Unlimited recycles in Klondike: making every pass through the stock count

Klondike on Card Lounge lets you go through the stock as often as you like. In Draw 1 that is close to a safety net. In Draw 3 there is a catch: a pass with no plays shows exactly the same cards as the pass before.

What a recycle does

• The stock holds 24 cards at the start of every deal.
• Draw 1 turns one card to the waste. Draw 3 turns three, or the remaining one or two, and only the top waste card is playable.
• When the stock is empty, Draw turns the whole waste back over into the stock: a recycle. The Draw button then reads "Recycle"; the status line always shows the cards left in the stock.
• Recycles are unlimited, and a recycle counts as one move, like a draw.

Turning the waste over keeps the order: the first card you drew is on top again.

What a pass costs

Each mode records your fewest moves for won rounds, so passes are not free. A full 24-card pass with no plays costs:

• Draw 1: 24 draws and 1 recycle, 25 moves.
• Draw 3: 8 draws and 1 recycle, 9 moves.

Draw 3 is cheaper because such a pass shows only 8 of the 24 cards, in positions 3, 6, 9 and so on up to 24. In Draw 1 every card shows on every pass.

Draw 3: the same cards until you play

In Draw 3 the groups of three are fixed by the stock order. Play nothing, and every pass shows the same cards. Only two things change that:

1. Playing the top waste card, which uncovers the card beneath it at once.
2. Taking any card out of the waste, which moves every card after it one place forward on the next pass.

For more on which positions show, see Draw 1 or Draw 3.

Worked example: a six-card stock in Draw 3

Late in a round the waste is empty and the stock holds six cards, top first: 2♣, 10♠, 8♦, 7♠, 5♣, 6♥. The foundations stand at A♣, 5♦, 3♥ and 4♠. A 9♣ tops one column, and the 3♣ and 4♣ top two others, over face-down cards. No tableau move is available.

The groups are 2♣ 10♠ 8♦, then 7♠ 5♣ 6♥. With no plays, every pass shows only the 8♦ and the 6♥, at 3 moves a pass.

Pass 1:

1. Draw (move 1). The 8♦ shows: play it onto the 9♣ (move 2). The 10♠ is now on top, with no home.
2. Draw (move 3). The 6♥ shows. It needs a black 7, but the 7♣ is not showing and the 7♠ is underneath it in the waste.
3. Recycle (move 4). The new stock, top first: 2♣, 10♠, 7♠, 5♣, 6♥.

Pass 2. With the 8♦ gone, the groups shift to 2♣ 10♠ 7♠, then 5♣ 6♥.

1. Draw (move 5). The 7♠ shows for the first time: play it onto the 8♦ (move 6).
2. Draw (move 7). The 6♥ shows: play it onto the 7♠ (move 8), then the 5♣ under it onto the 6♥ (move 9).

The column now reads 9♣ 8♦ 7♠ 6♥ 5♣, and the 7♠ only became reachable because an earlier play shifted the groups.

What is left is the 2♣ under the 10♠ in the waste, and an empty stock. The next pass would turn both in one draw and show the 10♠ again, and the 10♠ needs a red Jack, which is not showing. The 2♣ is stuck, and right after move 9 the game ends the round with "No moves left".

In Draw 1 the same position plays out differently. The first draw is the 2♣: it goes straight to its foundation, the 3♣ and 4♣ follow from the tops of their columns, and two face-down cards turn over.

How the game decides "No moves left"

A round is lost when the stock and waste have been cycled once completely without any card moving to the tableau or foundations, and no tableau or foundation move exists. You never have to click through that cycle: after every move the game checks it ahead, and if it would pass with nothing to play, the round ends there, as after move 9.

Moves that only shuffle cards around do not count. Sliding a red 9 from one black 10 to the other changes nothing, so it does not keep a round going.

Habits for using the passes

• In Draw 1, use a pass to see where the key cards sit, then make the tableau moves that give them a home before going round again.
• In Draw 3, work out before you recycle which cards will show. If nothing was played since the last pass, the next one is identical.
• Play a waste card when it helps, not just because it fits: every card you take out shifts the groups, for better or worse.

Try it

Draw 3, empty waste, and a stock of five cards, top first: J♦, 4♠, 9♥, Q♣, 3♦. Which cards show if you play nothing? If you play the first card that shows and nothing else, which cards show on the next pass?

Answer: The groups are J♦ 4♠ 9♥, then Q♣ 3♦, so the 9♥ and 3♦ show. Play the 9♥ (onto a black 10, say) and the 4♠ is on top at once. After the recycle the groups are J♦ 4♠ Q♣, then the 3♦ alone, so the next pass shows the Q♣ and the 3♦.

Try both modes: Klondike Draw 1 and Klondike Draw 3.