旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 � � � � � � � B L A C K J A C K T U T O R � � � � � � V E R S I O N 1 . 0 0 � � � � � � U S E R M A N U A L � � � � � � � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 If you have any questions or problems with this program, please write to the author. Include a S.A.S.E if a reply is requested. David Sherville 1306 Sandia Ave. Sunnyvale,Ca. 94089 BLACKJACK TUTOR MANUAL V1.0 (C) 1985 David Sherville All Rights Reserved ============= P R E F A C E ============= Welcome to BLACKJACK TUTOR version 1.0. BLACKJACK TUTOR is a true simulation of the popular '21' casino gambling game. It is intended to be used as a tutor for users to gain proficiency in the game of Blackjack, and to introduce some playing strategys that give the user an advantage over 'the house' or casino. Quick summary of Features included in version 1.0 ------------------------------------------------- * support for Color and monochrome monitors * 1 to 7 players may play * 1 to 99 decks may be used * Hit, Stand, Double, Split, Insurance and Surrender * Frequency Distribution of hand totals to check randomness * Automatic configuration for Nevada casinos * Manual configuration for custom play * Game results displayed after each play * Up to 2 splits per player also double after split * User friendly menus, no complicated commands to remember * Nothing hidden from player, all hands displayed * High speed automatic play mode * Automatic or Manual cut feature * Card counting via true and running Point Count ( weights adjustable ) * Automatic betting strategy for Point Count available * Statistics track of each player * Single and Multiple deck Basic Strategy tutor on line * Efficiency measurement for player playing Basic Strategy * Statistics saved to disk file for future review * Set playing styles of automatic players Simulation of the game of Blackjack in BLACKJACK TUTOR is intended to follow as closely as possible the actual game played in Nevada casinos. The long term benefits to the user will be increased understanding of the game and its rules variations, tutoring in the Basic Strategy--a basic framework of proper playing decisions based on the dealers face card, tutoring in a Point Count strategy that extends the Basic Strategy to include card counting to further the players advantage over the casinos, and the savings of many trips to Nevada if a simulation such as BLACKJACK TUTOR was unavailable. Minimum configuration needed to run BLACKJACK TUTOR --------------------------------------------------- * IBM PC, XT, and most compatibles * 128K of memory * MS-DOS or PC-DOS 2.0 or greater * one Single sided disk drive * IBM color or IBM monochrome card * Color or monochrome monitor Table Of Contents ----------------- Getting started...............................................1 1.1 USERWARE concept 1.2 Making backup copies Introduction to Blackjack.....................................2 2.1 Object of game 2.2 Brief description of terms Operating BLACKJACK TUTOR.....................................3 3.1 Files needed for BLACKJACK TUTOR 3.2 Running BLACKJACK TUTOR 3.3 Game variables Basic Strategy and Card counting chart........................4 Further reading...............................................5 Warranty and Updates..........................................6 6.1 Limited warranty 6.2 Registration form 1. Getting started =================== 1.1 The USERWARE concept ========================= The USERWARE concept is defined as programs that : a.) respect the users integrity by giving them a chance to try complete versions ( no demos ) then deciding for themselves if programs meet their requirements. b.) have no complicated license agreements or copy protection, you may make as many copys as you need, run them on as many machines as you like, and give away copies to your friends or upload and download them from electronic bulletin boards. c.) are continuously updated and supported by the author(s). d.) ask users to support the USERWARE concept by paying a small fee, and registering the program. 1.2 Making backup copys ======================== The first thing to do with your BLACKJACK TUTOR package is to make backup copys of the original distribution disk and then place the original somewhere safe. Do all your work on the backup copy. BLACKJACK TUTOR is not copy protected so you can use the DOS COPY or DISKCOPY commands. 1.2 Making backup copys ======================== Place a blank diskette in the "B" drive and your DOS diskette in the "A" Drive. Type FORMAT/S B: After a few minutes of disk spinning, you will see the following message: Format complete XXXXXX Bytes Free Format another Y/N? Type N . You will now be back to the DOS prompt A>. Remove your DOS disk from "A" drive. Insert BLACKJACK TUTOR in "A" drive. Type COPY *.* B:/v 2. Introduction to the game of Blackjack ========================================= The purpose of this section of the manual is to give a brief explanation of the rules of Blackjack. Only the basics will be covered due to the many books available on the subject. See the FURTHER READING section of this manual for further information. 2.1 Object of game =================== The object of the game is to draw cards that total as close as possible to 21 without exceeding it. The dealer gives each player two cards and himself one up (face card) and one down (hole card). Each player then stands or draws additional cards, one at a time. If you bust (go over 21) you immediately lose even if the dealer subsequently goes over. If your total is closer to 21 than the dealer's, you win. If there's a tie (push) nobody wins. Face cards count as 10, Aces 1 or 11, and all others count at face value. 2.2 Brief definition of terms ============================== SPLIT---If player's first two cards are the same value, they may be split into two hands. The player must place the original bet on each of the hands. Split Aces are limited to one card each. DOUBLE--A player may double on certain totals allowed by the casino. SURRENDER-A player may choose not to play on his first two cards by surrendering. This causes player to lose 1/2 his original bet. INSURANCE-An option offered to players when the dealer has an Ace showing. Players may take insurance (in an amount up to 1/2 the original bet) against the dealer having Blackjack. Insurance pays 2 to 1. 3. Operating BLACKJACK TUTOR ============================= 3.1 Files needed for BLACKJACK TUTOR ===================================== The main files needed to run BLACKJACK TUTOR are BJT.COM and BJT.000. A additional file BJRECORD will be created by the program ( if it does not exist from a previous session ) to keep track of statistics of play. 3.2 Running BLACKJACK TUTOR ============================ Place a copy of your distribution disk in drive A: or B: and type BJT . You are now greeted with the question, "Are you using a color monitor? ( Y or N )". BLACKJACK TUTOR gives you the option of using a RGB, Composite, or Monochrome display to try and maximize the number of display configurations the program will run on. Type Y or N to suit your display configuration. The next screen displays the version number and copyright information. Please include the version number in any correspondence to me. Please support the USERWARE concept ( and a poor programmer ) and register your copy of BLACKJACK TUTOR. When you are finished reading this screen, press any key to continue. 3.3 Game variables =================== Now its time to set the Game variables. The following questions will be asked and you will be prompted for answers. a.) How many players? 1.) 1 to 7 players plus the dealer may play. b.) Player 1 enter bet, then press return. Table limit $1 to $10000 1.) enter each players bet followed by . c.) Select (A)utomatic Cut or (M)anual Cut 1.) press (A) if you would like the computer to automatically "cut" the deck for you. 2.) press (M) if you would like to be prompted for a "cut" percentage after each shuffle. d.) Would you like to change the point count values? ( y or n ) 1.) the "point count values" are numbers assigned to each card for card counting purposes. The program comes pre- configured with a set of values and you are given the option of changing these if you so desire. e.) Clear statistics file BJRECORD? ( y or n ) 1.) BJRECORD is used to continuously accumulate statistics. f.) Activate Automatic play? ( y or n ) 1.) if you choose not to run automatic play, then skip to g. Automatic play will enable player to run a number of hands automatically and save results in BJRECORD. To run 1000 hands with 7 players will take approx. 3.5 minutes on the IBM PC. To activate automatic play, press (Y) and the following screen will appear: Choose one of the following to select playing strategy for each player: (a)---Dealer mimic ( plays just like dealer ) (b)---Never bust ( won't hit on 12 ) (c)---Basic strategy Player 1 enter playing strategy selection You may now select a playing style for each player to follow during automatic play. For example, if (a), Dealer mimic, is selected for player 1, each hand he plays during automatic play will be played exactly the way the dealer plays his hands in a normal game. 2.) How many hands to autoplay? ( NOTE:limit is 9,999,999 ) a.) you may now enter the number of hands to play for automatic play. Remember, 1000 hands takes 3.5 minutes on the IBM PC. 3.) Activate display during autoplay? ( y or n ) a.) enter (Y) if you would like the normal screen display during autoplay. You can watch each player play automatically, but the plays go so fast that its very hard to see each players total, it also slows down the autoplay time, so its probably best to enter (N). While in autoplay, with (N) an indicator on the screen shows total hands to autoplay and current hands played. 4.) Are these choices OK? ( y or n ) a.) if a mistake was made during autoplay configuration, you may rerun the entire configuration. g.) Activate automatic betting by Point Count? ( y or n ) 1.) (Y) will allow player to have his bet set automatically according to the True or Running count. The following prompt will appear: Player 1 automatic bet by (T)rue or (R)unning count or (N)one? (N)one will cause normal betting to continue. Bets may still be changed at the end of each play, however, they will still follow the counts if a previous selection was made. This eliminates constantly changing bets manually during the game. 2.) Are these choices OK? ( y or n ) a.) if a mistake was made during bet configuration, you may rerun the entire configuration. h.) Automatic game configuration 1.) the next step is to select the rules for the playing area we will be simulating. The following screen will be displayed: Choose one of the following and game will automatically be configured to match playing area selected. If you choose (a) thru (e), a Basic Strategy Tutor will be on line for use. When you see the option S(T)rategy select, press (T) at any time during play to receive updated Basic Strategy advise The following strategys are implemented in BLACKJACK TUTOR version 1.00 : (c)---Las Vegas single deck (d)---Nevada multiple deck (f)---manual configuration, S(T)rategy key off (g)---Reno Blackjack machines choices (a), (b), and (e) will be implemented in future versions. If (c), (d), or (g) is selected, then rules corresponding to that playing area will automatically be setup. For example, if (d) is selected then the following screen will be displayed: Summary of user selections -------------------------- Decks selected......................................................4 Players selected....................................................7 Player 1 bet..................................................$ 2.00 Player 2 bet..................................................$ 2.00 Player 3 bet..................................................$ 2.00 Player 4 bet..................................................$ 2.00 Player 5 bet..................................................$ 2.00 Player 6 bet..................................................$ 2.00 Player 7 bet..................................................$ 2.00 Burncards...........................................................4 Percentage dealt before shuffle.....................................65 Dealer hits soft 17.................................................FALSE Automatic cut by computer...........................................TRUE Double down on any two cards.....(if false, 10 or 11 only)..........TRUE Allow late surrender..........(dealer checks for "21" first)........TRUE Allow double down after split.......................................TRUE Display dealers first two cards face up.............................FALSE Will dealer peek at hole card if 10 or face up......................TRUE Activate autoplay...................................................FALSE Screen display activated............................................TRUE Vary bets automatically according to True or Running count..........FALSE Press--(R)erun setup (C)ontinue with game at this point, you can either rerun the configuration setup, or start playing Blackjack. If (f) was selected from the previous menu, then custom configuration of the rules setup can be performed. Note: Basic Strategy will only be available if a preconfigured area is chosen such as Las Vegas, Nevada. i.) Custom game configuration--setup for rule variations 1.) if (f) was selected ( manual configuration ) then the next step is to answer prompts to select the rules for the playing area we will be simulating. 2.) How many Decks? (1 to 99), then press return a.) this sets the number of 52 card decks used. 3.) Enter percentage of cards dealt before shuffling (1-100) a.) in Nevada, after the dealer shuffles, selected players are offered the shuffled deck along with a plastic card. The player then "cuts" the deck by placing the plastic card ramdomly into the deck. Then the dealer separates the deck according to the player's cut and places the plastic card 50 to 60 percent into the deck from the first card to be dealt. This prompt controls the percentage of cards dealt before shuffling. 4.) Enter number of Burn cards ( 1 to 9 ) a.) after cards are shuffled and "cut" and game is ready to be played, the dealer usually removes a couple of cards from the top of the deck and places them into the discard pile. These discarded cards are called burncards. 5.) Will Dealer hit soft seventeen? ( y or n ) a.) soft hands are hands that include the Ace. Soft seventeen would therefore be Ace and 6. 6.) Double on 10 or 11 only? ( y or n ) a.) The best places to play Blackjack in the United States are casino's that offer "Las Vegas" rules. All casino's in the Reno/Lake Tahoe area, with the exception of the MGM Grand Reno, do not play by "Las Vegas" rules. One of the "Las Vegas" rules allows the player to Double down on any to cards, not just 10 or 11. This gives the player an additional edge. See the Basic Strategy chart in this manual for instructions on which hands to Double down on. 7.) Allow players to Surrender? ( y or n ) a.) This is another of the "Las Vegas" rules. If you are dealt two cards that you do not like, and the dealer does not have a "natural" Blackjack ( face card or 10 and Ace ) you may Surrender your hand to the dealer. In some cases, it is to your advantage to surrender. Surrendering will cause you to lose one-half of your bet. 8.) Allow Double after splitting? ( y or n ) a.) This is another of the "Las Vegas" rules. If you Split a pair, you may Double down on the first two cards of each split. This gives the player another additional edge. 9.) Display Dealers first two cards face up? ( y or n ) a.) this is an option that I've noticed is available in a few of the Las Vegas casinos. 10.) Will dealer peek at hole card if 10 or face card? a.) this is an option that I've noticed is available in a few of the Las Vegas casinos. In most casinos if the dealer has a 10 or face card up, the dealer will peek at the hole card to see if it is an ACE. j.) Playing the game 1.) at this point, a summary of user selections is displayed. You can either rerun the configuration setup, or start playing Blackjack. I will assume you are happy with the configuration, so we will play Blackjack. 2.) the first message you will see is "Dealer Shuffling". If you selected manual cut, you will be prompted to "cut" the cards. If automatic cut is selected then the next message will be "Cut card placed behind card xx" 3.) through out the rest of the game, prompts on the 25th line of the display will be used to inform you of decisions to be made. The first of these prompts is : PLAYER 1 select--(H)it (S)tand (D)ouble (P)air split Playing S(T)rategy If you are counting cards and would like to check your count, you may press (R) anytime after the shuffle to get the latest updates of the True and Running counts. They are displayed in the following format : Count R=5.000 DR=3.269 T=1.529 R = the running count. Each cards weight ( set in the configuration ) is counted as each card is played. If the running count is positive there is an abundance of Aces, Face cards, and 10's left in the deck, this is an advantage in the players favor. If the running count is negative there is an abundance of small cards left in the deck which is an advantage for the casino. A simple betting method would be to multiply your bet by the running count and bet it before the start of the next game. DR = decks remaining. T = true count. The true count is a more accurate way to keep track of the cards remaining in the deck. True count = running count / decks remaining. Note the (T) option. This will give you the correct Basic strategy play based on your first two cards and the dealers face card. If you are learning the Basic strategy and are not sure of the strategy for your particular hand, press (T) to get the correct strategy. If (P) is selected for a split pair, (T) will give the correct strategy for each of the split pairs. 4.) after all players have made their decisions, the dealer hits to his respective total and then pays or takes each players bet depending on the players total relative to the dealer. Then the following menu is displayed : -------------BLACKJACK MENU------------- Change (B)ets (E)xit to DOS (C)ontinue game View S(T)atistics (V)iew game setup Rerun (G)ame setup (F)requency Dist. Point counte(R) ---------------------------------------- (B) allows each player to change his bet before the next play begins. If player 4 is the only player wanting to change his bet, then press (B) and use the key to toggle the bet prompt to player 4. If is pressed for any of the players, that players bet will remain unchanged. (C) will continue to the next hand. If the number of cards dealt exceeds the "percentage of cards dealt before shuffle" ( set in the configuration ) then a shuffle will be performed. (V) will allow player to view the configuration setup. (F) will display a frequency distribution of all the card totals of all players and the dealer. (E) will exit to DOS and save all statistics to file BJRECORD. (T) will cause the following information to be displayed for each player : Player 1 Bet...........$ 2.00 -------- Insurance.....$ 0.00 Gain..........% 150.00 Total Won.....$ 5.00 Total Spent...$ 2.00 Efficiency...% 100.00 BET will show the current players bet and will reflect changes if player changes bet or has the "automatic bet by count" activated. INSURANCE keeps track of how much each player spends for insurance bets. Insurance is generally a bad bet unless the player is counting cards and knows just what is left in the deck. GAIN indicates how well the player is doing, as you can see by the above example, player 1 received a "natural" 21 ( face card or 10 and Ace ) and the gain reflects the $3 profit he made on a bet of $2 ( natural 21 pays the player 1.5 times his original bet ). TOTAL WON and TOTAL SPENT are just what they are. EFFICIENCY is active only if player has chosen automatic configuration to Las Vegas, Nevada. It monitors each players hand and checks to see if player makes the proper play based on the Basic Strategy selected. This is useful when learning the strategy to check and see if you really know it as well as you think you do. The following display is also displayed for the dealer: Dealer Hands.......... 1 ------ Shuffles....... 1 Gain..........% 0.00 Take..........$ 0.00 Payout........$ 17.00 (G) will allow player to reconfigure the game. (R) this will cause the True and Running counts to be displayed. It is also active anytime after the shuffle. 4. Playing Strategy ==================== BASIC STRATEGY---Las Vegas, Nevada ---------------------------------- HIT or STAND -------------- If Dealer has-------4 thru 6 up-------Hit until you get 12 If Dealer has-------2 or 3 up-------Hit until you get 13 If Dealer has-----A or 7 thru K up----Hit until you get 17 DOUBLE DOWN Single deck Four decks ------------ ------------ ----------- Double on 8--(no 6+2)--5 or 6 up no Double on 9------------2 thru 6 up 3 thru 6 up Double on 10------------2 thru 9 up 2 thru 9 up Double on 11------------ Always Except Ace up Double on A2 or A3------4 thru 6 up 5 thru 6 up Double on A4 or A5------4 thru 6 up 4 thru 6 up Double on A6------------2 thru 6 up 3 thru 6 up Double on A7------------3 thru 6 up 3 thru 6 up Stand on A7------------A, 2, 7, 8 up 2, 7, 8 up Hit on A7------------9 or 10 up 9, 10, A up Double on A8------------ 6 up no NOTE: A2 thru A6-----if you can't double down, always hit. SPLIT PAIRS ------------ Split on 2,2------------2 thru 7 up 2 thru 7 up Split on 3,3------------2 thru 7 up 2 thru 7 up Split on 4,4------------4 thru 6 up 5 or 6 up Split on 6,6------------2 thru 7 up 2 thru 6 up Split on 7,7------------2 thru 8 up 2 thru 7 up Split on 8,8 or A,A----- Always Always Split on 9,9--------Except when Dealer has 7, 10, A up CARD COUNTING -------------- NOTE : After each shuffle count is reset to zero. Use the Basic Strategy for playing decisions, and make your bets according to the true count. If true count is 1, bet 1, if true count is 2, bet 2, if true count is 3, bet 3, ect. Remember true count = running count / decks remaining. Ace.......................................................-2 2......................................................... 1 3......................................................... 1 4......................................................... 1 5......................................................... 2 6......................................................... 1 7......................................................... 1 8......................................................... 0 9.........................................................-1 10.........................................................-1 J.........................................................-1 Q.........................................................-1 K.........................................................-1 5. Further Reading ================== The following list is by no means complete, but it should be enough to get your Blackjack library started. BLACKJACK TUTOR is meant to be used as a simulator and a tutor. It was not intended to completely explain the game of Blackjack and the why of the Basic Strategy and Card counting, this is at best left to the experts. I am not affiliated with any of the authors or publishing companys of these books. I recommend them only because I've read them and found the quality to be quite good. 1.) "Beat the Dealer" by Edward O. Thorp This is the book that started card counting and strategys. It scared the Nevada casinos into changing the rules of Blackjack. Thorp is Professor of Mathematics at UC Irvine. 2.) "Playing Blackjack as a business" by Lawrence Revere Lots of great visual aids for the Basic and other strategys. Revere has a degree in Mathematics and has been involved in the gaming industry 27 years. 3.) "Blackjack, a winners handbook" by Jerry L. Patterson This gentleman offers schools in Blackjack. The and the book book reviews a hundred or so Strategy systems and tells which ones to avoid. 4.) "Turning the tables on Las Vegas" by Ian Anderson A counter who continues to play unbarred, tells all. 6. Warranty and Updates ======================== 6.1 Limited Warranty ===================== This program is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. The author of this program cannot assume responsibility for damages, derived or consequential, from the use of, or reliance on, this program. The authors sole liability consists of the replacement of defective programs that have been ordered directly from him with the proper fee paid. Programs that have been modified or lost as a consequence of attempts to defeat the copyright protection will void this warranty. Every attempt has been made to insure the accuracy of the calculations performed by BLACKJACK TUTOR, however, sometimes bugs do manage to creep in. I would be most appreciative of notification of any defects that are discovered as well as any suggestions for improvements. It was my original plan to make BLACKJACK TUTOR version 1.00 as complete as possible, eliminating the need for updates, however, with a program of its size, I've realized that improvements will definitely be necessary. Notice of updates will be mailed to registered owners only. 6.2 Registration form ====================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mail to: David Sherville 1306 Sandia Ave. Sunnyvale, Ca. 94089 Please register me and send the latest not copy-protected version of BLACKJACK TUTOR for the IBM PC, XT, and compatibles. Enclosed find a Check or Money Order $15 for each copy ordered. California residents please add 7% sales tax. Name______________________________________________________________ Address___________________________________________________________ City_____________________________State___________Zip______________ Phone (______)____________________________________________________ Computer type__________________________Memory installed___________ Operating system__________________________________________________ Monitor type______________________Display card____________________ Comments__________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ NOTE: all information is kept under the strictest confidence. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------