Streets and Alleys Solitaire Advanced Tips

Quick Answer: Streets and Alleys is a patience card game where all 52 cards are dealt face-up into two banks of four columns on each side of four central foundation piles. The "streets" are the left columns (4 cards each) and the "alleys" are the right columns (3 cards each). Only the innermost card of each column — nearest the foundations — is playable. No stock pile is used.

Streets and Alleys Solitaire stands out visually from every other patience game you will encounter. Instead of a top-to-bottom column layout familiar from Klondike or FreeCell, Streets and Alleys places foundations in the center of the playing area with card columns extending outward on both sides. This bilateral layout creates unique strategic challenges around which side of the board to work first.

What Is Streets and Alleys?

Streets and Alleys is a single-deck patience game with a distinctive two-sided tableau. The four foundation piles sit in the middle, and four columns extend to the left (the "streets") and four columns extend to the right (the "alleys"). Cards in each column must be built inward — toward the foundations — making the innermost (closest to foundation) card the active card in each column.

Definition: In Streets and Alleys, "inner card" refers to the card at the end of each column nearest to the central foundations. Only the inner card of any column can be moved to a foundation or to the inner end of another column. The outer cards in each column are inaccessible until all cards inward of them have been played.

The game is catalogued on [Streets and Alleys Solitaire Rules](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patience_(game) and referenced in several classic patience books. Its unusual layout makes it one of the more memorable patience variants, and the bilateral dealing structure gives it a satisfying symmetry that appeals to visual thinkers.

Streets and Alleys Setup

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

Dealing the layout: The deck is dealt to create a symmetrical arrangement:

Left side (Streets) — 4 columns of 4 cards each:

• Columns 1–4, each containing 4 face-up cards
• Cards are arranged so the last card dealt in each column is the innermost (nearest foundations)
• Total: 16 cards

Center — 4 foundation spaces:

• Empty at the start
• Will be built up from Ace to King by suit

Right side (Alleys) — 4 columns of 3 cards each:

• Columns 5–8, each containing 3 face-up cards
• Total: 12 cards

Remaining 24 cards: Split between the two sides — with 4 columns of 4 on the left (16) and 4 columns of 3 on the right (12), that's 28 non-foundation cards. The full 52 cards are all dealt to the tableau (52 - 4 foundation spaces = 52 cards in columns).

Note on exact dealing: The most common version deals 4+4+4+4 = 16 cards left and 4+4+4+4 but 3 cards per column right = 12 cards right, totaling 28. The remaining 24 cards form... actually, all 52 cards go to the tableau in the most standard Streets and Alleys rules. The exact split is 4 columns of 4 (16 cards) on the left and 4 columns of 3 (12 cards) on the right = 28 cards. Wait — that leaves 24 undealt. Those remaining 24 cards are dealt as an additional row to the left columns, making 4 columns of 7 on the left and 4 columns of 6 on the right in the most common full dealing.

The simplest correct description: All 52 cards are dealt face-up. Left side gets 4 columns of 7 cards (28 cards); right side gets 4 columns of 6 cards (24 cards). Total: 28+24 = 52. Foundations are empty in the center. The innermost card of each column (nearest the foundation area) is playable.

How to Play Streets and Alleys

Objective: Move all 52 cards to the four foundation piles, building each suit from Ace up to King.

Available cards: Only the inner card of each column (the card at the end nearest the foundations) can be moved. Outer cards become available as inner cards are played.

Moves:

• Play inner cards to foundations if they are the next card needed for that suit
• Move an inner card from one column to another column's inner position if the moving card is one rank lower than the destination card (any suit — Streets and Alleys uses rank-only building, no suit or color requirement)
• Empty a column completely to create a free space (any available card can fill an empty column position)

No stock pile: All cards are dealt at the start. There is no stock to draw from, no waste pile, and no redeals. Every card is visible from the beginning.

Winning: All 52 cards reach the four foundations.

Strategy for Streets and Alleys

Play Aces immediately. Aces are the foundation starters. Any Ace appearing as an inner card should go to its foundation immediately. Work to uncover buried Aces early.

Balance both sides. Working only the left side (streets) leaves the right side (alleys) frozen. If an important sequence of cards spans both sides, you need to work both simultaneously. Staying too one-sided risks blocking yourself when you need cards from the neglected side.

Create empty columns strategically. Empty columns serve as free maneuvering spaces. You can temporarily move a card to an empty column to expose the card behind it. Managing these spaces well is the key to advanced play.

Think inward. The card you want is never the current inner card — it is always the card one, two, or three cards deeper in the column. Count inward and plan the sequence of moves needed to reach it.

All-suit building is flexible but deceptive. Because you can place any card on any inner card one rank higher regardless of suit, tableau building is very flexible. But this flexibility can lead you to build sequences that block foundation progress. Try to build tableau sequences that set up clean foundation runs.

Prioritize unblocking low cards. Like most solitaire games, your biggest bottlenecks are Aces, 2s, and 3s buried deep in columns. These must reach foundations before any higher cards in their suit can follow.

For more on open-tableau solitaire strategy, see our advanced solitaire strategies guide, which covers planning methods applicable to Streets and Alleys.

Streets and Alleys vs. Related Games

Streets and Alleys occupies a unique space among patience games. No other common solitaire game uses the bilateral layout with foundations in the center. Here is how it compares:

| Feature | Streets and Alleys | Klondike | FreeCell | |---|---|---|---| | Layout | Two-sided bilateral | Seven descending columns | Eight even columns | | Stock pile | None | Yes | None | | All cards visible | Yes | No (face-down cards) | Yes | | Tableau building | Any suit, descending | Alternating colors | Alternating colors | | Win rate | ~35–45% | ~15–25% | ~99% |

The "all cards visible" aspect of Streets and Alleys makes it more of a pure planning puzzle than luck-based games with hidden cards. However, the bilateral layout restricts movement in ways that FreeCell's open layout does not. You can explore more comparisons in our best solitaire games compared article.

Win Rate and Difficulty

Streets and Alleys has an estimated win rate of 35–45% with good strategic play. The complete card visibility makes it theoretically more solvable than hidden-card games, but the bilateral movement constraint and the inability to freely rearrange columns make many positions harder to solve than they appear.

The game is popular among patience enthusiasts who appreciate spatial thinking. The visual layout — two wings flanking central foundations — appeals to players in design-minded communities. American players who enjoy chess or other positional thinking games tend to gravitate toward Streets and Alleys.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the layout of Streets and Alleys solitaire?

Streets and Alleys deals all 52 cards face-up into two banks of four columns on either side of four central foundation piles. The left "streets" columns have more cards each (7 per column) and the right "alleys" columns have fewer (6 per column). Only the innermost card of each column — nearest the foundations — is available to play at any time.

How does movement work in Streets and Alleys?

Only the innermost card of each column (the card physically closest to the central foundation area) can be moved. You can move it to a foundation if it is the next required card, or to the inner end of another column if it is one rank lower (any suit). As each inner card moves, the card behind it becomes the new inner card.

Is there a stock pile in Streets and Alleys?

No. All 52 cards are dealt to the tableau at the start of the game. There is no stock pile, no waste pile, and no redeals. Every card is visible from the beginning, making Streets and Alleys a pure planning puzzle where you can see all the information but must work through the constraints of the bilateral layout.

What is the win rate for Streets and Alleys solitaire?

The estimated win rate for Streets and Alleys is approximately 35–45% with careful, strategic play. Because all cards are visible from the start, skilled players can often identify unwinnable deals early and start a new game. Strategic use of empty columns and balanced work across both sides of the board are the main factors determining success.

How is Streets and Alleys different from FreeCell?

Both games show all cards face-up from the start, but they differ significantly. FreeCell has four free cells for individual card storage and alternating-color building rules. Streets and Alleys has bilateral columns flanking central foundations, any-suit tableau building, and no free cells. FreeCell has a win rate near 99%, while Streets and Alleys is roughly 35–45%.

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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.