Solitaire is a classic everyone has played. On Podium Games it becomes a competition: you’re up against other players on the same deal, and your ranking depends solely on your score.
This article explains how it works. If you’re looking to optimise your score directly, see the 6 habits for finishing in the top 3 instead.
The rules don’t change
It’s the Solitaire you know. You can place a card on another of immediately higher value and opposite colour: a 6♠ goes on a 7♥ or a 7♦.
You can also move entire piles between columns, as long as the rule holds. And if a column becomes empty, you can put any card or pile there.
The aim remains to build the four foundations, lowest to highest, suit by suit.
What changes on Podium
Four differences from the Solitaire on your computer.
Every player gets the same deal. Same distribution, same cards, same conditions. Nobody lands a more favourable hand than anyone else.
Every action counts towards the score. You don’t win or lose: you score. The ranking is built on points accumulated.
A game lasts 4 minutes. The time left at the end converts into points, which rewards speed as much as accuracy.
You’re ranked against the others. Your score alone isn’t enough: what matters is your position relative to the players in the same tournament.
How the score is built
The scoring table is published, so you know exactly what each move is worth:
- Completing a full foundation: +500
- Placing a card on its foundation: +100
- Turning over a face-down card: +75
- Playing a card from the stock onto the tableau: +50
- Emptying a column: +50
- Using a hint: −70
- Cycling the stock without playing: −50, then −25 more each time
On top of that comes the time bonus: +20 points per second remaining if you complete all the foundations, +10 points per second if the game ends because no move is left.
That table alone explains why two players finishing the same deal can end up with very different scores.
How the tournaments work
A tournament is triggered every 250 games, and three players are rewarded every time.
Stakes run from 1 € to 50 € depending on the tournament. The higher the stake, the bigger the winnings.
There’s also a practice mode, free and unlimited, with no ranking and no winnings. That’s where you learn.
So how do you win money at Solitaire?
By finishing in the top three of a tournament. Nothing else.
There’s no draw, no random bonus card, no element of luck in how a game unfolds. The deal is identical for every participant, and the same sequence of moves always produces the same score.
That’s what separates a skill game from a game of chance: your place in the ranking depends only on what you produced during your 4 minutes. Zero chance, 100 % talent.
Direct consequence: practising is worth something. In a game of chance, practice doesn’t change your expected outcome. Here, it changes it mechanically.
Where to start
Go through practice mode first, until the basic moves are automatic. You’ll lose far fewer seconds in a tournament — and seconds are points.
Then enter a 1 € tournament rather than a 20 € one: twenty attempts teach you where you lose points, one teaches you nothing.
To start without putting up money, 20 € of free credit comes with registration. And to go further, the detailed scoring strategy.
