What is Limited passes?
In the standard game here you can go through the stock as often as you like: whenever it runs out, the waste pile is turned over to make a new stock. With limited passes you choose in the setup how many passes the game allows, one or three, and the board shows how many are left.
Once the last pass is spent, the waste pile stays where it is: you can still play its top card, but the stock cannot be dealt again. As soon as no card can reach the foundations, be turned face up or come off the stock and waste any more, the deal is over without being cleared.
This is the pass limit of Vegas scoring without the money, so you can play the stricter game and still simply aim to clear the deal. It works with turning one card or three at a time.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Solitaire | Limited passes |
|---|---|---|
| Passes through the stock | Standard SolitaireUnlimited. | Limited passesOne or three, chosen in the setup. The board shows how many are left. |
| Empty stock | Standard SolitaireTurn the waste pile over to make a new stock, every time. | Limited passesTurn it over only while passes are left; after the last pass the stock stays empty. |
| End of the game | Standard SolitaireWhen every card is on the foundations, when no card can reach them, be turned face up or come off the stock any more, or when you give up. | Limited passesThe same, but once the passes are spent the stock cannot come round again, so a deal often ends sooner. |
| Score | Standard SolitaireNone. | Limited passesNone: no money changes hands, unlike Vegas scoring. |
| Other options | Standard SolitaireDraw Three and Vegas scoring can be added. | Limited passesWorks with Draw Three. Vegas scoring brings its own limit, so the pass setting is hidden while Vegas is on. |
History
Older card game books commonly give Klondike with the stock turned one card at a time and gone through only once, so a limit on passes is part of the game's classic rules rather than a modern addition. Going through the stock again, or as often as you like, is a common easier form, and computer versions usually allow it.
The limits of one and three passes offered here are the ones of Vegas scoring in the solitaire program bundled with a widely used computer operating system from 1990: one pass when turning one card, three when turning three.