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Klondike Solitaire Scoring System Explained

Klondike has at least three official scoring systems plus a dozen unofficial variants. Most players never bother learning them — they just play until the cards run out. But knowing the scoring system is useful: it tells you which moves are objectively "good" beyond just winning, and lets you compare runs across sessions. Here are the three you'll encounter most often.

Standard Klondike Scoring

Standard scoring, used by Microsoft Solitaire and most online implementations, rewards you for:

• +10 for each card moved to the foundation
• +5 for each tableau-to-tableau move that flips a face-down card
• +5 for each card moved from waste to tableau (turn 1 only)
• -15 for each card moved from foundation back to tableau
• -20 per cycle through the stock (turn 3 only, starting from the 4th cycle)
• -2 per 10 seconds elapsed

A clean win in Standard Klondike typically scores 500-1500 points depending on play speed. A 2000+ score is exceptional.

Vegas Klondike Scoring

Vegas Klondike treats each hand as a small wager. You "pay" $52 to play a hand (one dollar per card) and earn $5 for each card sent to the foundation:

• Cost to play: $52
• Earned per foundation card: $5
• Maximum possible earnings: 52 × $5 = $260
• Break-even: need 11+ foundation cards to recoup the buy-in

Vegas Klondike is brutal mathematically. The average player sends about 8-10 cards to the foundation per hand, losing money on most hands. Only consistently winning Klondike players come out positive over time.

Most casinos retired Klondike for revenue reasons decades ago, but the scoring system survives in casino-themed online implementations.

Time-Based Scoring

Modern mobile and web implementations often use a simple time-based score: fastest clear wins. The exact formula varies but typically:

• Maximum score (e.g., 10,000) at 30 seconds or under
• Score decays linearly with time
• Bonus for using fewer undos
• Penalty for hint usage

Time-based scoring is friendlier to casual players and easier to leaderboard. It also rewards intuition over the kind of careful play that Standard scoring rewards.

Which Scoring Should You Track?

Depends on your goals:

• Standard: if you want to objectively compare runs across days.
• Vegas: if you want a brutal yardstick for "did I actually win value from this hand?"
• Time-based: if you're competitive and want fast leaderboard climbs.
• None: if you just want to play and let the game be the game.

What Counts as a Good Score

Rough benchmarks across thousands of player samples:

How Scoring Affects Strategy

Different scoring systems push different play styles:

1. Standard rewards efficiency. Each foundation card is +10 but each second is -0.2. Get cards up but don't dither.
2. Vegas rewards selectivity. Don't play hopeless hands. Walking away preserves stake.
3. Time-based rewards speed. Snap decisions beat slow careful decisions.

Try the Math Yourself

Open Klondike, switch scoring modes in settings, and play 10 hands of each. The same skill level produces very different "scores" depending on system. Knowing which one you're optimizing for makes you a faster, more deliberate player.