Is every game of Solitaire winnable?

The short answer

No. A meaningful share of Klondike deals cannot be solved however well you play, because cards you need are buried beneath cards that can only be moved by the cards you need.

Studies of the game put the share of solvable draw one deals at around eighty percent. Draw three is considerably lower, because only every third card in the stock is reachable on a pass.

The gap between solvable and won

Solvable means a perfect player with full knowledge could win it. Real players, who cannot see the face down cards, win far fewer: typically around a third of draw one games and well under a fifth at draw three.

So most losses are not impossible deals. They are ordinary deals played in the wrong order.

What actually costs you games

• Sending aces and twos to the foundation the moment they appear, when they were useful in the tableau as landing spots.
• Emptying a column with no king ready to fill it.
• Taking a move that tidies the board over a move that turns a face down card over.
• Drawing through the stock without a plan for what you are looking for.

How to win more

Uncover face down cards first, always. Information is the resource Klondike is short of, and every hidden card you turn makes the rest of the game easier.

Play draw one if you want to win more often, and draw three if you want the game to resist. Neither is cheating.