Share Gallery 1

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Share Gallery 1 / share_gal_1.zip / share_gal_1 / GA / GA199.ZIP / BJCONN.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1988-12-02 | 57KB | 1,387 lines

BLACKJACK CONNOISSEUR PHASE II Version 2.00 CGA or Monochrome, Minimum 256K (C) Copyright 1988 by Raymond M. Buti All Rights Reserved United Innovations Plus Post Office Box 21081 Castro Valley, Ca. 94546 (51O) 886-9O36 Table of Contents TERMS ........................................................ 1 REGISTRATION AGREEMENT ....................................... 1 PROGRAMS ON YOUR DISTRIBUTION DISK ........................... 2 REQUIRED PROGRAMS TO RUN BLACKJACK CONNOISSEUR ............... 2 PREVIOUS USERS NOTE .......................................... 2 FLOPPY DISK INSTALLATION ..................................... 2 HARD DISK INSTALLATION ....................................... 2 BLACKJACK CONNOISSEUR RULES .................................. 3 Dealer .................................................... 3 Player .................................................... 3 GETTING STARTED .............................................. 3 THE BLACKJACK TABLE .......................................... 4 BLACKJACK TABLE OPTIONS ...................................... 4 TABLE OPTION DESCRIPTIONS .................................... 4 Deal ...................................................... 4 SetUp Menu ................................................ 4 Modify Menu ............................................... 4 Statistical Analysis ...................................... 5 High Scores ............................................... 5 Quit ...................................................... 5 Bet Changing .............................................. 5 Automatic Dealing ......................................... 5 Snow Removal .............................................. 5 Help ...................................................... 5 DEAL ......................................................... 5 HAND PLAYING DESCRIPTIONS .................................... 6 Hit ....................................................... 6 Good ...................................................... 6 Split ..................................................... 6 Double .................................................... 6 Resign or Surrender ....................................... 6 SETTING UP BLACKJACK CONNOISSEUR ............................. 6 SETUP OPTIONS ................................................ 7 SETUP DESCRIPTIONS AND USES .................................. 7 Total Players ............................................. 7 Playing Position .......................................... 7 Position Number ........................................... 7 Decks Used ................................................ 8 Tracking Results .......................................... 8 Bonus on Total Cards ...................................... 8 Bonus on an Ace/Jack in Suit .............................. 8 Number of Automatic Playing Hands ......................... 8 Minimum Hard Double Down Hand ............................. 8 Maximum Hard Double Down Hand ............................. 9 Minimum Soft Double Down Hand ............................. 9 Maximum Soft Double Down Hand ............................. 9 Table Limits .............................................. 9 Auto Playing Mode ......................................... 9 Display Card Count ........................................ 9 Dealers 1st. Card ......................................... 9 Dealer Hittin a Soft 17 ................................... 9 Asking for Insurance ...................................... 9 Surrendering your Hand ................................... 10 Players Cards ............................................ 10 Re-Dealing the Same Deck ................................. 10 Sound .................................................... 10 i Double Down Cards ........................................ 10 Doubling on Splits ....................................... 10 Who Wins Pushes .......................................... 10 Hitting when Aces Split .................................. 10 Soft Doubling ............................................ 11 Automatic Playing Method ................................. 11 Basic Strategy ......................................... 11 Count Counting using the Basic Strategy ................ 11 Displaying Shuffling ..................................... 11 Displaying Card Motion ................................... 11 Saving High Scores ....................................... 12 Showing Results .......................................... 12 Adjusting the Card Count Weight .......................... 12 Adjusting the Card Count Bets ............................ 12 Adjusting the Playing Speeds ............................. 12 Adjusting the System Betting ............................. 12 Saving Setup Options ..................................... 12 Quit ..................................................... 12 SYSTEM SETUP MENU ........................................... 13 SYSTEM SETUP SCREEN ......................................... 13 SYSTEM SETUP OPTIONS ........................................ 13 BETTING METHODS ............................................. 13 Basic Strategy ........................................... 14 Martingale ............................................... 14 Thirty-One ............................................... 14 D'Alembert ............................................... 15 Progressive Win .......................................... 15 Cancellation ............................................. 15 SYSTEM BETTING .............................................. 16 STATISTICAL ANALYSIS SCREEN ................................. 16 ANALYSIS SCREEN OPTIONS ..................................... 17 SHAREWARE LIMITATIONS ....................................... 17 OTHER GAMES ................................................. 17 REGISTRATION FORM ........................................... 18 ii TERMS This software is distributed as ShareWare. What this means is, you a granted free license to use, copy and distribute this software as often as you wish so long as the following restrictions have been met: 1 - When distributing this software, it must be in its original unmodified form. The ARCed or Compressed .EXE version of this software will only be distributed to Bulletin Board Systems and computer information exchanges, i.e. The Great American Dream Machine (415)-581-3019, GEnie, Delphi, The Source, Compuserve etc. 2 - Prior written consent from United Innovations Plus must be obtained before a fee or charge is made for copying or distribution, with the exception of the computer information exchanges as mentioned above. 3 - This software shall not be included with other programs, goods, services, etc. without prior written consent from United Innovations Plus with the exception of the computer information exchanges as mentioned above. REGISTRATION AGREEMENT United Innovations Plus requires you to register this software if you plan on using it. Registered users will receive the latest version with all options available, full support and notification of later releases. Please note that not all options and functions are available with this Shareware release. To register your copy of this software, please use the Registration Form and make checks payable to United Innovations Plus. - 1 - PROGRAMS ON DISTRIBUTION DISK BJCONN .EXE - Main program. BJCONN .DOC - Program documentation. BJCONN .DAT - Players modification data file. BJSETUP .DAT - Players setup data file. BJSTART .BAT - Batch file to allow user to read this documentation, print documentation, and install Blackjack Connoisseur on a Hard Disk. BJINTRO - File used by BJSTART.BAT. BJHD - File used by BJSTART.BAT. BJPRT - File used by BJSTART.BAT BJREAD .COM - File used by BJSTART.BAT. BJREPLY .COM - File used by BJSTART.BAT. REQUIRED PROGRAMS TO RUN BLACKJACK CONNOISSEUR BJCONN .EXE - Main program. BJCONN .DAT - Players modification data file. BJSETUP .DAT - Player setup data file. PREVIOUS USERS NOTE This version of Blackjack Connoisseur will not function properly with the .DAT files of previous versions. You MUST delete them from you playing disk. FLOPPY DISK INSTALLATION Place your Blackjack Connoisseur disk in Drive A and a newly formatted disk in Drive B. Copy the required programs to run Blackjack Connoisseur from the disk in Drive A to the formatted disk in Drive B. The required programs are listed above. Consult your Dos manual for the proper syntax for copying files and formatting disks. HARD DISK INSTALLATION Place your Blackjack Connoisseur disk in Drive A. Be sure you are logged onto Drive A by typing "A:" from your Dos prompt. Type "BJSTART" and press ENTER. Your screen will display an option to install Blackjack Connoisseur on your C Hard Drive. You may do so by pressing F3. A directory will be created on your Hard Drive called C:\Games. The required programs will be copied into that directory. - 2 - BLACKJACK CONNOISSEUR RULES DEALER 1 - Must hit a soft 17. 2 - All hands are dealt face down except for the position you are playing. 3 - The dealer will deal his first card face down and his second card face up. 4 - The dealer does not win on a push (tie hand). 5 - The dealer pays 3:2 odds on Blackjacks. 6 - Only dollar bets are allowed and paid out. If you have a Blackjack and have a bet $3, you will only be paid $4 and not $4.50. Items 1 through 5 are the default settings and may be changed in the Setup Menu. PLAYER 1 - Players may bet from a minimum bet of $5 to a maximum bet of $500. 2 - Players are allowed to split the first two matched cards of the same numerical value. Only one split will be permitted. 3 - You are allowed to play from 1 to 3 hands or have the computer play all your hands for you. 4 - Players may take insurance if the dealers up card is an Ace. Insurance bets are paid off in even dollars. 5 - Players are allowed to double down on the first two cards dealt. 6 - Players are allowed to surrender their hands. GETTING STARTED To play Blackjack Connoisseur, you must be in the directory where your required programs exist. From your Dos prompt type "BJCONN" and press ENTER. The log-on screen will appear, displaying the program name, copyright notice and what version you are using. This will be displayed for approximately fifteen seconds or until you have pressed any key. The screen will then clear and display the Blackjack table. - 3 - THE BLACKJACK TABLE The Blackjack table will accommodate from one to three players. The dealer will be located at the top center of your screen. The players are located on the lower portion of your screen, numbered from 1 to 3, right to left. The dealers statistics are located on the top left portion of your screen. Player statistics are located on the top right portion of your screen. The dealer statistics will display the results of the last hand dealt, the total profit/loss, the minimum and maximum bets allowed, the dealers largest gain and loss, and the current hands dealt. The players statistics will display the largest amount each player has achieved and the largest loss each player has reached. Below the players statistics will be an area that displays the card count. The playing positions for the players, displayed on the lower portion of your screen, show each players bet, the result of each hand and the players total profit/loss. BLACKJACK TABLE OPTIONS While at the Blackjack table, you will have various options available to you. These options may be activated by pressing any one of the keys or key combinations shown. Displayed on the bottom line of your screen, you will see the following available options: OPTIONS: F1/ENTER, F3, F5, F7, F8, F10, 1, 2, 3, ALT-D, ALT-S, ? TABLE OPTION DESCRIPTIONS F1 or ENTER (Deal) Pressing either of these keys will deal the next hand of Blackjack. F3 (SetUp Menu) Display the SetUp Menu. This is where you'll be able to set up the game the way you are use to playing it. Once you have set up the game to your style of play, the settings may be saved for future games. This may be done as often as you wish. F5 (Modify Menu) Allows the user to change the playing strategy of the players. By setting these playing strategies, you will be able to play the game in the automatic play mode and your hitting, splitting, doubling, etc. will be done for you. This is very useful when you would like to play a few thousand hands of Blackjack and let the computer do all the playing for you. - 4 - F7 (Statistical Analysis) This screen will allow you to go back and replay any of the players past hands up to 2000. Check Track Results/Reset in the Setup Screen and Statistical Analysis Screen. F8 (High Scores) Display the top fifteen high scores. F10 (Quit) Press this key when you want to quit and return to DOS. 1, 2 or 3 (Bet Change) Pressing one of the number keys (1, 2 or 3 ) will allow you to change the bet of the respective player. The only time you will be able to change a players bet is if the Auto Playing Method (Option O), in the SetUp Menu is set to Basic, and that player has been set to play the Basic Strategy. This is fully explained in the SetUp Menu Descriptions. ALT-D (Automatic Dealing) Deals a previously set amount of hands continuously without pausing. In order for this to work properly, you must go into the SetUp Menu and change options numbers 2 and 7, and option A. If the options in the SetUp Menu have not been set properly, pressing ALT-D will act like the F1/ENTER key and deal the next hand. ALT-S (Snow Removal) If you are experiencing snow on your monitor, pressing ALT-S should eliminate most of the snow. ? (Help) Pressing the question mark or a wrong key will pop up a screen displaying a short description of what these options do. While viewing this screen, you may press the appropriate key of your choice or press the ESC key to remove the help screen. DEAL When you press F1 or ENTER, the dealer will deal out one hand of Blackjack to all the players (set total players with Option 1 in the SetUp Menu). Once the cards have been dealt out to all the players, the options on the bottom line of your screen will change to: OPTIONS: H)it G)ood S)plit D)ouble R)esign Press the first letter of one of these playing options to let the dealer know what you want to do with your hand. These playing options are available only if you are actually playing any or all of the three available playing positions (see option 2, SetUp Menu ). Note: These options are not available when all players on playing on automatic (see ALT-D). - 5 - HAND PLAYING DESCRIPTIONS H)it Pressing the letter "H" lets the dealer know that you wish to have another card. G)ood Pressing the letter "G" tells the dealer you are staying with what you have. Action proceeds to the next player or to your next hand if you have split your cards. S)plit Pressing the letter "S" tells the dealer you are splitting your hand. You are allowed to split any matched pair of cards. When you split your hand, your bet is doubled. You are only allowed to split your hand one time. D)ouble Pressing the letter "D" tells the dealer you are doubling your hand. Your bet will be doubled and you will be dealt one more card. R)esign Pressing the letter "R" tells the dealer you are going to surrender your hand. If you surrender, you lose half of your original bet and drop out of any further action on that hand. In the event you have made an odd dollar bet, the dealer will round off the bet in his favor. SETTING UP BLACKJACK CONNOISSEUR Pressing F3 from the Blackjack Table Options, will allow you to setup the game according to how you are accustomed to playing Blackjack. This section has many options that may be changed. Once you have made any changes, you may save them so they will always be loaded when you play Blackjack Connoisseur. The changes do not have to be saved if you are just using them for one session of Blackjack. - 6 - SETUP OPTIONS There are thirty-seven options available to you. The various options may be changed by pressing one of keys preceding the option description. The following is a list of the available options and their default settings: 1 Total Players 3 A Auto Playing Mode No 2 Playing Position 3 B Display Card Count No 3 Decks Used 4 C Dealers 1st. Card Down 4 Track Results\Reset No D Dealer Hits Soft 17 Yes 5 Bonus on Total Cards No E Ask for Insurance No 6 Bonus Ace/Jack Suited No F Surrender Allowed No 7 Number/Auto Hands 0 G Players Cards Down 8 Min. Hard Dbl Down 10 H Re-Deal Same Deck No 9 Max. Hard Dbl Down 11 I Sound Yes - Min. Soft Dbl Down 8 J Double Down Cards 2 = Max. Soft Dbl Down 16 K Double on Splits No $ Table Limits $5 to $500 L Who Wins Pushes Tie M Hit When Aces Split No F1 Adjust Card Count Weight N Allow Soft Doubling No F2 Adjust Card Count Bets O Auto Method Basic F3 Adjust Playing Speeds P Display Shuffling Yes F4 Adjust System Betting Q Display Card Motion Yes F5 Save Current Settings R Save High Scores No F10 Quit/Return to Blackjack S Show Results Yes SETUP DESCRIPTIONS AND USES 1 (Total Players) Allows you to set the number of players against the dealer. You may select from one to three players. 2 (Playing Position) Allows you to select your playing position. Blackjack is dealt in a clockwise manner. The first player to receive any cards would be called, position #1. Next comes position #2 and then third base or position #3. You have eight choices to make when you want to change positions. You can answer the prompts as they appear or enter the number associated with the position you wish to play. The questions being asked will stop when a "Yes" answer is given or until you've pressed the appropriate position number. POSITION NUMBER PLAYING POSITION 0 All positions are played by the computer. This would normally be used if you want to play on the Automatic Mode. 1 You play position #1. 2 You play position #2. 3 You play position #3. 4 You play positions #1 and #2. 5 You play positions #1 and #3. 6 You play positions #2 and #3. 7 You play positions #1, #2, and #3. - 7 - 3 (Decks Used) You will have the option of selecting the amount of decks used by the dealer. You'll be able to choose from one to eight decks of cards. If this option is changed, the deck(s) will be shuffled prior to dealing the next hand of Blackjack. 4 (Track Results\Reset) If this is set to "Yes", the final players result (win,lose or tie) is tracked up to 2000 hands. Hands exceeding 2000 are ignored. This option is useful for those that would like to see what would have happened if your betting strategy was altered. You may want to check the outcome of these hands with one of the many playing systems incorporated in Blackjack Connoisseur. As soon the this has been set to "Yes", the tracking hands are set to zero and the array holding the information is cleared. NOTE: If option "H" (Re-Deal Same Deck) is set to "Yes", tracking will be suspended until option "H" is set to "No". 5 (Bonus on Total Cards) Some casinos pay a bonus if you have a total of five cards and beat the dealer. You may wish to add this feature to the game. When you select this option, you will be asked how many cards the bonus will be paid on if you do in fact, beat the dealer. You may select from five to seven cards. You then will be asked how much the dealer should pay on this bonus. The dealer will pay you from two to four times your original bet. You will be asked to enter a figure from 2 to 4. When using this feature, you must not go bust and you must beat the dealer. 6 (Bonus Ace/Jack Suited) When a player has a Blackjack, the dealer will payoff at odds of 3:2. You may want to have an extra bonus if your Blackjack is a Ace and Jack in the same suit. When this option is set to "Yes", you will be paid off at the odds you have selected. You will be asked for the payoff odds for having a Blackjack in the same suit. You may enter a figure from 2 to 9 times your original bet. 7 (Number/Auto Hands) To deal automatically, you must first set the amount of hands you want dealt. This will not function properly unless the computer is playing all the playing positions (option 2). To deal the set amount of hands automatically, press ALT-D from the Blackjack Table Options. While the hands are being dealt, the bottom line of your screen will display the hands remaining. You may abort or pause the automatic dealing by pressing the ESC key. Doing so will allow you to continue dealing the remaining hands or abort. 8 (Min. Hard Dbl Down) This will allow you to set the minimum hard double down hand that the dealer will accept. This is used when playing manually. - 8 - 9 (Max. Hard Dbl Down) This will allow you to set the maximum hard double down hand that the dealer will accept. This is used when playing manually. If the hand value is set lower than the minimum hard double down value, the dealer figures you have made made a mistake and ignores the setting. - (Min. Soft Dbl Down) This will allow you to set the minimum soft double down hand that the dealer will accept. This is used when playing manually. = (Max. Soft Dbl Down) This will allow you to set the maximum soft double down hand that the dealer will accept. This is used when playing manually. $ (Table Limits) Blackjack tables have various limits. The minimum and maximum table limits may be set using this option. The minimum table limit can be set from $2 to $25. The maximum table limit would depend on its minimum setting. You will be asked to enter these amounts. A (Auto Playing Mode) In order to deal hands automatically, you must have set this option to "Yes", and option 7 must have an amount greater than zero. If you do not plan on playing in the automatic mode, this should be set to "No". NOTE: If option H is set to "Yes", it will be turned off when this option is turned on. Option A and Option H may not be set to "Yes" at the same time. B (Display Card Count) If you would like to view the card count, set this option to "Yes". It will be displayed on the Blackjack table. C (Dealers 1st. Card) Most games of Blackjack display only one of the dealers cards. You may wish to play with both the dealers cards exposed. This must be set to "Up" to view both the dealers cards. D (Dealer Hits Soft 17) By default, the dealer must hit all soft hands of 17. If you would like the dealer to stay on a soft 17, set this option to "No". E (Ask for Insurance) The dealer will not ask you for insurance when his up card is an Ace unless you change this option to "Yes". When set to "No", it's telling the dealer you never care to insure your hand. This is used when playing manually. - 9 - F (Surrender Allowed) You may wish to use the surrender option by setting this to "Yes". When you surrender a hand, you forfeit half your bet and drop out of action until the next hand. G (Players Cards) If you wish to play Blackjack with all the players cards exposed, set this option to "Up". H (Re-Deal Same Deck) When it's time to shuffle the cards and start a new deal, you may wish to have the same cards re-dealt. This feature is for those that would like to see what the outcome would have been if the hands were played differently. This option must be set to "On" before the shuffle. When setting this to "Yes", you will also be asked if you want the dealer to prompt you to re-deal the same deck. If you answer Yes to this, prior to each new shuffle, the dealer will ask you if you want to re-deal the deck over again. When asked, you may answer Yes, No or Quit. Answering "Q" for quit, will set this option to "No" and a new shuffle will take place. NOTE: When option 4 (Tracking Results) is set to "Yes", tracking is suspended while a re-deal is being conducted. If option A is set to "Yes", it will be turned off when this option is turned on. Option A and Option H may not be set to "Yes" at the same time. I (Sound) During the course of play, there will be sounds during shuffling, Blackjacks, bust hands and on errors. If this option is set to "No", you will turn off all sound. When you set this option to "Yes", sound will be on and you will be asked what sounds you wish to have. You may respond with a Yes/No answer to these prompts. J (Double Down Cards) When you double down, you are only allowed to do so on the first two cards. This may be changed with this option. K (Double on Splits) Once you split your hand, you are not allowed to double down. This may be changed with this option. L (Who Wins Pushes) Whenever your hand equals the dealers hand, it's a tie and you do not lose your bet. If you want the dealer to win on tie hands, use this option. M (Hit When Aces Split) Whenever you split Aces, you are dealt one card for each Ace. You are not allowed to take hits after splitting Aces. This may be changed with this option to allow hitting after Aces have been split. - 10 - N (Allow Soft Doubling) This option will allow you to double down on soft hands. This works in either the Auto Playing Mode or Manual Mode. When you set this option to "Yes", be sure to adjust the minimum and maximum soft double down hands with options "-" and "=" for manual play. O (Auto Method) All players playing in the Auto Playing Mode or any hands played by the computer, will use the Basic Strategy when making their playing decisions. This option will either be set for "Basic" or "Count/Basic". The Basic Strategy (explained in the Modify section) simply lets the players know how to play their hands. Basic Strategy (Used with the computer played hands) When this option is set to "Basic", the players will play the Default Basic Strategy. This may be changed by entering the Modify section from the Blackjack table, option F5. The betting may be changed at anytime prior to a new deal. This may be done by pressing the number of the player from the options shown on the Blackjack table. Count/Basic (Used with the computer played hands) When this option is set to "Count/Basic", the only difference from the "Basic" setting is the betting. You are not allowed to change the players bets in the normal fashion. The players are using the card count to determine their bets. However, you may change the card count betting. When you press option "O" and it is changed to "Count/Basic", a Betting Chart will pop up in place of the Card Count chart. You will be asked if you want to change the betting of the computer players. The bets reflect the card count. The higher the card count, the better the percentages are in favor of the players winning the next hand. When changing the betting, you are asked what you would like the bet to be on each of the available card count bets. For example: You may be asked, "What would you like the bet to be if the card count was +4?". You may enter any amount you care to, as long as it stays within the table limits. P ( Display Shuffling) Every time the deck is depleted, the dealer will shuffle the cards for a new deal, except if you have option "H" set to Re- Deal the same deck. You may not care to watch the dealer go through his motions of shuffling. Change this option to "No", and the dealer will still shuffle the cards, but the shuffled won't be viewed. This speeds up the play of the game especially when playing in the Auto Playing Mode. Q (Display Card Motion) When the dealer deals the cards, they are seen moving from the deck to the proper location in the players hands. This may be turn off. Set this option to "No" if you prefer not to view this. - 11 - R (Save High Scores) When you quit playing Blackjack Connoisseur, the best players results may be saved to disk. If you would like to have the scores saved, change this option to "Yes". When the option has been changed to "Yes", you will also be asked if you wish to view the High Scores when you quit. When you quit playing, if your score is good enough for the fifteen top players, you will be asked to enter your name. Before you return to DOS, you will view the High Scores screen if you have answered "Yes" to the above. If the computer has scored a higher score than yours, the computer players number will be shown on the high scores list. S (Show Results) When players double, split, bust and get Blackjacks, messages reflecting their actions are displayed. You may suppress these messages by setting this option to "No". F1 (Adjust Card Count Weight) The right side of the Setup screen displays the weight factor given to each card in the deck. This is used for card counting. You may assign each card a different value to suit your method of counting cards. This will be used by the computer players when option "O" has been set to "Count/Basic". F2 (Adjust Card Count Bets) When pressing F2, the Card Count on the right side of the screen will change. It will display the amount you want the computer played players to bet in relation to the card count. You may change the betting with this option. F3 (Adjust Playing Speeds) You are able to adjust the playing speed of the game using this option. There are two playing speeds that may be changed, the dealing and shuffling speed, and the players delay time for his decisions. F4 (Adjust System Betting) This option will bring up a menu of betting and playing methods you may assign to each player. This is in addition to option "O". See System Setup Menu. F5 (Save Current Settings) You may change any of the default settings at any time. If you want to save these settings, press the F5 key. The settings do not have to be saved when changes are made. Once you have made a change, it is activated immediately. If you plan on using the changes you've made every time you play Blackjack Connoisseur, then its best to save the changes. F10 (Quit/Return to Blackjack) When you are ready to return to the game, you must press F10. - 12 - SYSTEM SETUP MENU When you press F4 from the Setup Menu, you enter the System Setup Menu. In this area, you may set up players to play their hands according to the six methods of play shown on your screen. SYSTEM SETUP SCREEN The System Setup Screen consist of six betting methods to play Blackjack Connoisseur. Each player may be set up to play any one of these methods. Your screen will display the following: Assigned to Minimum Maximum ReStart System Player # Bet Bet Max.Bet F1 Basic Strategy 1-2-3 5 500 N/A 1 F2 Martingale ----- 5 500 No 2 F3 Thirty-One ----- 5 80 N/A 3 F4 D'Alembert ----- 5 500 No F5 Progressive Win ----- 5 40 N/A F6 Cancellation ----- 5 500 No SYSTEM SETUP OPTIONS Options: F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, 1, 2, or 3 To set up a player with one of the betting methods, you first press the Function key to the left of one of the six methods. Your next step is to select the player that will be using that method of betting. If you want to check to see what betting method any particular player is using, just press the number key that represents the player number. Once you have setup a player with a betting method, you will be ask a few questions on how the player should bet and betting limits. The questions asked are easy to answer if you have an understanding of how the betting method works. This is explained below in Betting Methods. You may leave this screen by pressing Function 10 or ESC. BETTING METHODS The object of putting these betting methods in Blackjack Connoisseur is mainly to show the user how dangerous it could be by playing almost any betting system. I personally feel a player must use some strategy in card playing and also a money management strategy. The object is always to win in any form of gambling. If you can't win either quit gambling or come over and visit me. I'll pay your way. I'm going to explain what I believe to be good and bad points about each of these betting methods. I am in no way encouraging you to gamble nor should this program be taken as such. - 13 - BASIC STRATEGY As explained before, all computer players will be playing a Basic Strategy. They will use this Basic Strategy even while playing the other betting methods. If you don't like the way the players are playing their hands, you may change that in the Modify section. MARTINGALE This is one of the most popular forms of betting systems. So popular that you will loose your rear playing it. The system works very well as long as you don't have a bad loosing streak. The player bets one unit. Let's assume our 1 unit bet is $1. It could be $5, $25 or whatever turns you on. After each win, you start with a 1 unit bet. After each loss, you simply double your bet. Isn't this fun? Just keep doubling your bet after each loss. Holy horse hair Hanna! This would probably be the best betting method IF... you had unlimited funds and IF... the game you were playing had no limit. We know that casinos have limits and I for one, do not have unlimited funds. So we now have a betting system that will win most of the time but when you lose, YOU LOSE BIG! THIRTY-ONE The 31-System is quite simple. Most betting systems are of a progressive type. What this usually implies is, while you are losing you raise your bets in some fashion until you start winning or have won back your losses and have shown a little profit. This system is no different but its a hell of a lot better than the Martingale. You start with 31 betting units. Let's say these units are $1 again. You have a betting progression you must follow. Your bets are governed on when and how many hands you've won or lost. The progression is: 1 1 1 2 2 4 4 8 8 Your first bet is 1 unit. If you win the first bet, you start the progression from the beginning. As soon as you lose a bet, you bet the next amount in the progression, which would also be a 1 unit bet. As soon as you win a bet, you let the bet ride. In essence, you double your bet. If you win the double up bet, you start the progression from the beginning. If you lose the double up bet, your next bet would be the next unit bet in the progression. So what we're talking about is, once you lose the first bet, you must win two hands in a row before you start the progression over or until you lose the last bet in the progression. In the example above, you're highest bet would be 16 units. ie: You're betting the last bet of 8 units, you win, you double up and try for the second win. If that bet is lost, you have lost a total of 31 units. So now you know where the name of the system came from. Is it any good? You bet it is IF... you can win two in a row before going through the series, and IF you can keep doing this. So far, if you're going to be a system better, I'd choose this one. I didn't say this IS the one. - 14 - D'ALEMBERT This system was named after the guy the invented it. Let's play with our 1 unit bets again. The idea behind this is to add 1 unit to your bet if you lose, and deduct 1 unit if win. Playing in this manner would always show you a profit when you get back to your original starting unit. This system could work IF... the house didn't have a limit and IF... you had a lot of grease. The problem with most of these progressive betting systems is that most of them require huge amounts of capital and the house limit will stop you from betting large amounts. PROGRESSIVE WIN If you want to play a betting system, use one that is very similar to this. The name means nothing because I didn't know what the hell to call it. If you are going to be playing any progressive system, use one that progresses your bets when you win, not when you lose. The Progressive Win follows a betting sequence that you are to follow depending on the outcome of each hand. The sequence is: 1 2 3 5 5 8 In this system, you start with you first 1 unit bet. After each win, your next bet is the next unit bet in the sequence. If you keep winning, you keep progressing up until you reach the maximum unit bet of 8. Keep betting the 8 unit bet until you lose a hand, then start over. Now what we're doing here seems logical. When you're winning, you increase you're bets, and when you're losing, you are betting the minimum. The next best thing in betting systems would be to actually know if you were going to win the next hand before it was dealt. Fat chance. Of course, we are not talking about card counting methods where you would have an advantage in knowing what type of cards would be coming out on the next hands. Use the Count/Basic for that in the Setup Menu for that. CANCELLATION And now for the last betting system. The Cancellation system requires you to write down a series of numbers such as: 1 2 3 4 You are suppose to bet the first and last number in the series. If you win the bet, you cross out the first and last number and again bet the first and last number remaining in the series. If there is only one number, then you simply bet that amount and cross it off if you win. When you lose a bet, you add the amount you bet to the end of the series. Your next bet is the first and last number of the series. In the series mentioned above, once all the numbers have been crossed out, you will be ahead the total of 10 units, the sum of the numbers in the series. Again... IF... IF... IF... - 15 - SYSTEM BETTING The betting systems provided with Blackjack Connoisseur are not intended for the user to withdraw his or her savings and take off to their favorites casinos with the assumption they are going to break the bank. These have been placed here for instructional purposes only and to demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of using systematic betting techniques. These systems have been played on all forms of gambling that allow even money proposition bets or a close as you can get to that. They have been played on Roulette, Craps, Baccarat, and Blackjack. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS SCREEN This screen is reached from the Main Blackjack table options by pressing F7. The screen will display something similar to this: Hands Tracked: 100 Start Tracking: 1 Remaining : 100 End Tracking : 100 Player #3 Player #2 Player #1 Method: Bas. Strat. Method: Bas. Strat. Method: Bas. Strat. Bet Amount Bet Amount Bet Amount Hand Result Hand Result Hand Result Total Profit Total Profit Total Profit Largest Bet Largest Bet Largest Bet Capital Req. Capital Req. Capital Req. Consecutively Won Consecutively Won Consecutively Won Consecutively Lost Consecutively Lost Consecutively Lost You must have had Option #4 (Track Results/Reset) in the Setup Menu set to "YES" in order for this screen to do anything. This is where you can go back and replay the hands that have been tracked. You are able to track up to 2000 hand decisions. These decisions are stored as a Win, Loss, or Tie only. This will not keep track of Splits, Double-downs, or Blackjacks. If you played 200 hands and had a final total to the good, it is possible that you could show a minus total when using this hand analysis. You will be able to retrace all the hand decisions or any amount of the hand decisions from any starting point. You may track any one or all players. You will be able to change the players betting strategy and re-track the hands. This may be done as often as you like while in this screen. As you track each players decisions, you will be able to view the Bet Amount, Hand Result, Total Profit, Largest Bet, Capital Required, the most hands Consecutively Won, and the most hands Consecutively Lost by each player. This is great for the person who would like to see what would have happened if the players where making bets using a different betting system. You could spend hours just checking past hands in this area. - 16 - ANALYSIS SCREEN OPTIONS F1 Assign Players Method 1, 2, 3, A)ll Analyze Player F10 Quit T Change Start/End Tracking Option Description F1 This will works just as if you had pressed F4 from the Setup Menu. 1,2,3,A Pressing any of the numbers 1 through 3 will start tracking that player number. Pressing the letter "A" will track all players. T Pressing the letter "T" will allow you to change the starting and ending points of the hands tracked. F10 Pressing the Function 10 key will quit and return you to the Blackjack Table. SHAREWARE LIMITATIONS The Shareware version of Blackjack Connoisseur Phase II has only few limitations. 1 - The maximum amount of hands that may be dealt is 500. 2 - Maximum tracking of hands is 100. 3 - Custom playing strategy may not be saved. 4 - High scores are not saved. 5 - Setup Options are not saved. OTHER GAMES Lowball Poker Professional Draw Poker Professional Baccarat Professional Roulette (CGA) Blackjack Connoisseur Chuck-a-Luck Holdem Poker Knock Poker Red Dog Sic Bo (EGA & Mouse) Craps Complete (EGA & Mouse) Poker Slot (EGA) Video Keno (EGA & Mouse) Roulette (EGA & Mouse) Pyramid Solitaire Poker Solitaire Osmosis Solitaire Accordion Solitaire Baker Solitaire (VGA) Peg Solitaire (VGA) Golf Solitaire Thinking Man's Solitaire (EGA) SuJu (Super Jumbles) Jigsaw Mania (VGA) JMSC Jigsaw Mania Screen Capture Utility (VGA) Pig Fifteen Klondike Solitaire (EGA & Mouse) REGISTRATION FORM Registration entitles the user to full support, major upgrade notifications, discounts on all programs and future programs. BLACKJACK CONNOISSEUR Version 2.OO Registration Please specify disk size Registration Fee ( ) 5 1/4" ( ) 3 1/2" $15.OO _______ Foreign orders add $ 5.OO _______ (Foreign orders on International Money Orders) Total $ _______ Name _______________________________________________________ Address _______________________________________________________ City _____________________________ St. ______ Zip __________ Computer System ________________________________________________ Where did you acquire this version of Blackjack Connoisseur ________________________________________________________________ Comments & Suggestions ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ For our records, please indicate your systems display adapter. ___MONO ___CGA ___EGA ___VGA ___SVGA Mouse ___Yes ___No United Innovations Plus Make checks payable to: Post Office Box 21O81 Castro Valley, CA 94546 - 18 -