PC-SIG: Games/PC-SIG Games (PC-SIG).iso/1612/GINRUMMY.DOC

Text File | 1988-11-19 | 6.9 KB | 159 lines

TOMMY'S GIN RUMMY (C) COPYRIGHT 1987 BY TOMMY'S TOYS
P. O. BOX 11261, DENVER, CO 80211 USA.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
CATALOG #87-067-1A

INSTRUCTIONS:

TOMMY'S GIN RUMMY IMPLEMENTS THE GAME INVENTED IN 1909 BY E. T. BAKER OF THE
KNICKERBOCKER WHIST CLUB OF NEW YORK, WITH AUTOMATIC SORTING OF YOUR HAND
TO GIVE THE BEST SCORE.

PLAYERS:
YOU PLAY AGAINST THE COMPUTER.  YOUR HAND IS DISPLAYED AT THE TOP OF THE
SCREEN, THE COMPUTER'S UNDER IT.  AT PROGRAM STARTUP YOU ARE GIVEN THE OPTION
OF PLAYING WITH OPEN HANDS, MEANING THAT YOU CAN SEE THE COMPUTER'S HAND BUT
IT CAN'T SEE YOURS.

CARDS:
THE STANDARD DECK OF 52 IS USED.

DEALER:
THE INITIAL DEALER IS CHOSEN BY THE COMPUTER AFTER ROLLING A DIE IN ITS
CIRCUITS.  AFTER THAT, THE WINNER OF EACH ROUND DEALS THE NEXT.

THE DEAL:
EACH PLAYER RECEIVES 10 CARDS, DEALT TO EACH PLAYER ALTERNATELY STARTING WITH
THE NON-DEALER.  THE TOP CARD OF THE DECK IS THEN TURNED UP AND BECOMES THE
UPCARD ON A SEPARATE UPCARD PILE.

THE PLAY:
ON THE FIRST PLAY, NON-DEALER EITHER TAKES THE UPCARD OR REFUSES IT; IF HE
REFUSES, DEALER HAS THE SAME OPTION.  IF DEALER ALSO REFUSES, NON-DEALER MUST
DRAW FROM THE TOP OF THE DECK, GIVING HIM 11 CARDS. (NOTE: IN TOMMY'S GIN
RUMMY, THIS IS SKIPPED AND NON-DEALER HAS THE OPTION OF UPCARD OR DECK.)

ON SUBSEQUENT PLAYS, EACH PLAYER MUST DRAW ONE CARD, EITHER THE UPCARD OR THE
TOP OF THE DECK, AND THEN DISCARD ONE CARD ON THE UPCARD PILE (BECOMING THE
NEW UPCARD).

KNOCKING:
EACH HAND HAS A POINT VALUE THAT ITS PLAYER TRIES TO MINIMIZE.  AFTER
DRAWING AND DISCARDING, IF THE POINT VALUE IS 10 OR LESS, A PLAYER MAY
"KNOCK", ENDING THE ROUND.

DEAD HANDS:
IF THE 50TH CARD IS DRAWN FROM THE DECK AND, AFTER THE DISCARD, NEITHER
PLAYER HAS KNOCKED, THE HAND IS DEAD AND A NEW ONE IS STARTED.

MATCHED SET:
THE OBJECT OF THE GAME IS TO FORM YOUR HAND INTO "MATCHED SETS":

     1. 3 OR 4 CARDS OF THE SAME RANK ("FLAT")
     2. 3 OR MORE CARDS OF THE SAME SUIT IN SEQUENCE ("STRAIGHT")

CARDS THAT DO NOT FORM PART OF ANY MATCHED SET ARE CALLED UNMATCHED CARDS
(OR DEADWOOD) AND ARE PENALIZED WITH A POINT VALUE (PV).

HAND POINT VALUE (PV):
THE POINT VALUE (PV) OF A HAND DEPENDS ON THE UNMATCHED CARDS ONLY.
IN THIS COUNT, EACH FACE CARD COUNTS AS 10 POINTS, AN ACE COUNTS AS 1 POINT,
AND EACH OTHER CARD COUNTS AS ITS FACE VALUE.

GIN:
TO KNOCK, YOUR PV (AFTER DISCARDING) MUST BE 10 OR LESS.
IF ALL YOUR CARDS ARE MATCHED, YOU HAVE A PV OF 0 (PERFECT) AND YOU "GO GIN".
(YOU SHOULD ALWAYS KNOCK IF YOU GO GIN!)

NOTE ON MATCHED SETS:
THE COMPUTER AUTOMATICALLY REARRANGES YOUR HAND FOR YOU TO PRODUCE THE
MOST MATCHED CARDS, AND, AMONG EQUAL ALTERNATIVES, THOSE WITH THE LOWEST
PV.  THIS TAKES ALL OF THE DRUDGERY OUT OF THE GAME AND WHO WOULD EVER WANT
TO HAVE TO GO BACK TO SORTING ONE'S OWN HAND EVER AGAIN?  OF COURSE THIS
DOESN'T PREVENT YOU FROM DISCARDING ANY CARD YOU WANT.

THERE IS ONE LITTLE CATCH HOWEVER...
AS THIS ALGORITHM'S SPEED DEPENDS EXPONENTIALLY ON THE NUMBER OF "INTERSECT"
CARDS (E.G., 2-CLUBS, 3-CLUBS, 4-CLUBS, 3-HEARTS, 3-DIAMONDS HAS ONE
INTERSECT, 3-CLUBS), THERE ARE A FEW PATHOLOGICAL HANDS THAT TAKE A WHILE
TO OPTIMIZE:  TOMMY SUGGESTS YOU USE THE TIME TO STRAIGHTEN YOUR DESK.

LAYING OFF:
THE PLAYER WHO KNOCKS SHOWS HIS HAND WITH THE MATCHED SETS SEGREGATED.  IF
HE DIDN'T HAVE GIN, THE OTHER PLAYER THEN GETS TO "LAY OFF" ANY OF HIS
UNMATCHED CARDS THAT FIT INTO THE OPPONENT'S MATCHED SETS, THEREBY REDUCING
HIS HAND'S PV.  NOTE THAT YOU CANNOT LAY OFF A STRAIGHT ON AN OPPONENT'S FLAT,
OR VICE VERSA, HENCE IF THE OPPONENT HAS 3 5'S AND YOU HAVE A 4,6 OF THE
RIGHT SUIT, THAT'S TOUGH.

SCORING:
IF THE KNOCKER HAS THE LOWEST PV AFTER THE OPPONENT LAYS OFF HIS UNMATCHED
CARDS, THE KNOCKER WINS THE DIFFERENCE IN THE FINAL PV, BUT IF THE OPPONENT
HAS THE LOWEST PV ("UNDERCUTS THE KNOCKER"), HE WINS THE DIFFERENCE IN PV
PLUS A BONUS OF 25 POINTS.  HOWEVER, IF THE KNOCKER HAS GIN, HE WINS
UNCONDITIONALLY, SCORING THE OPPONENT'S PV PLUS A BONUS OF 25 POINTS.

GAME:
THE FIRST PLAYER TO SCORE 100 GAME POINTS WINS THE GAME.
THE WINNER GETS 100 MORE POINTS, THEN EACH PLAYER GETS 25 MORE POINTS
FOR EACH HAND HE HAS WON (THE SO-CALLED BOX OR LINE BONUS).  THE WINNER
THEN GETS GAME POINTS EQUAL TO THE DIFFERENCE IN TOTAL PV SCORES; BUT IF
THE LOSER HAS WON NO HANDS (0 PV, A SO-CALLED SHUTOUT OR SCHNEIDER), THE
WINNER WINS DOUBLE THE DIFFERENCE IN GAME POINTS AND THE LOSER IS "SKUNKED".

IN TOMMY'S GIN RUMMY, THE CUMULATIVE GAME POINTS ARE SAVED FOR REFERENCE
IN CASE YOU HAVE A STEAK DINNER RIDING ON THE SESSION.

STRATEGY:
MOST HANDS ARE WON WITH 6 OR 7 MATCHED CARDS.  YOU MUST THEREFORE ALWAYS
STRIVE TO KEEP 2 OR 3 LOW CARDS (ACES, DEUCES, TREYS) IN YOUR HAND AT ALL
TIMES, TO KEEP YOUR PV LOW AND MINIMIZE THE RISK SHOULD THE OPPONENT KNOCK.
IT IS ALSO UNWISE TO KEEP HIGH PAIRS AND TWO-CARD SEQUENCES AFTER THE FIRST
FEW ROUNDS.  AS FOR KNOCKING, MOST PLAYERS KNOCK IMMEDIATELY IF THEIR PV
GOES TO 10 OR LESS ANYTIME IN THE FIRST 4 OR 5 TURNS; AFTER THAT, ESPECIALLY
AFTER THE 8TH TURN, YOU PROBABLY SHOULD NOT KNOCK UNLESS YOUR COUNT IS LESS
THAN 6.  OF COURSE, IF YOU SEE THE OPPONENT DRAWING MORE THAN ONCE FROM THE
UPCARD PILE, YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO KNOCK AT ALL, FEARING HE IS TRYING TO
TRICK YOU INTO AN UNDERCUT.  ON THE OTHER HAND, BLINDLY WAITING FOR A DEAD
HAND, OR WAITING TO GO GIN, MAY GIVE THE OTHER PLAYER TIME TO GO GIN AND GIVE
HIM A 50+ POINT JUMP ON YOU.

NOTE THAT THIS GAME GIVES BOTH PLAYERS WIDE OPPORTUNITY FOR SKILL BY
OBSERVING ALL THAT IS GOING ON AND MAKING USE OF IT.  GOOD PLAYERS DEVELOP
A "FEEL FOR THE CARDS" AND INSTINCTIVELY KNOW WHICH CARDS ARE BEING SOUGHT
BY THE OPPONENT.

OKLAHOMA GIN:
IN OKLAHOMA GIN, ALSO KNOWN AS CEDARHURST, THE RANK OF THE FIRST UPCARD
DETERMINES THE MINIMUM POINTS NEEDED TO KNOCK: FOR EXAMPLE, IF THE UPCARD IS
A 3, THEN 3 OR LESS POINTS ARE NEEDED TO KNOCK, IF THE UPCARD IS A FACE CARD,
THEN 10 POINTS OR LESS ARE NEEDED TO KNOCK.  HOWEVER, IF THE UPCARD IS AN ACE,
THEN GIN IS NEEDED.

IN ADDITION, IF THE UPCARD IS A SPADE THEN ALL SCORES FROM THE HAND ARE
DOUBLED.

TOMMY'S SPACE COWBOY GIN:
THIS IS PLAYED LIKE OKLAHOMA, EXCEPT THE RANK OF THE >>>CURRENT<<< UPCARD
DETERMINES THE POINTS NEEDED TO KNOCK.

FUNCTION KEY COMMANDS:
SOUND EFFECTS TOGGLE: FUNCTION KEY F1 TOGGLES THE SOUND EFFECTS ON AND OFF.

DEMO MODE TOGGLE: FUNCTION KEY F2 TOGGLES THE DEMO MODE.  IN DEMO MODE, THE
COMPUTER PLAYS BOTH HANDS.

TO QUIT: HIT FUNCTION KEY F7.

TO DISPLAY THESE INSTRUCTIONS: HIT FUNCTION KEY F5.

TO CHANGE THE SCREEN BORDER COLOR (COLOR MONITORS ONLY): HIT FUNCTION KEY F10.

DID YOU LIKE THIS TOY?
DON'T FORGET TO TRY OUR GOBS OF OTHER NEAT LOW-PRICED TOYS AND GAMES FOR THE
IBM PC AND COMPATIBLES.  WE ARE WAITING TO SEND YOU OUR 5.25 INCH (360KB) OR
3.5 INCH (720KB) DEMO DISK, CONTAINING AN ELECTRONIC CATALOG AND A FREE COPY
OF A TOMMY'S TOY (OUR CHOICE), FOR ONLY $2 US, $3 FOREIGN.  IF YOUR PC BORES
YOU WRITE US NOW.

HAVE FUN!