# Spider Solitaire Addicts: What's Your Record? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** board-card-word-game\ **Created:** [October 30, 2001, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593 "2001-10-30T20:47:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![becurious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@becurious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/becurious)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593/81 "2014-04-12T06:55:03Z")
I’m your typical SS addict (for many years now) and only play two suits. I also use the undo feature, but am not so ambitious to use it to length to solve a deck. So I usually solve roundabout 80% of the games. My high score however is 1384 and I guess this makes me the world record holder. At least I have not come across a score even remotely as high as this. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![highlanda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/76d3ee/32.png) [@highlanda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/highlanda)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593/82 "2014-05-06T23:23:15Z")
I have been playing 4 suits SS for several years now, always get them out, only question is how long it takes me. From an average of 20 mins to one which cumulatively took 8 hours over several days when you could save the game under XP version. Often have to undo, and in the Windows 7 version, sometimes my moves exceed 3000. Believe it is possible to get every game out, and so far I am proving that belief is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593/83 "2014-05-07T06:35:14Z")
> [@highlanda](#): > > Believe it is possible to get every game out, and so far I am proving that belief is correct. It’s trivial to construct deals that are unwinable. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593/84 "2014-05-07T13:43:22Z")
It is, but are the deals in the program random? Maybe they only use starting conditions that are winnable. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593/85 "2014-05-07T13:49:08Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > It is, but are the deals in the program random? Maybe they only use starting conditions that are winnable. As mentioned previously it seems like the deals aren’t simply random. I see too many deals that are initially identical for the exposed cards and the ones that can be uncovered without dealing more cards. So it may be possible that the all deals you can get are solvable. I’m not spending the time to check out each one. ---
**Author:** ![highlanda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/76d3ee/32.png) [@highlanda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/highlanda)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593/86 "2014-05-19T09:47:04Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > It’s trivial to construct deals that are unwinable. Quartz - I did not think all games were winnable, until I persisted, and now it is more of a case, of how do I win the game, not will I win the game. The change of attitude is surprising to me, at least ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593/87 "2014-05-19T16:31:34Z")
> [@highlanda](#): > > Quartz - I did not think all games were winnable, until I persisted As I said, it’s trivial to construct unwinnable games - consider one where you are unable to move any cards at all - but they are clearly rare. ---
**Author:** ![roblann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a87d85/32.png) [@roblann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roblann)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593/88 "2014-06-25T18:25:19Z")
I’m a Spider addict and I only play 4 suits, the XP version which only allows you to undo the current deal, not the whole deal. Played 555,Losses:346, Wins: 209 percentage wins 37% (nearly 38), record 4 in a row. ---
**Author:** ![Bilbo64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecc23a/32.png) [@Bilbo64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bilbo64)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593/89 "2014-07-26T06:41:10Z")
one suit played 6 won 6… to easy two suits played 7 won 7… still to easy did not try three suits four suits played 165, won 160 (96,97%), lost 5 (did not realize if you restart a game its a loss), wins without undo 11, high score 50862, winning streak 139, two games in the top 5 on the score board. love this game. ---
**Author:** ![donniemckinney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c0e974/32.png) [@donniemckinney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donniemckinney)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593/90 "2014-09-23T14:51:04Z")
[quote=“Mixolydian, post:33, topic:90593”] I’ll have to check at home to see what my record is, but I’ll admit that often when playing 2 suit (I don’t bother with one or 4 suit typically), I’ll deal again if I don’t like the way the cards look - I’ve noticed this doesn’t count as a loss - at least on the XP version. Are all of you playing the hands as dealt? I just play every hand. Seems they run in streaks, and sometimes there are a series of easily-won games, and sometimes . . . . well, a series of difficult ones is a pain. ---
**Author:** ![glutesofsteel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e95f7d/32.png) [@glutesofsteel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glutesofsteel)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2014, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593/91 "2014-11-02T05:17:59Z")
I play only 2-suits. My win % is steady at 45%, longest win streak 1s 10. My question concerns scoring: when I win I usually score about 1040 to 1070, sometimes under 1000 if it is a very convoluted game, very occasionally above 1070. But a couple of times when I played what seemed a rather convoluted game, my score was much higher: 1252 and 1238. Is there a bonus for something i didn’t realize or is the scoring program a bit screwy? ---
**Author:** ![quirkasaurus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ba0ec/32.png) [@quirkasaurus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quirkasaurus)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593/92 "2014-12-03T15:48:35Z")
There is no way someone wins 100+ games in a row, with unlimited undo’s or not, in a 4 suit, 2 deck spider game. Why? Because often enough, you will get dealt a row THAT HAS NO POSSIBLE MOVES. (all odd numbers, for example). If this happens on the last deal, it’s game over. Having said that, my winning percentage for 4 suit spider is 75%. My best over 100 games is 78%. My longest winning streak is 13 games. I’ve done 10+ numerous times. Absolutely in no way is every 4 suit spider game solvable. Neither is freecell for that matter, because sometimes the aces are so buried you just can’t get to them. Having said that, however, I have won well over 100 freecell games in a row a couple of times. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593/93 "2014-12-03T16:33:29Z")
> [@quirkasaurus](#): > > Absolutely in no way is every 4 suit spider game solvable. Neither is freecell for that matter, because sometimes the aces are so buried you just can’t get to them. Having said that, however, I have won well over 100 freecell games in a row a couple of times. I believe #11982 is unwinnable in Freecell, and I suspect there may be others. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![farmerryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9de053/32.png) [@farmerryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/farmerryan)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2014, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593/94 "2014-12-23T04:55:01Z")
I’ve played the advanced four suit version with unlimited “undos” 97 times and have won 63 times . Despite losing occasionally, I feel fairly certain every game can be won, it might just mean trying every possible sequence of moves, and probably isn’t worth the time. I lost every time I played the first dozen or so times before realizing it generally couldn’t be won without hitting undo frequently, and later realizing that you couldn’t always win by making the most rational moves. Even in the case where none of the last cards dealt can be moved onto any of the other cards (eg all odd cards are dealt) there is a solution…hit undo until you get to a point that a stack of cards can be placed just before the last deal so that the card dealt on top of that stack is in proper sequence and suit so that the entire stack can be moved, not just the top card. Also, I’m not sure high scores mean much unless you compare different players scores with the same deal, otherwise its luck of the draw and some of the most satisfying games seem impossible to win at first. ---
**Author:** ![Judah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/90db22/32.png) [@Judah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judah)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593/95 "2015-01-14T16:24:05Z")
> [@ZeitVerschwender](#): > > Anybody else consider ‘undoing’ cheating? If so what are your statistics? > > My mother used to always play and I would make fun of her for it till I was bored one day and got hooked. I play only four suits and only the version you get for free with Windows XP. My mother was terrible. Had less than 1% win rate. > > I have a 20% win rate. That is with no ‘undos’ or restarts. I don’t care how many moves it takes. It’s all about the wins. My win percent slipped below 20 and I fought for a long time to get it back. I am now at 76 wins and 302 losses ( on this computer… I’ve played a lot more games than that ). I think I need to retire from this. It is not out of control. I have a girlfriend and a life, but I really think I need to be more productive with my free time. > > So just curious how good I am before I hang it up. If I really am good, I may consider coming out of retirement to compete in the Spider Solitaire World Championships, but only if I get some fat sponsorship deals from it… From the previous page of the thread: > [@Judah](#): > > So, it looks like most Spider addicts use undo. Any other purists out there want to share their undo-less percentages? > > My latest stats (since getting a new computer a few months ago): 140/341 games for a winning percentage of 41%. First time I’ve ever gotten that high (not counting winning the first game you play). Hoping I can go cold turkey and make it stick this time, but I’ll probably slide back… From seeing other people’s winning percentages posted elsewhere, and from my own assessment of games that I could have won but didn’t, I believe that a winning percentage of at least 45% is achievable; perhaps more. (For what it’s worth, I did finally quit myself of the game…eventually.) > [@jobowo](#): > > Last: there’s been a debate elsewhere about whether “undo” is better than “no undo” (nundo). That is, in my belief a personal choice; there’s skill in both. However, there’s no doubt that using undo requires a more extensive strategy than nundo. The reason is that an undo player develops–in order to end a game as quickly as possible–exactly the same initial strategy as the nundo player. I think there is very much doubt of this. The flaw in your argument is the assumption that to end a game as quickly as possible, the optimal strategy for an undo player is necessarily the same as that of a nundo player. On the contrary, the ability to look ahead in the game and then backtrack if necessary will often afford a quicker way of ending a game (whether reckoned in minutes or moves) than the careful weighing of possibilities and relative likelihoods that is demanded by playing nundo when optimizing for winning percentage. ---
**Author:** ![ewebasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de053/32.png) [@ewebasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ewebasher)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593/96 "2015-01-23T16:00:21Z")
4 suit record Games won: 143 (99.31%) Games lost: 1 Shortest winning time: 08:25 Longest winning time: 193:46 Fewest winning moves: 201 Most winning moves: 5201 Wins without undo: 21 High score: 60878 Current winning streak: 142 Got new phone just before Christmas so stats only for last month or so. Wish I could go back to that 2nd game I played to see if I could find a way to get out ☹ Have started playing for a nundo game but if that doesn’t work just undo to best looking position (in terms of empty columns) or right back to start in some… ---
**Author:** ![spike666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@spike666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spike666)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593/97 "2015-02-22T21:49:26Z")
i only play 4 suits the others are too easy, i do use the undo but sometimes the number of undos and how far i can go back is limited, this feature seems to be random , there is no way to determine when this will start or how far back i can go, does any body else have this “problem”? my record so far is 33% success lowest moves to a win 125, this was exceptional and most of my wins are in the 200+ moves ---
**Author:** ![marconegao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@marconegao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marconegao)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593/98 "2015-03-04T17:07:34Z")
Since this seems to be still going, I’d like to share my stats as well. I play the MobilityWare Spider and I try mostly no-undo games. 4 suit record Games won: 56 (6.02%) Games lost: 875 Shortest winning time: 07:55 Longest winning time: 28:33 Average winning time: 15:03 Fewest winning moves: 163 Most winning moves: 358 Wins without undo: 42 High score: 72303 Longest winning streak: 3 ---
**Author:** ![MichaelFB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@MichaelFB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelFB)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593/99 "2015-03-18T07:31:02Z")
I just got a one suit high score of 1213. My personal best. Can anyone beat that? ---
**Author:** ![gtb59](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58f4c7/32.png) [@gtb59](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gtb59)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593/100 "2015-03-28T03:10:48Z")
I am playing 4-suit solitaire. My current streak is 45 continuous wins, but I use the undo button. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-solitaire-addicts-whats-your-record/90593.md?page=6)