How to Play Miss Milligan Solitaire

According to 101 Great Card Games by David Galt, Miss Milligan is one of the most popular two-deck Solitaire games.

Objective

The goal is to move all 104 cards from the stock pile and tableau into 8 foundation piles by suit in ascending order.

The Setup and Play Area

Tableau piles: This is the area with 8 piles with 1 face-up card in each to start the game.

Stock pile: The remaining cards, or a total of 96 cards, are face-down in the stock pile. You can only go through the stock pile once.

Waste pile: Cards are drawn from the stock pile 8 at a time, with one card going into each tableau column.

Foundation piles: These are the 8 piles at the top of the game where cards are placed by suit in ascending order from Ace to King. There are 2 foundation piles for each suit. You win when this has been successfully done.

Available moves

• Only Aces can start in the foundation, and subsequent cards must be in ascending order by suit. For example, a 2 of Hearts can be played on an Ace of Clubs.
• The last card of the tableau column can be moved to the foundation.
• The last card in the tableau column can be placed on top of a card of the opposite color that is one rank higher. A 4 of Hearts, for example, can be moved on top of a 5 of Clubs.
• You can move multiple cards at one time. To move a group of cards, they must be sequenced in descending order, alternating by color, and the top card of that group must be placed on top of a playable card of the opposite color and one rank higher.
• You can place a King in an empty tableau column.
• You win when all cards are placed in the 8 foundations.

Strategy

• Move Kings to empty tableau columns. Kings cannot be placed on top of other cards. This means at some point, you'll need to move a King to an empty column to win.
• Immediately move Aces to the foundation.
• The first visible sequence may not always be the best one. Plan out your moves to remove as many cards as possible from the tableau.
• Try to build the foundations evenly. If one foundation is built immediately in the game, you now have fewer cards to help you sequence.
• Drawing from the tableau can block cards. Try to sequence as many cards as possible beforehand.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the probability of winning Miss Milligan?

The game is challenging with a low win rate. We looked at 2,765 random games played. Of those, 71 were won, or 2.57%.

What are other popular Solitaire games?

Be sure to check out these Solitaire games:

• Solitaire
• Mahjong
• Spider Solitaire
• FreeCell Solitaire
• Yukon Solitaire
• TriPeaks Solitaire
• Pyramid Solitaire
• Golf Solitaire