---------- User-Guide ---------- Thankyou for purchasing this demo of Pro-Greyhounds. There is little need for a User-Guide with this program, as every aspect of the program is covered in the detailed help facility. However, there are several things that you need to know in order to use Pro-Greyhounds to it's full potential - this document tells you those things ... **************** * Introduction * **************** How many greyhound prediction programs do you have for your Amiga? I suspect the answer is 'none'. For some reason, despite there being several horse, football and lottery predictors, no-one seems to have created one for the dogs. Why? To be honest, I don't know. The thing is, dog racing is actually better suited to computerisation than any other sport, as it relies so much on timings and grades. Anyway, I decided that the time had come to put things right - and here it is ... The predictions generated by Pro-Greyhounds have turned out to be much more accurate than I had expected - I hope they are just as successful for you! ******************** * General Overview * ******************** Pro-Greyhounds is a very easy to use program. You'll need specialist racing paper, such as the Sporting Life or Racing Post, as the Daily papers don't give enough form detail for the dogs. I recommend that you use the Sporting Life - it contains the best coverage. Whereas in horse racing, the emphasis is on finding the winner, in greyhound racing, it is more desirable to find the dogs that will finish 1st, 2nd & 3rd, not necessarily in order. With this in mind, Pro-Greyhounds has been designed to concentrate on finding groups of winners rather than individual ones. This being the demo version, a few parts of the program have been restricted or disabled - you'll be told about these as the arise. See the option 'How To Get The Full Version' on the main menu for details on, unsurprisingly, how to get the full version! Rather than have you wade through pages and pages of meaningless manual - I've split the instructions up into digestable chunks in the form of On-Line Help pages. The help pages actually relate to the full version of the program, but most things remain the same. More on these later ... the rest of this document covers subjects that didn't really slot into any of the help pages. ******************* * Getting Started * ******************* Make a backup copy! See your Workbench manual if you are unsure on how to do this. Pro-Greyhounds will run automatically when the computer is switched on or rebooted with the Pro-Greyhounds disk in the drive. Please note that the disk should be left Write-Enabled (the little plastic slider on the disk in the closed position), otherwise the program won't work properly. If you access the program through Workbench, you'll find an additional icon - this will print out a copy of each of the help pages for you (including this User-Guide). If you wish to install Pro-Greyhounds on your hard-drive, go to the main menu and press the F10 key. You will be guided through the process - but make sure that you follow the prompts carefully. If you don't know much about greyhound racing, you should select the 'An Intro To Dog Racing' option from the main menu - this will tell you all you need to know. Before using the program, you should read the section at the end of this document entitled 'Legal Bits'. ************************** * The Prediction Process * ************************** It's easy to predict with Pro-Greyhounds. Basically, all you need to do is enter the form details for the races that are of interest to you. Pro-Greyhounds will show you its predictions for each race as you go along - but it will also be storing them up for later ... When you have finished entering race details, Pro-Greyhounds will go back and look at each of the races you told it about. It will generate a list of 'recommended' races - ones which it 'feels' are more likely to be successful than the others. It really does pay to take the advice of the program seriously. That's it - no need to enter results or anything like that. There are so many different ways you can use the predictions to place bets, but I've been testing the program by playing William Hill's version of the Tricast that lets you pick 3 dogs to finish 1st, 2nd & 3rd in any order. This costs 6 Bets, and if successful you normally pick up around £60-80 in winnings, unless the dogs finish in the order you wrote them down, in which case they pay double! Three days in a row I entered details of ALL afternoon dog races, and kept track of how I would have done had I placed bets on all races recommended by Pro-Greyhounds - I would have been almost £350 up! Another option, if you're not quite so confident, is to place a full cover forecast bet, requiring 1st & 2nd to be found somewhere in your 3 selections - this too, is 6 bets. ************** * It's Easy! * ************** Throughout the program, help is only a keypress away - just press your HELP key. The help pages shown will be relevant to the section of the program that you are using. Some of the instructions may seem a little on the complex side - rest assured, the reality isn't that bad! Once you've used Pro-Greyhounds, it'll all fall into place! If it doesn't, then don't worry - as a registered user of the program, you are entitled to unlimited help. Simply write, describing in detail what it is that you are unsure of, and I'll do my best to help by return of post. (While not essential, a SAE would be appreciated!) ******************** * Problems & Ideas * ******************** This is the very first version of Pro-Greyhounds. The future of the program depends on you! What do you like about it? Dislike? What can be done to improve it? Let me know! Similarly, if you discover any bugs, or run into any problems at all when using Pro-Greyhounds, do get in touch. I always answer letters same day. Send to: Pro-Soft, PO Box CR53, Leeds, LS7 1XJ ******************* * And Finally ... * ******************* The next few months are going to be fairly busy with improvements being made to all of the Pro-Prediction range - but I am on the look out for new ideas. Is there a computer program that you've always wanted, but can't get because it doesn't exist? If so, let me know (it doesn't have to be gambling related) - perhaps you'll see your idea develop further! *********** * Credits * *********** Pro-Greyhounds was written using the following ... Amiga 1200 (Amiga Technologies GmbH) Amiga CDTV (Amiga Technologies GmbH) Amos Pro (Europress) Personal Paint (Cloanto) Deluxe Paint (Electronic Arts) Protext (Arnor) Amstrad NC-200 (Amstrad) Thanks also to all users of Pro-Gamble, Pro-Lottery, Bookie Beater and Pro-Football - your help and support made it all possible. ************** * LEGAL BITS * ************** IGNORE THE PARTS OF THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT THAT RELATE TO DISTRIBUTION & COPYING. THIS DEMO VERSION OF PRO-GREYHOUNDS MAY BE FREELY COPIED & DISTRIBUTED ON CONDITION THAT NO MORE THAN £2 IS CHARGED, AND THAT ALL THE FILES REMAIN INTACT AND TOGETHER. DISTRIBUTION VIA CD-ROM & INTERNET IS ENCOURAGED. ALL OTHER PARTS OF THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT STILL APPLY. THE ONLY EXCEPTION TO THE ABOVE IS 'PD-SOFT' OF SOUTHEND ON SEA, WHO MAY NOT DISTRIBUTE PRO-GREYHOUNDS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. Pro-Greyhounds is (C) Copyright Ali Prior 1995. All rights reserved. The distribution and sale of this product is intended for the use of the original purchaser only. Lawful users of this program are licensed only to read the program from their media into memory of a computer, solely for the purpose of executing the program. Duplicating or copying (all or part of the program) for other than backup purposes, or selling or otherwise distributing this product is a violation of the law. Software piracy is theft - thieves WILL be prosecuted. THIS COPY OF PRO-GREYHOUNDS IS INDIVIDUALLY CODED WITH AN ID UNIQUE TO YOU - PIRATED COPIES CAN BE TRACED BACK TO YOU! 'Pro-Greyhounds' is provided 'As Is' without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk as to the results and performance of the program is assumed by you. Should the program prove defective, you (and not the author or distributor) assume the entire cost of all necessary servicing, repair or correction. Further, the author does not warrant, guarantee or make any representations regarding the use of, the program in terms of suitability, accuracy, reliability, currentness or otherwise; and you may rely on the program and results solely at your own risk. This also applies to the hard-drive installation routine, which should be used at the users own risk - no responsibility for any alterations made by the program can be assumed by the author.