Shareware Overload Trio 2/Shareware Overload Trio Volume 2 (Chestnut CD-ROM).ISO/dir29/blkjk403.zip/A10INFO5.HLP

Text File | 1994-07-28 | 14KB | 378 lines

              A10 PRO CASINO SIMULATION HELP
              ══════════════════════════════

  A10 PRO CASINO aims to simulate every condition of the
  game which will influence your opportunities to win...

  Table Limits -

  Before starting, select a Table Minimum and Maximum...
  These limits are set according to normal Casino rules.
  Tables ranges are:

          $5 to $500     $10 to $500   $25 to $1000

        $50 to $1000   $100 to $2000  $100 to $3000

       $200 to $3000   and finally... $500 to $5000

  Notice that as the limit increases, Casinos reduce the
  bet range, preventing  players  staking up by sizeable
  amounts when winning  (and serious money is involved).

  Avoid setting table limits too high at the start -  as
  this will  disadvantage  any automatic  players  whose
  banks do not support their minimum base bet of 1/140th
  of their bank.

  During the game, if a table as a whole is winning, you
  will be offered a chance to raise the limits. In fully
  auto games players increase limits if the Table Max is
  less then 10x their base bet and the table is winning.

  BLACKJACK "HALL OF FAME" -

  The Hall of Fame  preserves player's best bank scores.
  Players are graded  by the amounts they have INCREASED
  their banks,  merely starting with a big bank will not
  guarantee "entry" to the Hall !

  At the beginning of the game you may continue with the
  current hall, start a new hall while saving an old one
  or recover  old halls.  This choice can help  grouping
  system results.

  Halls are only  opened for entry at the end of a game.
  Having a terrific win during the game means nothing if
  you lose it all before you finish !

  SHUFFLE -

  The program uses one random generator to select one of
  TWO further random generators to shuffle. The graphic,
  which lasts only a few seconds, shows the actual cards
  in the shoe as each is chosen as a visual proof of the
  quality of the random shuffle.

  You  may choose a number no closer than  10 cards from
  either end of the shoe as the card cut... The shuffled
  card values are actually "cut" and resorted around the
  position of your cut !

  If the cut falls  to a box with an  automatic player a
  random cut is made.

  BURNT CARD -

  The dealer will "burn" a card at the start of play and
  show it face up, so a Card Count can be accurate. Most
  casinos which  burn the first  card will permit you to
  see it on request if they don't show it automatically.

  BETTING -

  Auto players bet according to their profiles.

  In games with manual players a prompt asks whether the
  SAME PLAYERS are betting again... Press [Y], and input
  will only be required of the same players who have bet
  in the previous hand.  (This is handy in manual  games
  when you wish to give several players a break).  Press
  [N] and all players will be asked for a bet - [N] will
  also skip the "Same Bets Again ?" question.

  You may bet $ zero in any box, of course.

  If you answered [Y] to "SAME PLAYERS AGAIN ?" you will
  be asked "SAME BETS AGAIN ?".  Press [Y] for the "Same
  Bets Again" option and speed up play in a manual game.
  In mixed games of automatic and manual players,  a [Y]
  answer will only apply to MANUAL players.

  Bets outside of Table Limits will be rejected.

  Bets that don't follow the betting principles outlined
  in  A10 PRO TUTOR,  (ie: setting  Goal and Walk Banks)
  are rejected.

  For no other reason than easy display - a Bet which is
  not a multiple of $5 is modified or rejected.

  (Some Casinos have $2 to $200 tables, but not here !)

  PLAY DECISIONS -

  A Help Strip at the top of the screen highlights keys:

        [S] for Sit   [D] for Double   [H] for Hit
  [Alt + S] - (Hold down [Alt] and strike [S]) for Split

  A Play decision is executed or rejected - according to
  legal play under the  Rules Variation you have chosen.

  [F3] for  Strategy Charts is displayed  as a reminder,
  however all HotKeys are active during the Casino Game.


  NOTE: It is an unfortunate limit of the languages  A10
  PRO is coded in, that if  the programme expects  other
  input, the Hotkey  will not execute  until after input
  is complete. In some rare cases the Hotkey is ignored,
  in order to prevent  run-time  conflicts and  crashes.
  At menus for example, press the [F7] key to quit, then
  press any other key,  (such as the space bar), and the
  program accepts the second key as the menu choice, and
  then executes  the hotkey [F7]...  A second keypress -
  (non-hotkey... I find the space bar convenient) - will
  solve this problem in most other hotkey/input conflict
  cases as well.

  At the End of a Hand the Help Strip displays reminders
  of some appropriate HotKeys. Hitting any key that does
  not have a  special  purpose  will  continue the game.
  Again, I find the space bar convenient in this case...
  Pressing [Esc] at the time the strip is displayed will
  exercise the rule  most players are unaware of - that
  when all players stand and remove their money from the
  table, the dealer must reshuffle when they sit down !

  Some rare casinos  may not support  or encourage  this
  rule, and it will draw attention to Card Counters when
  abused. In long discussions with  casinos,  they  have
  informed me they will  not ban a  counter if he  plays
  every hand.  Kamikaze attacks when the  count is good,
  coupled with no play when the count is bad will almost
  certainly see you out the door in real life...

  QUIT OPTIONS -

  Pressing [Esc] when an "[Esc] Play New Shoe" prompt is
  visible will allow all  players to force a shuffle for
  a new shoe. This option works only in manual mode.

  Pressing [F7] at anytime in the program will display a
  red and yellow Help Strip for Instant Quit Options:

          Press [M] to Return to The Main Menu

  If You are in a Game Conditions Lesson at the "Casino"
  you may press [L] to return to the Lesson Menu.

  Pressing [C] will cancel and continue the program.
  (Acting as a game pause control).

  Any other key will confirm the Quit and terminate.

  DOUBLING AND SPLITTING -

  These plays are available according to the House Rules
  you have selected.

  INSURANCE -

  I recommend you never take Insurance, unless you are a
  confident Card Counter and the Card Count is at levels
  that overwhelmingly indicates 10's or face cards.

  If the Dealer has an Ace, the House  offers Insurance.
  In a fully Auto Game all players refuse Insurance, and
  they also refuse Even Money on Player Blackjacks. As a
  manual player the choice is yours.

  Insurance pays 2-1 and is maximum of 1/2 your bet - in
  effect, providing a refund if the Dealer has Blackjack

  In a mixed or manual game, press the number of the Box
  for which you require Insurance. The amount of the bet
  will be calculated  and you will be asked to press [Y]
  or [N] to confirm the bet. Finally, press [N] when you
  are through with Insurance and the panel disappears. A
  red [ I ] next to the player's  Hand Total,  indicates
  Insurance has been selected for that player.

  BLACKJACK and EVEN MONEY -

  When the Dealer has an Ace,  any player with Blackjack
  will be offerred Even Money. Press [Y] to accept - [N]
  to refuse. Remember, Even Money and Insurance are both
  bad bets unless you are a "hot" card counter.

  Blackjack pays 3 - 2 plus your original bet returned.

  When the Dealer's first card is such that he can't get
  Blackjack you are paid on the spot, else if the Dealer
  has a 10 or an Ace, you're paid when the hand is over.

  GAME END -

  At the end of the amount of Shoes you decided to play,
  Player Statistics and Analysis are displayed - Hall of
  Fame Qualifiers entered, etc

  In a floppy disc - run game during full auto play, the
  game is saved, each 1/5th of the way towards the final
  shoe, on disc as "ASAVED.GME".

  On Hard Drive they are saved as - "A1.GME", A2, A3 and
  A4 etc. In both cases a last shoe saves as "ALAST.GME"

  You may name a mixed or manual game, any 8 letter name
  you wish and ".GME" is appended to the name.  Be aware
  of space on your disk if the game isn't installed.

  Input during the game does not need Caps Lock or Shift
  keys as the program converts lowercase letters.

  ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  If you are fluent in DOS - and running the program for
  Blackjack research you may increase your storage space
  by copying the "A10DISK5.DSK" file onto another disk -
  which is the file the program opens - to recognise the
  correct floppy, and thus create a DATA DISK - for game
  storage. Insert it when the game prompts for Disk 5 to
  recover games, or when about to save a game. On a Hard
           Drive you should have no problems.
  ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════

 HOTKEYS -

  Hotkeys interrupt the program for the following  tasks
  except  when the program has paused  for other  input.
  Depending on the type of input, the  task may  be held
  over until input is complete,  or handled immediately.
  It will require  familiarity with  the program to know
  which will happen. Only one HotKey will act at a time-
  the others turn off  until the active Hotkey's task is
  complete...

  In various sections of A10 PRO some Hotkeys are active
  and not others. In Casino Simulation all keys are "on"

  NOTE: It is an unfortunate limit of the languages the
  programme's coded in that if the program expects other
  input, the Hotkey  will not execute  until after input
  is complete. In some rare cases the Hotkey is ignored.
  At menus for example, if you have pressed the [F7] key
  to quit, press any other key such as the space bar and
  the program accepts the second key as the menu choice,
  and then executes the [F7] option. A second keypress -
  (non-hotkey... I find the space bar convenient) - will
  solve this problem in most other cases as well.

  [ F1 ] -

  Displays Help when an "[F1] Help" prompt is displayed.
  Any other time, a list of HotKeys pops up. Keys are in
  Black if inactive, and Yellow if active.

  [ F2 ] -

  Displays Statistics Charts, otherwise shown at the end
  of a game - data for each box is shown:

     Player's Name          Present Bank
     Highest Bank           Lowest Bank
     Last bet               Average bet
     Highest bet
     Won/Lost/Drawn/Passed Last Hand
     Total Hands Played, Won and Drawn
     Largest Winning and Losing Streaks
  *  +/- Percentage Gain Last Shoe
  *  +/- Dollar Value Last Shoe

  * Refers to overall gains in graphic analysis module.

  These statistics are invaluable in analysing strategy.
  In manual games, press [D] to toggle to Player Profile
  info and statistics. Press [Esc] to return to the game

  In auto games, no matter what the Speed setting you've
  selected... you will have 15 seconds to press [Esc] to
  freeze the display - then exit as per the manual game.

  [ F3 ] -

  Displays the current Rules Variation you have selected
  together with suggested strategy, based on the results
  of logic tests which are duplicated for you in the A10
  SYSTEMS ANALYSIS module for you to repeat. This HotKey
  is particularly useful in a manual game - when you are
  unsure of the correct strategy.

  [ F4 ] -

  Pops up the Bet Staking Chart from Lesson 4 of A10 PRO
  TUTOR - as an aid for those attempting to remember the
  strategy, or to show why and how auto players stake up
  when using 123557T Staking, or select base bets.

  [ F5 ] -

  Pops up the Basic Count Strategies outlined in A10 PRO
  TUTOR, auto Players designated "Count", play as shown.

  [ F6 ] -

  Toggles sound effects on or off.

  [ F7 ] -

  Instant Quit. Choose [M] for Exit to Main Menu - Press
  [Any Key] to Instant Quit and Terminate Program.

  [F7] may also be used to pause the program and you may
  then press [C] to continue play.

  [ F8 ] -

  Displays the current time and date.

  Anywhere else in the program you may cut short a delay
  or display, by pressing any non-purpose defined key...
  I find the [Space Bar] convenient.

  In Casino Simulation [F8] will show a [S] Speed prompt
  in the Time Panel Shadow. Press [S] while the Panel is
  active, and another  panel pops up. You may use [Left]
  and [Right] Arrows,  to select  a value from [ 1 ] for
  Comatose to [ 9 ] for Hyperactive !   [ 5 ] is Normal.

  Once the speed is high, as in 8 or 9 especially, press
  [F8] and immediately strike [S] for speed, the program
  will store the second keypress, and unfold the "speed"
  display, otherwise you may easily miss the chance !

  The selected value will affect the speed of delays and
  length of time for data panels.  Pressing any key will
  not alter the delay period in Casino Simulation mode.

  [ F9 ] -

  Displays A10 PRO Program Info, includes an address for
  Product Back Up - Programming and Blackjack Consulting
  or the Distributor's details when the program has been
  purchased from a retailer or an approved distributor.

  Blackjack Consulting is available for a fee of $25 per
  correspondence (minimum).

  Computrack I and II Desktop or Handheld Racing Systems
  are available. Computrack II is supplied in a handheld
  computer approximately 20 cm x 5 cm x 1 cm - ideal for
  at track implementation and bet hedging calculation.

  At present I am exploring Turbo C ++ graphics... and I
  am creating a Full-table graphic coin-operated  Manual
  Blackjack game for use by Casinos.

  I will be delighted to discuss Programming concepts or
  needs you may have.

  [ F10 ] -

  Instant Game Save. Full auto games are saved as above,
  in a mixed game, you may name the game you are saving.
  See the Game End section above at Line 190... for game
  space limitations and Data Disk creation.

         David Caune, 1991. All Rights Reserved.