| Hand | Points |
|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 100 |
| Straight Flush | 75 |
| Four of a Kind | 50 |
| Full House | 25 |
| Flush | 20 |
| Straight | 15 |
| Three of a Kind | 10 |
| Two Pairs | 5 |
| One Pair | 2 |
Poker Solitaire (also known as Poker Patience or Poker Squares) is a strategic card game that combines the excitement of poker with the thoughtful gameplay of solitaire. Place 25 cards one at a time on a 5x5 grid to create the best possible poker hands in each row and column. This classic patience game rewards both careful planning and calculated risk-taking.
In Poker Solitaire, you're dealt one card at a time from a standard 52-card deck. Your goal is to place each card strategically on a 5x5 grid to form the highest-scoring poker hands possible. Once a card is placed, it cannot be moved, making each decision crucial to your final score.
The game scores poker hands formed by the five cards in each row and each column - giving you 10 hands total to optimize. Using the American scoring system, hands are valued based on their rarity in actual poker: Royal Flush (100 points), Straight Flush (75), Four of a Kind (50), Full House (25), Flush (20), Straight (15), Three of a Kind (10), Two Pairs (5), and One Pair (2).
Success in Poker Solitaire requires balancing multiple potential hands while adapting to the cards you're dealt. Expert players aim for scores above 200 points by focusing on high-value hands like flushes and full houses. The key is recognizing when to abandon a potential hand and pivot to a more achievable goal.
This free online version of Poker Solitaire features a clean, classic interface optimized for both desktop and mobile play. Track your score in real-time and challenge yourself to beat your personal best. Whether you're a poker enthusiast or a solitaire fan, Poker Patience offers an engaging blend of strategy and luck.
Start by placing your first cards with flexibility in mind. Avoid committing to specific hands too early. Keep aces and face cards toward the edges where they can contribute to multiple potential hands. Place mid-range cards (7-10) in the center where they're useful for straights.
Flushes are your most reliable high-scoring hands (20 points each). When you get two or three cards of the same suit early, consider dedicating a column to that flush. Vertical flushes are often easier to complete than horizontal ones since you have more control over placement.
Focus on completing guaranteed hands rather than chasing unlikely royal flushes. A solid strategy targets 2-3 flushes, 1-2 full houses or three of a kinds, and filling remaining hands with pairs. This approach consistently yields scores above 150 points.
The Corner Strategy: Place pairs in corners where they can contribute to both row and column hands.
The Flush Column: Dedicate columns 2 or 4 to flushes - these positions offer the most flexibility.
Sacrifice Rows: Accept that some hands will score zero. Better to have 8 scoring hands than 10 weak ones.
Card Counting: Track which cards have been played to calculate odds of completing hands.
Don't chase straight flushes unless you have three connected suited cards early. Avoid placing high pairs separately - keep them together for three of a kind potential. Never block a flush column with an off-suit card unless absolutely necessary. Remember: a bird in hand (guaranteed pair) is worth two in the bush (potential straight).