LET'S PLAY:


       In keeping with the traditions of Shareware, the preliminary screen 
you see is a "nuisance screen", reminding you of the virtues and good Karma 
bestowed upon you by registering the program.

       The first menu you see is the Main Menu which allows you to set the 
bidding rules, Misere rules, personal preferences (eg card table colour), 
view these instructions, and print out a registration form.   You can alter 
this menu's background picture in the registered version of the game.   If 
you do not register, you will have to make do with a splendid picture of 
myself and family.



"start game"

       Obviously, you press the top button on the menu to start the game.   
You can access this Main Menu at any time during a game, and return to the 
same game.



"rule options" - 

 i) Some people adopt the policy of bidding 6 No Trumps to indicate no more 
than that they have the Joker.   You can choose whether you want the other 
players to follow this convention or not.

ii) The non-bidding team get 10 points for each trick that they take.   This 
may take their bid over 490 points.   They still cannot win the game until 
they make a successful bid, but you can choose whether you want their score 
to stop at 490 points, or continue above it.

iii) There are a myriad of local rules as well as very local "house rules" 
which govern the 500 card game.   This is a consequence of it being so 
popular among so many societies.   Five of the more common bidding rules are 
accommodated here.

iv) You can choose what sort of partner to have.   You can have a partner who 
bids conservatively, standard, or as a cowboy.   This way your partner's 
style can match your own.   This does not affect your opponents who always 
try to bid as effectively as they can.



"misere options"

i) The playing of Misere is the cause of more "weird" house rules than any 
other feature.   It involves a very different balance of skill and luck, 
which tends to polarise people between those who love it, those who loath it, 
and those who tolerant it.  Because of this variety, you can choose whether 
to play no Misere, just Open Misere, or both Open and Closed Misere.

ii) Because some people love to bid Misere, and others only want it bid 
rarely, you can choose the level of enthusiasm with which all your players 
embrace Misere.

iii) Closed Misere is worth 250 points, which is more than 8 Spades (240 
points).   However many card schools play that any 8 bid beats Closed Misere.   
You can decide which option you want.



"preferences"

i) If you have installed a sound driver in your Windows, you can choose the 
level of sound you want.   The "Full Sound" option makes congratulatory 
noises at every opportunity and calls the bids made, while "Part Sound" is 
somewhat more discreet.  500 for Windows supports all sound cards that your 
Windows is set up for.   This includes the standard PC speaker if you have 
installed the speaker driver (via the Windows control panel & Drivers).

ii) The number of games won and lost are recorded.  Press the reset button to 
set these game scores back to zero.

iii) You can slow down or quicken the game by adjusting the length of time 
for which the cards are displayed during a hand.   This also affects the time 
bids are displayed.

iv) Similarly, you can adjust the speed at which the cards move.   So if you 
have a slow computer, or are simply in a hurry to get the cards played, you 
can set this to a fast speed.

v) When you adjust the colour of the card table, the colour of the background 
changes instantaneously.   This helps you to choose the colour that you 
really want.   Remember that if you decide on a dark colour, any black 
writing will be difficult to read.
       Remember also that Windows can be customised to view different numbers 
of colours (through "Windows Set-up" in the Program Manager "Main Group").   
Most people choose not to show millions of individual colours, but stick to 
about 256.   When an application, like "500 for Windows", tries to show a 
colour which is not identical to an exact colour, then Windows will dither 
it.   This means that over the background, it will show a series of dots and 
crosses to approximate the colour that you chose.   You will quickly find 
that Windows dithering does not help readability.   If you do not find a card 
table colour you like, you can always set up Windows to show more colours 
(and less dithering).
       If you do not like the colour you have chosen - change it to another.

vi) You can give names to the buddies that you are playing with, or simply 
leave them as Player 1, 2 & 3.



"instructions"

       These instructions can be read from the text file 500WIN.TXT, or from 
the "instructions" menu button.   Use the scroll bar, or navigation keys, 
to read the whole document.   Press the "continue" button to return to the 
Main Menu.



"register"

       If you have read this far, you know that this enjoyable program is NOT 
free, but is being distributed as SHAREWARE.   This means that if you 
continue to use it past a short evaluation period, you must register it.   
This option helps you to print out the registration form.   If there is a 
problem printing through Windows, the form is stored in a file called 
REGO.FRM in your 500 for Windows directory.   You can print this out from 
DOS.



"quit"

       Press the "quit" button to see what happens.




THE GAME:
 
       You can make bids and play cards by either clicking the left mouse 
button on the card or button, or by using the F1 - F10 function keys.   When 
you are bidding, you can cancel a bid by clicking the right mouse button on 
the selection to delete. 

       You can change the rules or your preferences at any time during a game 
by pressing the "menu" button.   Similarly, pressing the "review button" 
lets you review the Bids made in that hand, Replay the cards played in that 
hand, or shows you the Score Card with the last 15 scores in your game to 
date.   These options are also available at the end of a hand, to let you 
review it.  When you review the cards played in that hand, you can control 
the speed at which the cards are displayed.

       To stop playing the game and return to Windows, return to the Main 
Menu, and press "quit".







 RULES:

       FIVE HUNDRED is a well loved card game with a myriad of local house 
rules (some are accommodated here via the "rules" menu).   The object of 
the game is to collect 500 points and avoid collecting -500 points.   The 
game is played in teams with you and your partner (sitting opposite you) 
playing against the players sitting facing each other.   Cards are ranked in 
order of Ace down to 5 in the black suits, and 4 in the red suits,  except in 
the suit that has been designated the TRUMP suit for that hand, in which the  
order is - Joker, right bower (the Jack of the trump suit ), left bower (the 
Jack of the other suit of the same colour), Ace, King, Queen, 10, 9, etc.

       The game starts with each player bidding for the number of tricks they 
think they can win (with their partner's help) with a particular suit as 
trumps - 6 is the minimum bid, and the order of the suits is spades, clubs, 
diamonds, hearts, no trumps.   The highest bidder wins the bid and endeavours 
to win at least as many tricks as he/she bid; if successful he/she gains the 
points for that bid otherwise he/she loses those points.   250 points are 
awarded for all 10 tricks (if the bid is less than 250 points), and the non-
bidding team gets 10 points for each of their tricks.

       MISERE (or it is sometimes called NULLO) is a bid in which the bidder 
tries to lose all 10 tricks (the bidder's partner does not play).   CLOSED 
MISERE is worth 250 points and can only be bid after a 7 bid has been made, 
while OPEN MISERE is worth 500 points and must be preceded by an 8 bid.   
OPEN differs from CLOSED only in that the bidder displays his hand to the 
other players after the first lead.   An 8 bid is higher than a CLOSED MISERE 
bid (in the "misere" menu you can choose whether you want 8 spades to be 
higher or not), and 10 no trumps is the only bid to beat OPEN MISERE (10 
hearts is of the same points value as OPEN, so OPEN cannot be bid after 10 
hearts).   MISERE has a different balance of luck to skill from other bids, 
so some card schools outlaw it.   You can choose to have no MISERE, only 
OPEN, or both OPEN and CLOSED.   You can also set the enthusiasm the players 
have for bidding MISERE, to match your own.

       NO-TRUMPS with no suit as the trump suit is a legitimate bid.   The 
Joker is the sole trump.

       In both No Trumps and Misere, the Joker may be led as the first of a 
suit (ie you can nominate that it is a particular suit if that suit has not 
been played already).   It can also be played as the last card you have in a 
suit (ie if Spades has been led a few times and you have followed suit every 
time, but now you do not have any Spades left, then you may use the Joker as 
that suit).   In all cases the Joker wins the trick.   If you have "thrown 
off" on a suit, you cannot later play the Joker as that suit.   If the Joker 
is the last card in your hand, there is no restriction on its use (otherwise 
you may not be able to play it).

       The winning bidder gets the 3 card kitty to supplement their hand, and 
chooses which 3 cards to "throw out" again.

       Each player plays consecutively in a clockwise direction, with the 
winner of the last trick leading.   Each player must follow the suit led if 
they can (otherwise it is called reneging).