Black Jack For Time
Copyright 1991 by John Parlin
All Rights Reserved


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│░░░░░░ BLACK JACK - BBS STYLE ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░│
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Welcome to Black Jack For Time.  RemoteAccess is a Copyright 1989-91
by Andrew Milner and Continental Software.

Black Jack For Time is an online game of Twenty-One or Black Jack.  In this
game, players gamble their online time.   The object of the game is to try
to win as much time as possible.  Black Jack For Time supports RATS, the
RemoteAccess TimeBank System as well other online time banks which support
external time deposits.

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│░░░░░░ PLAYING THE GAME ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░│
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Betting:

Before the deal begins, the player must place his bet in coins.  This is done
by selecting <P>lace Bet.  The game will allow players to gamble up to a pre-
determined number of coins (per hand) as defined by the System Operator.
Players may not, at anytime, gamble their last coin.  Coins have a value pre-
determined by the System Operator.  For example, one coin may be worth 1 or
more minutes as defined by the System Operator.  Once a bet is placed, the
amount of the bet is subtracted from the player's pot.  The player's time
remaining field is updated as well.

The Deal:

After the player's bet is down, the dealer removes the top card from the
dealing box and lays it down, face-up on the player's table.  Next, the
dealer deals one card, face-up on his own table.  He then deals a second
face-up card on the player's table and one face-down card on his own table.

The Play:

If the dealer's face-up card is a 10 count or an ace, he must look at his
hole (face-down) card.  If he has a natural 21 (a count of 21 with two
cards), he must face it and announce "Twenty-One".

If the player also has Twenty-One, the dealer declares this to be a
'stand-off' or 'push'.  There is no action on this hand and no payoff is
made.  The player's bet is returned and there is no winner or loser.

If the player does not also have Twenty-One, the dealer wins and the
hand is ended.

When the dealer does not hold a Twenty-One, but the player does, the
player wins the hand and is payed off at 3 to 1 odds.  The dealer does
not take a turn and the hand is then ended.

If neither the dealer nor player have Twenty-One and the player's two
cards total less than 21 the player may:

        <S>tay  Either the player is satisfied with his count or he
                fears that another card may make his count go over
                21.

        <H>it   To draw a card or cards.  When the player is not
                satisfied with is count, he may draw as many cards as
                he likes.  When he believes his count is as good as he
                can do, the player should elect to <S>tay.

If the player goes over a count of 21, the dealer announces a bust.  The
player loses the hand and the hand is then ended.

If the player receives 5 cards and has a count of less than 21, the
game will declare a "Five-Card Charlie".  The dealer then pays off at
3 to 1 odds.

If the player holds a count of 21, the dealer pays off at 3 to 1 odds.

The Dealer's Turn at Play:

If the player has busted, the hand is ended and the player is returned
to the game menu.  If the player's hand is still active, the dealer
plays his hand.

        - The dealer turns up his hole card so that all his cards are
          exposed.

        - If his count is 17, 18, 19 or 20, the dealer must stay.

        - If his count is 16 or less, he must draw a card and
          continue to draw until his count reaches 17 or more--at
          which point he must stay.  If the dealer holds a 'soft' 17,
          i.e., a 17 count which includes an ace, he must also stay.
          This also applies to a soft 18, 19 or 20.

It is important to note here that the Black Jack dealer has no choice of
whether to stay or draw.  his decisions are predetermined and known to
the player.  Since all the dealer's cards are exposed at this turn of
play, he has no opportunity for any departure from these rules.

The rule requiring the dealer to hit on 16 or less and stay on 17, 18,
19, 20 and 21 is standard today in all major casinos here and abroad.

If the dealer has played 5 cards and has a count of less than 21, the
dealer announces a "Five-Card Charlie" and wins the hand.  Even if the
player's count is 21, a "Five-Card Charlie" wins the hand in this BBS-
Style game of Black Jack.

Final Settlement:

At the end of his play the dealer pays off the player if the player
has a higher count than his.  If the player has a higher count, but does
not have Twenty-One, the dealer pays off at 2 to 1 odds.  In other words,
the player will get back the amount of coins bet, and the dealer will
also match this amount.  So, if a player has bet 2 coins, the dealer will
pay 4 coins if the player's count is greater than his.

The Double Down:

The player, after being dealt his first two cards (which may be any two
cards totalling a count of 11) may elect to double his bet and draw one
additional card only.  This is known as double down or down for double.
If the dealer deals a count of 11 in the player's first two cards, the
player will be prompted whether he would like to go double down or not.
The program will not prompt the player if the player does not have enough
coins remaining to double his bet and still leave one coin in his pot.

The player is then dealt a third and final card.  The dealer then takes
his turn at play.  Once the dealer's play is ended, the player's hand
is counted.

System Events and Automatic Time Deposits:

When the player either reaches the maximum number of turns allowed per
day (as defined by the System Operator), or selects to end the game, a
brief statement is displayed which shows how the player did.

Most Bulletin Board Systems have a System Event schedule.  These
events are run at predetermined times and are used to ensure that tasks
such as maintenance and mail-hours are executed.

If a player wins an amount of time that would overrun an upcoming system
event, Black Jack For Time will adjust the player's time remaining to avoid
overrunning the event and will deposit time that would otherwise be
lost (taken back by the system), into the player's online time bank account.
If the System Operator is not running a time bank program such as RATS
(RemoteAccess TimeBank System) or QuickBank (copyright David Kuhn) the
system will then trim the player's winnings down to avoid allowing the
player to overrun a system event.

