How to Play This Classic Patience Car

Quick Answer: Thirteen (the patience game) is a card game where you remove pairs of cards whose values sum to 13: Ace+Queen, 2+Jack, 3+10, 4+9, 5+8, 6+7. Kings are removed individually. Cards are typically dealt in a grid layout and you remove all accessible pairs until no moves remain. It is closely related to Pyramid Solitaire but with a different layout and pairing rules.

Thirteen Solitaire occupies a charming niche in the patience card game family — it is simple enough for children to learn in minutes yet has enough variability to keep experienced players engaged. If you enjoy Pyramid Solitaire or other pairing-based patience games, Thirteen offers a satisfying alternative that trades the iconic triangle layout for a more accessible grid format.

What Is Thirteen Solitaire?

Thirteen is a patience card game built around the number 13. In a standard deck, the Jack = 11, Queen = 12, King = 13, and Ace = 1 when it comes to card values. The game leverages this to create a clean pairing mechanic: every possible pair that sums to 13 corresponds to a rank pair within the deck, and Kings are self-contained at exactly 13.

Definition: In Thirteen solitaire, "pairing to thirteen" means finding two accessible cards whose numeric values add up to exactly 13. The valid pairs are: Ace (1) + Queen (12), 2 + Jack (11), 3 + 10, 4 + 9, 5 + 8, and 6 + 7. Kings equal 13 alone.

The game has various layouts depending on the version being played. The most common versions use a 3×4 grid (12 cards face-up with the remaining 40 as a stock), a 4×4 grid, or other arrangements. Some versions closely resemble Pyramid Solitaire in concept but differ substantially in execution. The game appears in several patience anthologies and is documented on [Wikipedia's Game Listings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patience_(game).

American players in states like Texas and Florida often encounter Thirteen as a family card game taught alongside Go Fish and Solitaire, positioning it as an educational game for children learning arithmetic.

Setup for Thirteen Solitaire

There are several common layouts for Thirteen. Here is the most widely played version:

Cards needed: One standard 52-card deck, shuffled.

Grid layout version:

1. Deal 12 cards face-up in a 3×4 grid (3 rows, 4 columns)
2. The remaining 40 cards form the face-down stock pile

Extended version:

1. Deal all 52 cards face-up in a 4×13 grid (4 rows of 13)
2. No stock pile; the entire deck is visible from the start

Simple version for beginners:

1. Deal 13 cards face-up in a single row
2. Remaining 39 cards form the stock

For this guide, we will focus on the 3×4 grid version as it is the most widely documented.

How to Play Thirteen Solitaire

Objective: Remove all 52 cards from play by pairing them into sums of 13 (and removing Kings individually).

Available cards: In the grid version, all 12 face-up grid cards are available. Cards are not blocked by other cards in most versions.

Making moves:

1. Select any two face-up cards that sum to 13 and remove them both from play
2. If a King is face-up, remove it from play by itself (no pair needed)
3. After removing pairs, deal replacement cards from the stock to fill the empty spaces (in the grid version)
4. Continue removing pairs and dealing replacements until no valid pairs exist among the face-up cards

Stock dealing: Each time you clear spaces in the grid, deal new cards from the stock to fill those spaces. Once the stock is exhausted, play continues with only the remaining face-up cards.

Winning: You win if all 52 cards are removed. Since every suit in the deck contains exactly the right card values for pairing (A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 + their complements 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, and the King), the mathematics always works out — every card has a partner (or is a King). The challenge is having the right cards face-up at the same time.

Losing: The game is lost if there are no valid pairs among the available face-up cards and no more stock cards remain.

Thirteen vs. Pyramid Solitaire: Key Differences

Thirteen and Pyramid Solitaire share the sum-to-13 pairing mechanic but differ in nearly every other respect:

| Feature | Pyramid Solitaire | Thirteen Solitaire | |---|---|---| | Layout | Triangle (pyramid) | Grid | | Card accessibility | Only uncovered cards | All grid cards | | Blocking | Yes — cards block others | No blocking in grid version | | Kings | Must be paired with other 13s (none) — removed alone | Removed alone | | Stock dealing | One at a time, may pair with grid | Replenishes grid spaces | | Difficulty | Higher | Lower |

The key difference is blocking. In Pyramid, cards can be trapped beneath other cards in the triangular layout, making some deals impossible regardless of moves made. In the standard Thirteen grid, all visible cards are available simultaneously, making the game significantly more accessible. For more on Pyramid, see our Pyramid Solitaire guide.

Thirteen Solitaire Strategy

Prioritize Kings early. Kings are removed alone, so they never block anything and cost nothing to remove. Whenever a King appears in the grid, remove it immediately to free that grid space for a more useful card from the stock.

Track remaining pairs. As you play, maintain awareness of which complement cards have been removed. If three 4s have been played to foundations and their partner 9s are gone too, the remaining 4 can only pair with the one remaining 9. Tracking these scarcities helps you prioritize which pairs to remove first.

Don't rush low pairs. Unlike Pyramid, where Aces and 2s can be bottlenecks, Thirteen's grid format means you have more flexibility. Still, removing pairs that involve cards with many complements in the stock is generally better than removing pairs where both cards are rare.

Manage grid composition. The goal is to avoid grid states where no two face-up cards pair to 13. This can happen when the grid becomes dominated by cards from one value group (say, many 5s and 8s already removed, leaving mainly their complements without partners).

Count pairs in the stock. When the stock is nearly exhausted, count how many unmatched cards remain in the grid and whether the stock can supply their partners. If three 6s are in the grid but only one 7 remains in the stock, you will be stuck.

For broader solitaire strategic thinking, check out our solitaire probability and odds guide.

Variations of Thirteen Solitaire

Pyramid: The most famous sum-to-13 game, using a triangular layout with blocking mechanics. More challenging than standard Thirteen. See our full Pyramid guide.

Elevens: A related game using 3×3 grid and pairing to 11 (see Elevens Solitaire rules). Face cards are removed as special triples.

Tens: Similar structure but pairing to 10, using only Aces through 9s.

Fourteens: Pairing to 14, which shifts the card value assignments.

Thirteen with blocking: Some versions impose Pyramid-style blocking rules on the grid, where cards in lower rows cannot be used until the cards above them are removed. This significantly increases difficulty and brings it closer to Pyramid's complexity.

Win Rate and Accessibility

Standard Thirteen Solitaire (grid version, no blocking) is one of the most accessible patience games available. Because all grid cards are simultaneously available and the stock constantly refreshes the grid, the win rate for this version is estimated at 60–75% for attentive players.

The game's accessibility makes it ideal for children learning basic arithmetic — summing to 13 is a gentle math exercise. Players in elementary school programs in states like California and New York have used Thirteen as an educational card game for decades.

For players who want a more challenging pairing experience, the pyramid variant with blocking offers greater difficulty, while Pyramid Solitaire delivers the full challenge of the sum-to-13 concept with a win rate of only about 1–5% in the hardest version.

Explore how Thirteen and other pairing games fit into the solitaire landscape in our complete guide to different types of solitaire games.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you pair cards in Thirteen solitaire?

In Thirteen solitaire, you remove pairs of face-up cards whose values add up to exactly 13. The valid pairs are: Ace (1) and Queen (12), 2 and Jack, 3 and 10, 4 and 9, 5 and 8, and 6 and 7. Kings have a value of 13 themselves and are removed from the game as single cards without needing a partner.

Is Thirteen solitaire the same as Pyramid solitaire?

No, but they are closely related. Both games use the sum-to-13 pairing mechanic. The main differences are that Pyramid has a triangular layout where cards block each other, while Thirteen typically uses a grid where all visible cards are accessible simultaneously. Pyramid is significantly more difficult as a result.

What happens to Kings in Thirteen solitaire?

Kings are worth 13 themselves, so they need no pair. Whenever a King appears among the available face-up cards, you remove it from the game by itself. This frees a grid space or otherwise removes the card from play. Kings should generally be removed as soon as they appear.

Can you always win Thirteen solitaire?

Not always, but the win rate is relatively high (estimated 60–75%) compared to many other solitaire games. The game can be lost if the available cards have no valid pairs and the stock is exhausted. Grid versions with all cards visible simultaneously are more winnable than versions with blocking.

What is the difference between Thirteen and Elevens solitaire?

Both are grid-based pairing solitaire games. Thirteen pairs cards summing to 13, while Elevens pairs cards summing to 11 (Ace through 9 only) and handles face cards differently — in Elevens, a Jack, Queen, and King together form a removable trio. The mechanics diverge significantly around how face cards are handled.

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💡 Variant Strategy Note (2026)

Each solitaire variation demands unique table space management. In column-heavy formats like Spider or Yukon, prioritize unlocking hidden columns early to act as temporary staging areas.