Sultan is a game of tempo — every divan play is worth more than a stock draw.

The Sultan layout and what each foundation needs

Sultan begins with nine cards locked into a 3×3 grid. The center King of Hearts is the Sultan — it is already complete and cannot receive any more cards. The surrounding eight positions each need 12 more cards before the game is won. There are two distinct foundation types, and they build differently:

• Seven King-based foundations (both K♦, both K♠, both K♣, and one K♥) build K → A → 2 → 3 → … → Q. The King is already in place; you need to find and play the matching Ace, then the 2, then the 3, all the way to the Queen. Each of these foundations needs exactly 12 more cards.
• One Ace-based foundation (A♥, position 2 in the grid) builds A → 2 → 3 → … → Q. The Ace is already in place; you need the 2♥ through Q♥ in order. This foundation also needs exactly 12 more cards.

Win condition: all eight non-Sultan foundations show a Queen on top — the Sultan surrounded by his court.

The divan auto-refill: why divan plays are worth more than stock draws

The single most important mechanic to internalize in Sultan is the divan auto-refill. When you move a divan card to a foundation, that slot immediately draws the top card from the stock to replace it. This means a divan play does two things at once: it places a card on a foundation and reveals a new card from the stock without consuming a draw action.

A stock draw, by contrast, does only one thing: it moves the top stock card to the waste pile face-up, where it sits until you either play it to a foundation or bury it under subsequent draws.

The practical consequence: whenever both a divan card and the waste top are valid for the same foundation move, prefer the divan card. You get the foundation placement either way, but the divan play additionally advances the stock by one card for free.

The heart card conflict: two foundations, one suit

Hearts are uniquely constrained in Sultan because three of the nine foundation positions involve hearts:

• Position 2 (A♥ foundation) — builds A♥ → 2♥ → … → Q♥
• Position 5 (Sultan K♥) — fixed, never built on
• Position 8 (K♥ foundation) — builds K♥ → A♥ → 2♥ → … → Q♥

Both the A♥ foundation and the K♥ foundation need hearts from 2♥ through Q♥. With two decks you have exactly two copies of each heart card, which is exactly enough — one copy per foundation. But they must be distributed correctly: each heart card from 2 to Q needs to go to exactly one of those two foundations, with neither foundation getting both copies of the same rank.

This distribution happens automatically through play order, but the constraint has a strategic implication: if both copies of a needed heart card pass through the waste on the same pass without being played, one of the heart foundations will stall waiting for that card on the next cycle. Track heart cards carefully across both divan slots and the waste pile to avoid this.

Reading the divan: which slots are blocking progress

At any moment, each of the eight divan slots either holds a card that can immediately go to a foundation, a card that will become useful soon, or a card that is currently useless (because the foundation it belongs to is not yet ready for it). Identifying the third category is where Sultan decisions get interesting.

A divan card is "blocking" in a specific sense: the slot it occupies cannot be refreshed until that card is played to a foundation. Drawing from the stock does not refill an occupied divan slot — only playing the card from that slot does. So a divan card that cannot currently go to a foundation is occupying a slot that could otherwise be cycling through stock cards and revealing new plays.

There is no direct remedy for a blocked divan slot — you cannot discard or reorganize the divan. The only path forward is to advance the relevant foundation to the point where the blocking card becomes playable. This means prioritizing foundation building in the suit that will unlock a blocked divan slot, even when other foundations seem more urgent.

Managing three passes through a 95-card stock

Sultan allows the waste pile to be recycled twice, giving three total passes through the stock. The first pass is where most of your foundational decisions are made — both literally and strategically. By the end of pass one you will have seen every card and should know which foundations are behind and why.

Key principles for pass management:

• Play every available foundation move before drawing.Each draw advances the waste pile's position relative to the next recycle. Drawing past a playable waste card wastes a move and, more importantly, buries that card under subsequent waste draws, making it harder to access on the next pass.
• Identify your critical-path cards after pass one.Any foundation that is more than 3–4 ranks behind the others by the end of pass one is in danger of being the reason you lose. On pass two, prioritize playing into that foundation's suit whenever the option exists.
• Do not recycle prematurely.If the waste top is something you do not immediately need and the stock still has cards, draw first. Recycling with cards still in the stock is not possible — the recycle option only appears when the stock is empty — but the instinct to rush through the stock is worth resisting. Slow, deliberate draws give divan plays more opportunities to fire.
• After pass two, you can plan the game precisely.Every remaining card is in the waste pile in a known order (reversed from how it entered). You know exactly which cards will appear in what sequence on pass three. Use this information to assess whether the game is still winnable before recycling.

Where Sultan games are lost

• Ignoring the divan vs. waste priority. Playing the waste card when a divan card would accomplish the same foundation move is the most common tempo mistake. Over a full game, this choice comes up dozens of times and each misstep is a free stock advance surrendered.
• Letting both copies of a heart card pass unplayed.If 7♥ passes through the waste and both 7♥ cards are now in the waste pile with no foundation ready for them, one heart foundation will stall. With only two remaining passes, recovering from a two-copy miss is very difficult.
• Failing to notice that a divan slot has become permanently blocked.If a divan slot holds a card for a foundation whose prior cards are all buried in the waste with two passes remaining, that slot is effectively lost for the rest of the game. Recognising this early lets you adjust expectations rather than continuing to play optimistically.
• Spending pass three without a plan.On the final pass, every card in the waste has a known position. Playing reactively on pass three — drawing and responding to whatever appears — is weaker than knowing in advance which foundation moves are still possible and in what order the required cards will appear.