock; draw-one games allow one pass. That is how the MobilityWare Solitaire help center describes it.
What is cumulative Vegas?
With cumulative scoring on, your balance carries over from one deal to the next, so you can see whether you are ahead over a whole session. With it off, every deal starts again from minus $52.