Share Gallery 1/share_gal_1.zip/share_gal_1/GA/GA006.ZIP/1POKER.DOC

Text File | 1988-09-06 | 8KB | 177 lines

                         POKER SOLITAIRE
                               by
                         Robert Gellman
                       (C) Copyright, 1988

     This document file is totally unnecessary to playing the game
of Poker Solitaire.  Feel free to stop reading and run the
program.  All of the important instructions will be presented to
you if you hit ENTER at the opening screen.  If you already know
how to play, hit SPACE BAR at the opening screen and skip the
instructions.

     This file is meant to be read and is not specifically
formatted for printing (no page breaks).  You won't want to read
it more than once anyway.  But if you want to print it, load it
into your word processor and set the margins for 10 and 75.

     Poker Solitaire is freeware.  Although the program is
copyrighted, you may use it and copy it without restriction and
without payment to me.  You are not authorized to make any changes
to the program or to this document file.  You are permitted to
redistribute the program through a software library for a
distribution fee that does not exceed eight dollars per disk.


                          THE RULES

     The game itself is quite simple.  You will be offered 25
playing cards one at a time from a randomly shuffled deck.  Place
the cards in a 5 by 5 grid.  The objective is to make 12 poker
hands.  There are five hands across, five hands down, and two
diagonals.  If this is the least bit confusing, it won't be after
you play the game once.

     Each of the 12 hands is then evaluated by the computer, given
a score, and the scores are totalled.  The value of each poker
hand is:

               Straight Flush           100
               Four of a Kind            65
               Straight                  55
               Full House                45
               Three of a Kind           30
               Flush                     25
               Two Pair                  15
               One Pair                   5
               Bust                       0

     Each hand is scored on the difficulty of actually making the
hand and the cost of failure.  Thus, a straight has a higher value
than a full house because a straight is hard to complete and
because the cost of failure is high.  A failed straight usually
ends up as a bust or a pair.  A failed full house, however, is
either two pair or three of a kind.  Note also that a flush ranks
below three of a kind.  Flushes are not that difficult to make.

     The program treats an ace as either a high or low card,
whichever is most favorable.  This only matters in making a
straight.


                          STRATEGY

     Poker Solitaire is a game of choices.  The placement of
each card opens some options and forecloses others.  This is
especially true as the game progresses.  The basic strategy is to
THINK AT ALL TIMES.  The game requires concentration!  Keep as
many options open as possible for as long as possible.  Don't be
too stubborn waiting the right card to appear.  Pay attention to
the mix of cards remaining in the deck.  Remember that the
diagonals count.  When choosing between two alternatives,
consider the point values of the hands you are making and the
values of the hands that you might make with the next card.

     A good score is anything in over 200.  Scores under 100 are
pretty bad.  Scores over 300 are excellent.  The highest score I
have made is 370, but it took an unbelievable run of good cards in
a wonderful order to produce that score.  Bill C. has managed a
score of 380, and together we produced a hand worth 400 on the
replay of that hand.  Natural scores greater than 400 are highly
unlikely but not impossible.  Scores over 500 seem only
theoretically possible.  I can construct hands worth 900 points
(4 straight flushes, 6 fours-of-a-kind, and two straights), but
don't hold your breath.

     My own all-time score table no longer includes any scores
below 300.  This is mostly the result of lots of playing and a
fairly well developed strategy.  In fact, my strategy is good
enough to support a consistent average in the range of 220-240.
If you can do better than this on a regular basis, let me know how
you do it!

     Version 1.1 adds a replay facility to the game.  If the score
on the current hand greater than 110 percent of your average
score, you will be offered an opportunity to reply the same hand
you just played.  The replay scores do not count in the daily or
high-score table.  This game has SOME standards.  The replays are
just for fun.  I have found that at least half of the time, the
replay score is actually lower because you spend all of your time
constructing a straight flush or other cute hand and neglect
other good hands.


                           HISTORY

     There isn't much history to this program.  It's an old idea,
but it is one of those games that is really suitable for a
computer.  After all, who wants to sit and add up scores by hand?
I wrote the program in early August after seeing a similar game
running as a live door on a bulletin board.  There have been
several intermediate versions that were only seen by Bill C.
(thank you, Bill!).  The current version is the second to be
released.

     I had already written and released a program that plays draw
poker.  The draw poker program (also freeware) is available
through several software libraries and on finer bulletin boards
everywhere.  There are several different versions floating around,
ranging from POKER560 to POKER562.

     Since I already had a routine that evaluated poker hands and
drew cards on the screen, this program was relatively easy.  I
included the diagonal hands in the scoring, allowed aces to be
high or low, and played around with the point values.  The values
are, of course, totally artificial.


                       TECHNICAL NOTES

     The program is written in Microsoft's QuickBASIC (version
4.00b) and uses a variety of programming tools from the PROBAS
library.  PROBAS is a product of Hammerly Computer Services.  The
program was written under DOS 3.1, but it should run under DOS 2.0
or later.  I don't know the exact memory requirements, but 256K is
definitely more than enough.  The program does not require color
or graphics.

     The program will maintain a high score table as a separate
file (1POKER.HGH) on your default directory.  After the first hand
of each session, you are asked if you want to create a high score
file.  If you already have a high score file in your default
directory, you are asked if you want the scores from the current
session to be added.  This allows you to let your 8-year old
brother play the game without worrying that he will wipe out your
hard-earned high score achievements.

     This flexibility was included because I don't like programs
that insist on writing high score files to my disk whether I want
them or not.  Yet I find that some games are much better when a
scoreboard is maintained.  When you play Poker Solitaire, you get
to decide whether a high score table is worth the space it takes
on your disk.

     Suggestions, comments, and feedback of any type are welcome.
If you don't like some feature of the program, feel free to
complain.  I can't promise to make any changes that you recommend,
but your suggestions will be considered.   My address appears on
the second screen.

                              Robert Gellman
                              August, 1988


Version 1.00 - This is a full working version of the program
               but does not include all of the planned bells
               and whistles.  I am releasing it in this form
               in the hopes of getting some feedback from
               users.

Version 1.1  - Lots of minor changes made and a few subtle errors
 9/5/88        corrected.  The size of the high score file has
               been reduced from 170 bytes to 150.  The value of
               hands is now displayed on the main screen.  The
               average score for the session is calculated and
               displayed.  Screen displays have been revised and
               refined.  The biggest addition is the opportunity
               to replay the last hand.