Calculation is the thinking player's patience. The foundations do not build one rank at a time. Each one climbs by its own step. Suits never matter. Almost every deal can be won, so a loss is your fault and not the deck's.
Goal: move all 52 cards to the four foundations.
Each foundation climbs by a fixed step. Count J as 11, Q as 12 and K as 13. After the King the count wraps back to the Ace.
Every ladder ends on a King. Every ladder uses all 13 ranks once.
The four waste piles are your only storage. Do not fill them at random. Give each pile a purpose and stick to it. One common plan keeps Kings in one pile, since Kings come last on every ladder and block nothing underneath.
A waste pile is a stack. The last card in is the first card out. So put a card you need later at the bottom. Put the card you need sooner on top. Bury a 5 under a 7 only if the 7 is wanted first.
You cannot plan what you cannot see. Read the four rows above until you know them. The +1 ladder is easy. The +3 and +4 ladders take practice. Knowing them turns a guess into a decision.
A King is the last card of every ladder. It can sit unplayed for a long time. Give Kings a home before they pile up. Never drop a King on a card you still need.
A foundation that races ahead helps no one. Level piles accept more of the cards you turn. That keeps the waste piles shallow.
Before you park a card, look at all four foundations. A card you can play now is a card you never have to dig out later.
Most patience games hinge on the shuffle. Calculation hinges on you. The deck gives you one card at a time, and you decide where it goes. Five places to send each card, 48 times over. Good players win far more often than careless ones, on the very same deals.
They are simple addition with a wrap. Add the step, and subtract 13 if you go past the King. The +2 pile runs 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, then 12 for the Queen, then wraps to the Ace.
No. Once a card lands on a waste pile it stays until a foundation takes it. That rule is what makes the placement choice matter.
No. Any 7 will do wherever a 7 is wanted. Only the rank is checked.
No. You go through the stock once, so plan each card as it comes.
The +1 pile, because it is just the normal order. The +4 pile is the one most players misread.
Yes. Undo is a good way to test a plan and learn the ladders.
Start a deal and put your planning to the test.