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Double Klondike: two decks, nine columns

By Gleb Tkatchouk · last updated 2026-09-18

Double Klondike is classic solitaire scaled up: two decks instead of one, nine columns instead of seven, eight foundations instead of four. Everything you know from Klondike still applies — alternating colours down the columns, kings into empty spaces, aces to the foundations — but the table is wider, the deck is deeper, and a game runs about twice as long. In Decks it is the "Brutal" level of Klondike.

Two decks, nine columns, eight foundations. Double Klondike is the Brutal level of Klondike in Decks — free on the App Store.

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Rules of Double Klondike

Cards and layout. 104 cards — two standard decks without jokers. Nine columns are dealt as in Klondike: one card in the first column, two in the second, up to nine in the ninth, the top card of each face up. That is 45 cards on the table; the remaining 59 form the stock.

Foundations. Eight of them, one per suit per deck. Each is built up from ace to king in a single suit. Moving all 104 cards to the foundations wins.

Columns. Cards are built down in rank and alternate in colour: a red six on a black seven. A run of correctly built cards moves as a unit. An empty column takes a king — or a run headed by a king — and nothing else.

The stock. Cards come off the stock one at a time to the waste; the top of the waste is playable. When the stock runs out, the waste is turned over to form a new stock. In Decks the stock may be redealt five times; after the fifth, what is left is left.

How it differs from single-deck Klondike

• Two of every card. A black seven you need is somewhere twice. That sounds easier and often is — until both copies of a card you must expose are buried in the same column.
• Eight foundations. Aces appear twice per suit, and the foundations fill slower relative to the size of the deck. Early foundation moves matter less; column mobility matters more.
• Nine columns and 45 face-down cards at the start, against 21 in Klondike. The game is decided by how quickly you can turn cards over.
• A longer stock. 59 cards in the stock and five passes give more chances to find what you need — and more ways to lose track of what you have already seen.

Strategy

1. Turn cards over before anything else. The columns hide 36 face-down cards. A move that exposes one is almost always better than a move that merely tidies a run.
2. Prefer the deep columns. The right-hand columns hide the most cards. Working them early pays off for the whole game.
3. Do not rush cards to the foundations. With two decks, a card sent home may be one you needed on a column to move a run. Send low cards up freely; hold on to fives and above until a run needs the space.
4. Empty columns are for kings you have chosen. With eight kings in play, an empty column filled by the first king to appear is usually a mistake. Fill it with the king whose run you can extend.
5. Count the waste. Five passes sound like plenty; they are not, at 59 cards a pass. Note which cards you saw and where they sit in the cycle.

Are Double Klondike deals winnable?

Brutal deals in Decks are drawn from a pool of deals that a bot has actually played to a win, with the win replayed by the engine to confirm it. In the last measurement — 9,000 deals, on an earlier configuration of the level — a simple greedy bot with no look-ahead won 1.6%. The proven share is a floor: the true winnable share is higher, and a patient player with undo wins far more than a greedy bot. Details and the numbers for other games are on Is every solitaire deal winnable?.

Double Klondike in Decks

Brutal is one of five Klondike levels in Decks; the other four differ by the number of columns, from five up to eight, all single-deck. You choose the level on the game card, and each level keeps its own statistics. Undo carries no penalty. There are no ads and no account, and the app works offline.

Frequently asked questions

How many cards are in Double Klondike? 104, two standard decks.

How many columns? Nine, dealt one through nine — 45 cards on the table.

How many foundations? Eight — each suit is built twice.

Is Double Klondike harder than Klondike? Longer rather than harder card for card, but the number of hidden cards makes it far less forgiving. In our measurements a greedy bot wins about 40% of classic seven-column deals and under 2% of nine-column two-deck deals.

Is it the same as Double Solitaire? No. Double Solitaire is a two-player game where each player has their own deck and shares the foundations. Double Klondike is a solitaire for one player with two decks.

Two decks, nine columns, eight foundations. Double Klondike is the Brutal level of Klondike in Decks — free on the App Store.

Scan with your phone to install