San Juan Hill Solitaire
How to play San Juan Hill
San Juan Hill is a two-deck solitaire game of the Forty Thieves family that puts all eight Aces on the foundations before dealing ten face-up piles of four, built down in suit.
Forty Thieves with all eight Aces put on the foundations before the deal.
The goal of San Juan Hill
Move all 104 cards onto the eight foundations, two for each suit, each built up from the Ace to the King.
How to set up San Juan Hill
Two standard decks are shuffled together and the eight Aces put on the foundations. Forty of the other 96 cards are dealt face up into ten piles of four, and the remaining 56 form the stock.
San Juan Hill rules
Piles build down in suit, one rank at a time. Only one card moves at a time, the top card of a pile or of the waste, and an empty pile takes any card.
Turn the stock onto the waste one card at a time, once through with no redeal. Only the top waste card is in play.
A card on a foundation never comes back into play.
Click a card to send it to its foundation, else onto the first pile it builds on, else into an empty pile. Drag it to choose yourself. With Autoplay off in Settings, only a drag moves a card.
How to win at San Juan Hill
You win when all 104 cards are home. With the stock and waste empty and every pile in order, Auto complete, on by default in Settings, plays the rest for you. The game is stuck when no card can move and the rest of the stock brings up nothing that can.
San Juan Hill strategy tips
Without the Aces, the ten piles of four hold 40 of the other 96 cards and the stock 56, eight fewer than in Forty Thieves. Every Two dealt to a pile can go home the moment it is uncovered, so start with the piles that have a Two near the top.
No Ace lies buried, so the foundations can grow from the first move instead of waiting for the Aces to turn up. What holds a suit back now is a Two or a Three low in a pile: free those before you build on the piles that cover them.
There is one pass through a stock of 56 cards. When a Two or a Three turns up on the waste and its foundation is not ready, make room for it on the table at once, as the next turn covers it and the waste never comes round again.
Since a Two can always go home, a Three is the first card that may have to wait. When a Three turns up on the waste before either Two of its suit is home, it needs a Four of its suit on top of a pile or an empty pile, or the next turn buries it.
A Two lying on a Three of its suit can go home, and then the Three after it, since every foundation already holds its Ace. Look first for piles built down in suit to a Two: they clear straight onto the foundations.
San Juan Hill questions and answers
How do you play San Juan Hill solitaire?
Put the eight Aces on the foundations, shuffle the rest of the two decks, deal ten piles of four cards face up and keep the other 56 cards as the stock. Build the piles down in suit, one card at a time, and go through the stock once, one card at a time. You win when all 104 cards are home.
What is the difference between San Juan Hill and Forty Thieves?
San Juan Hill puts all eight Aces on the foundations before the deal, so the ten piles of four and the stock of 56 hold no Aces. Everything else is the same: piles built down in suit, one card moved at a time and one pass through the stock.
Can a Two always go home in San Juan Hill?
Yes, as soon as it is free. Each suit has two foundations with an Ace on each and only two Twos, so whichever Two of a suit comes first, a foundation is waiting for it, and the second Two finds the other one.
How is San Juan Hill different from Lucas?
Both start with the eight Aces home and build down in suit one card at a time. San Juan Hill deals ten piles of four and keeps 56 cards in the stock; Lucas deals thirteen piles of three and keeps 57. The solver proved 46% of the San Juan Hill deals it tried winnable and 97% of the Lucas deals.
Can every San Juan Hill deal be won?
Not necessarily. Searching up to a million positions per deal, the game's solver proved 46% of the San Juan Hill deals it tried winnable, so at least that share can be won. That is well above the 29% of Forty Thieves, the same game with the Aces left in the pack. With Winnable on, in the menu beside New deal, each board comes from a list of 500 proved deals. Hint asks the same solver for a winning line before it suggests a move.
Is there a daily San Juan Hill game?
Yes. San Juan Hill has a daily board, the same deal for everyone that day, dealt the way a Winnable board is. Log in to play it.