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                      |   ____|__  |  Association of  
                      |  |       |_|  Shareware       
                      |__|   o   |    Professionals   
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                         |___|___|    MEMBER    

                    Copyright (c) 1997 by Sage Software.
                            All Rights Reserved.


   Welcome to Sage Software's Sage Video Poker Simulator.

   SAGE VIDEO POKER SIMULATOR. This is a Video Poker simulator with 
   realistic sound effects, great graphics, and user definable payout
   tables. This program can simulate Draw Poker, Joker's Wild, and Deuces
   Wild machines. Statistics of the different types of hands the player
   has gotten during play are kept. Also, all settings and statistics can
   be saved to disk and loaded at a later time.

   SAGE VIDEO POKER. This is a more advanced version of the Simulator. It
   can do everything that the Simulator can do plus has functionality which
   can analyze the poker hands to find which are the best cards to discard
   for any poker hand (this analyzing functionality is available for the 
   Draw Poker and Joker's Wild games, not Deuces Wild). This analyzing
   functionality includes Advice, Tutor, Analyze Hands, and Analyze Game.
   The Advice button can be selected anytime during a game after the
   initial cards are dealt. This will tell you which the best cards to
   discard are for the current hand and what the expected winnings will be.
   It will also show the expected winnings for every possible discard
   combination. When the Tutor is turned on, it will notify you whenever
   you do not choose the proper cards to hold to yeild maximum returns
   during a game. The Tutor will also keep a list of all the mistakes you
   made and will show you the percent advantage that you lost due to your 
   errors. The Analyze Hands functionality displays the same information
   as the Advice button does but you can specify any poker hand to be
   analyzed. The Analyze Game functionality will analyze the current game
   you have specified. After analyzing a game, you will be shown what the
   player's expected advantage is upon perfect play. Also you will be shown
   what percent of the time you can expect to get each of the payout hands
   upon perfect play. As a bonus, there is a Tournament Play mode in this
   program. This is a fast-paced exciting break from standard play mode.
   The object is to score as many points as you can in a 10 minute period.
   If you are good enough to score in the top 10, you get to place your 
   name on the top 10 list (sorry, you don't get a prize!). This program
   is for someone who wants to go beyond just playing the game. It allows
   you to find which video poker machines in a casino offers the best
   returns and it can help you learn the correct cards to hold in order to
   maximize your winnings.

   A registration form can be found in the file ORDERFM.DOC and can also be
   found in the Online help when you run vpoker.exe.

   Sage Software also provides a number of other programs.

   A list and a brief description of the programs that Sage Software 
   provides follows:

   SAGE BLACKJACK SIMULATOR (UNREGISTERED). This is the shareware version 
   which has animated graphics, sound effects and background music. This 
   program can simulate the house rules of most casinos in the world. Up to 
   seven players may play at the same time. Any seat can be unplayed, 
   played by the user, or played by the computer. A random shuffle is used 
   to shuffle the cards. From 1 to 8 deck games can be specified. The 
   minimum bet, maximum bet, and shuffling point can all be defined by the 
   user. Also, various statistics such as current bankroll, largest 
   bankroll, smallest bankroll, winnings, number of rounds played, and more 
   are kept.

   SAGE BLACKJACK SIMULATOR. This program is given to the user when he 
   registers the unregistered version. It attempts to simulate a casino 
   blackjack game as close as possible. It has all the functionality of the 
   unregistered version plus has a few more sound effects and comes with a 
   few more music files. Also, this program has the ability to save the 
   game to disk and to load it back later, the speed of the game can be 
   adjusted to as slow or as fast as you want, a casino shuffle can be 
   specified (casino shuffles are not random and can have an effect on the 
   game), dealer statistics are kept, a face-down game can be specified 
   (most single and double deck games at the casinos are dealt face-down), 
   and more. With the casino shuffles and because all cards are collected 
   and discarded in the same order as the casinos do, this program is one 
   of the best casino blackjack simulators on the market at any price!

   SAGE BLACKJACK. This is the top of the line as far as blackjack programs 
   go. This program was designed to teach the user winning blackjack 
   strategies and can also be used to test and even create them. It has 
   many teaching aids available for doing this. One teaching aid provided 
   by this program is the Tutor. When the Tutor is turned on, the computer 
   will monitor each playing action the user makes while he plays and will 
   notify him if he makes a mistake. The user can define any playing 
   strategy to be tutored on, including playing strategies based on a true 
   count. Another teaching aid is the Count Training functionality that can 
   help teach the user how to count cards. Card counting is a method that 
   experienced blackjack players use to gain an advantage over the casinos. 
   It is no secret that a player who counts cards can gain an advantage 
   over the casinos. Yet another training aid provided by this program is 
   the Flash Cards. Any playing strategy that you define for a player can 
   automatically be transferred to flash cards which you can scroll through 
   to help you learn the proper playing actions to take under different 
   situations. To test playing or betting strategies, this program has the 
   ability to define most playing and betting strategies to each of the 7 
   seats. When the graphics are turned off and the game is started, the 
   computer can deal more than 1,000,000 hands an hour (or closer to 
   6,000,000 when a 100mhz pentium or better is used). At this high rate, 
   it is possible to evaluate different strategies by assigning them to 
   different seats and comparing the statistics. The player`s advantage for 
   each strategy will converge toward the actual value when a large number 
   of hands are tested. Also this program has the Evaluation functionality 
   that can be used to find the best playing action to take under different 
   conditions. This functionality can be used to calculate the basic 
   strategy for different house rules and can also be used to calculate 
   count based strategies for different counting methods! The decks used in 
   the game can also be modified. The players can be programmed to enter 
   and leave the game under different conditions, such as based on the true 
   count or based on money won or lost or the number of rounds played amoung
   many others. This program offers a wealth of statistics including 
   statistics based on the types of hands, the true count, count reversal, 
   progression, sessions, previous hands, and more. The animated graphics, 
   sound effects, and user selectable background music makes this a great 
   blackjack program to play for the shear entertainment as well. This 
   program comes packaged with a manual and can be found in a few selected 
   stores.

   BARRAGING BARRIERS is a challenging multi-level maze game. The object 
   is to score as many points as you can by collecting bonuses as you 
   advance to higher and higher levels, trying not to let the barraging
   barriers barricade you.

   A registration form for these programs can be found in the file 
   OTHERORD.DOC.

   If you have additional questions about any of these programs or about 
   registering, please call Sage Software at (205) 830-9364 9:00am - 5:00pm 
   CST Monday - Friday. Or if you have Internet access, send E-mail to: 
   102225.2363@compuserve.com (102225,2363 for CompuServe members).
