+----------------------------------+ | WELCOME TO BLACKJACK! | | = YOUR KEY TO WINNING PLAY = | +----------------------------------+ Please be sure that you received all of the following files BJ .EXE CARDS16 .IMG BJ .CFG CARDSHGC.IMG BJ87 .BAT SUITS16X.IMG BJ-DOCS .TXT SUITSHGC.IMG CASINOS .DAT BJ-HIST .DAT If any of these files are missing please contact the ShareWare distributor and Glencoe Computing Donald L. Granger 1100 Highway C Glencoe, MO 63038-1404 To print the documentation type PRINTBJ [Enter] at the DOS prompt. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COMPATIBILITY NOTES - Windows 3.0 BlackJack! should run without problems as a DOS application under Windows 3.0. It has been tested on a 386 system where the only side effect has been slower operation. The following files are provided for Windows support: BJ-386.PIF - For use with Windows 386 enhanced mode BJ-STD.PIF - For use with Windows standard mode BJ.ICO - An icon for BlackJack! The PIF files assume that BlackJack! is installed on the C: drive and is located in a directory named BJ. You can use PIF EDIT (supplied with Windows) to modify the path in the PIF files as needed. - VGA systems using VGA monochrome monitors. If you experience an error regarding the graphics hardware on startup, try running the DOS command MODE CO80 prior to loading BlackJack!. - Peculiar operation when numbers are involved, or system lock-up. Some computers errantly indicate the presence of an 80x87 math coprocessor, others, particularly some '386 systems with 80287 math coprocessors, cause errors. If you experience system lock-up or peculiar results when numbers are involved try issuing the follow command from the DOS prompt. SET 87=N It is important that no spaces be included in "87=N". The included batch file BJ87.BAT will automate the above fix. In place of invoking BlackJack! with the BJ command just use BJ87. When you exit BlackJack! the 87 variable will be cleared from the enviornment. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New features in V-2.10 Sit Out Hand: You can now sit out a hand by placing a bet of $0. You will not be dealt any cards but any AUTO players will continue to play. Drop Out of Game: [Ctrl][D] You can now quit while in the Wager Box by pressing [Ctrl][D]. If there are multiple players only the current player is dropped and play continues. AUTO players cannot drop out. Streak Stats: The Peaks & Valleys statistics screen now show the longest winning and losing streaks of a session. Streaks are counted as follows: Win Zero the loss count & increment win count. Push No effect. Surrender Decrement win count if > 0, otherwise no effect. Loss Zero the win count & increment the loss count. Split Each hand of the split is treated as a distinct hand and is scored from right to left. Double Down Treated as a regular hand. User Defined Betting Progression: [7] or [W] from SETUP MENU You can now define the betting progression used by the AUTO players, you can also establish a "stop loss point". A window will pop up and you will be able to enter up to 10 levels of the progression. If your particular system does not use this many levels simply use the same value for the final entries. The last entry on the screen is the stop loss, or drop out point. For example, if your betting system dictates quitting after 6 consecutive losses you would enter 6 as the stop loss point. Once an AUTO player has dropped out, they cannot rejoin the game. The stop loss point is monitored using the method described for Streak Stats. It is possible that the stop loss point can be exceeded by one hand. This occurs when a player splits a hand and loses both when consecutive losses are one less than the stop loss point. The betting progression table is saved with CONFIGURATION SAVE. A new choice has been added to the AUTO PLAYER - STYLE setting, it is "User". Selecting User will cause the user betting progression to be used by AUTO player, the AUTO player will make play decisions the same as the NORMAL player while using the user defined betting progression for wagers. Count System Start Point: A new value has been added to the User Defined Counting System to define the starting count of the system. This is the card count at the beginning of a new deck or shoe. Normally this value is 0. This value is reflected in both the running count and the true count. Card Shuffle: The card shuffling algorithim has been changed to create a more statistically random deck. Fast Shuffle: [Ctrl][F] You can eliminate the sound (and delay) of deck shuffling by pressing [Ctrl][F] during casino play. Each press toggles Fast Shuffle on or off. A short beep confirms the keypress. The default condition is normal (with sound) shuffling. Auto Play: Fully automated play is now approximatly 20% faster. Veiw Performance: [Ctrl][V] Pressing [Ctrl][V] between hands during casio play will allow viewing the 3 performance statistic screens without quitting the play session. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - New features in V-2.11 Edit Casinos: You can now edit all 4 casinos! Number of Auto Hands: You can now play millions of fully automated hands! Warning, it'll take quite a while. In spite of BlackJack!'s speed, it still takes about 3.5 hours to play a million single player hands on a 386/16. Warning-II, I've only tested this to 2.5 million hands. That doesn't mean BlackJack! can't do more, it just means I couldn't have my computer tied up any more. Even More Statistics...Winning Percentage: In all casino games there is a "house advantage". This is usually expressed as a percentage. It represents the difference between the actual odds of the game and the odds that the house pays. In blackjack this advantage cannot be calculated in this mannor since the player has the ability to control the outcome of the game. In spite of all the discussion in books regarding house or player advantages in blackjack, I have never seen an actual formula published. The method used in BlackJack! keeps two running totals, gross wagers and gross winnings. The percentage is obtained by dividing gross winnings by gross wagers. Pushes are not counted. A result of 50% should indicate an even game, higher than 50% an advantage for the player and lower than 50% an advantage for the house. This information is provided only to satisfy the curious. I do not claim it as a valid method of evaluating the effectivness of a playing system. I've run into situations where a player ended a session behind yet the percentage showed a players advantage. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - New features in V-2.15 History Statistics: [H] or [0] from the Main Menu Still Even More Statistics... BlackJack! now keeps track of all statistics between play sessions. The statistics are accumulated only for "human" players. In the event of more than one human player in a session the first human player is used for the history statistics. Tournament play is never counted regardles of player type. In the event of playing a saved game, only the new plays are added to the history file and the number of sessions played is not incremented. The History Statistics are viewed by pressing either [H] or [0] from the Main Menu. History Statistics are seperatly kept for each of the four casinos plus a grand total reflecting cumulative totals of play at all casinos. The History Statistics are also included as part of the suite of statistical screens accesable after a casino session, or by pressing [Ctrl][V] between casino play hands. When accessed via [Ctrl][V] only the active casino is shown and the values DO NOT reflect the current session's play. To reset the History Statistics values press [Ctrl][R] while viewing the History Statistics screen. You are also given the option of resettng the values when editing casino configurations. Alternatly, to reset all 4 casino History Statistics at once delete the file BJ-HIST.DAT, a new one will be created with zero values. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - New features in V-2.17 Australian style play (/A from the command line): For all my supporters from Australia, BlackJack! now supports your style of play. The dealer is not dealt his second card until all players have finished their hands. Invoke this option with the command line option /A. Example BJ /A [Enter] Card Counting Drill: The drill now ends with the following options [R]epeat [O]ptions [Q]uit Pressing [R] will restart the drill using the same options, [O] will return you to the setup screen, [Q] of course returns to the Main Menu. Error Tracking: BlackJack! now keeps track of your strategy errors as you play. At the end of a casino session, or the end of Basic Strategy Practice you are shown the strategy table segments where you have made errors. The specific positions where errors occurred are highlighted and the total number of errors made in the segment are shown. 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |10 | A ---------------------------------------- Count 8,8 S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S 2 - - The above example indicates two errors were made when the player was dealt a pair of 8s. One against a dealer 9, the other against a dealer 10. The underscored letters are actually highlighted on the screen. Save Casino Setup: Tired of entering the number of players, minimum bet, etc. each time you play? Now you can save the setup information and jump right into casino play! A new choice has been added to the Casino Setup Screen, [S]ave. Pressing [S] will save the setup information and move you into the casino. Pressing [^S] saves the setup without moving into the casino. Once you have saved your favorite setup you can go directly to the casino by pressing the 'F' key that corresponds to the casino number from the Main Menu. For example, to jump directly into casino number 3, you would press [F3] from the Main Menu. If you want to make changes in the setup you can use the regular method of just pressing the casino number. The default responses in the setup screen will be your saved setup data. BlackJack! keeps separate setup data for each of the four casinos. Save Strategy Drill Setup: Pressing [^S] while in the Basic Strategy Drill saves all of the options to disk. These will be the settings used the next time you run the drill. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - New features in V-2.20 Mode Of Play: [M] or [+] from the Setup Menu An additional mode of play has been added, REALISTIC MODE. Realistic Mode more accurately simulates the flow of play in an actual casino setting. Player's cards are retrieved, and bets settled in the order of play. Bust and surrendered hands are immediately removed from the table before play progresses to the next player. All cards are cleared prior to the Press Any Key To Continue message. Realistic Mode is provided to better simulate the amount of time that card counters have to asses the values of cards on the table. Normal Mode remains unchanged. The Setup Menu has the following entry + Mode Of Play [Normal] You toggle between Normal and Realistic play by pressing either [M] or [+] ([=] works too) while in the Setup Menu. The currently active mode of play is displayed in brackets to the right. The speed of Realistic Mode corresponds to the AUTO PLAYER - SPEED setting. You may need to experiment to find a speed that you like, but for most the Normal setting should be good. As with all play options, the play mode is saved with Configuration Save. User Defined Betting Progression: [9] or [W] from Setup Menu The first entry in the User Betting Progression now represents the initial wager for the progression. This allows using a system that calls for more than the table minimun as the opening bet. 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 � DO NOT MIX ANY FILES FROM PREVIOUS VERSIONS ! ! � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |*** To print this file type COPY README.ME PRN at the DOS prompt. ***| +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+