Usenet 1994 October/usenetsourcesnewsgroupsinfomagicoctober1994disk2.iso/games/volume6/bj2/bj.doc

Text File | 1989-07-06 | 11KB | 223 lines

            B.J. - Las Vegas Blackjack, Version 1.0
            by Nathan Glasser
            [e-mail] (internet)
            [e-mail] (usenet)

            April, 1989
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1989 by Nathan Glasser.
You may feel free to distribute this program in its current form.
Please do not remove this copyright information.
==============================================================================
Bj is a Blackjack game (single player) which implements almost every
feature to be found at Blackjack tables in various casinos in Las
Vegas.

There are a large number of options for controlling these features;
by using particular sets of these options you can emulate the rules
of your favorite casino, or you can simply use the default settings.

At the end of this document is a description of what Blackjack is,
in case you're unfamiliar.

Please send any comments or bug reports to me at one of the above e-mail
addresses.
==============================================================================
What does bj do that other Blackjack games may not do?

Bj lets the player specify the number of decks to use for the game,
specify the point at which they are reshuffled, and provides a visual
display of how much of the deck remains during play. Bj actually
arranges the cards before play so that players who wish to do so may
attempt to "count cards" to increase their chances of winning. As in
casinos, the top card of the deck is "burned" immediately after
shuffling; these cards may be optionally displayed.

Bj allows the player to specify some of the rules under which the
dealer plays, to allow for the variations between casinos. Bj will
optionally force the dealer to hit on soft 17, and optionally to
check to check for Blackjack when a "ten" (ten or picture card) is
showing. (Checking or not checking for Blackjack on tens does not
actually change the player's chance of winning. If the dealer does
not check on tens, and a player splits and/or doubles down with a ten
showing, if it turns out that dealer had Blackjack, any additional
money above the original bet is returned to the player.)

Bj allows the player to specify the minimum bet he may place, so that,
as at a casion, he can only reduce his bet so much and stay in the game.
Card counters will thus not be able to "cheat" by betting less than
the minimum. The default bet presented to the player at the start of
each hand is the same as his previous bet. The default bet at the
start of the game will be either 1/100 of his starting bankroll, or
the table minimum, whichever is larger. The player's starting bankroll
may be specified.

Bj allows the player to specify some of the options which will be
available to him at various times in play. Bj will optionally let the
player double down after splitting, and optionally let the player
resplit (split more than once). If resplitting is selected, there is
no limit to the number of times a player may split (except that there
are only so many of the same card in play). Bj always lets the player
double down on two cards (when appropriate) without restriction on
the total of the two cards.

Bj optionally supports "late surrender". Late surrender is a
little-known option supported at some major casinos in which you are
permitted to concede the hand and surrender only half of your bet,
but only when you have just your original two cards. If you have hit
or split already, you cannot surrender.

Bj includes a number of aliases and batch files for running bj with
options options appropriate to specific casinos.

Bj does not support (at least in this version):

  Resplitting aces: It is true at almost all casinos that when you
  split aces, you get exactly one new card to go with each ace, and
  your turn is over.

  "6-card Charleys": This is an option that occurs very rarely at casinos.

  Doubling down with more than 2 cards: This is an option that occurs
  very rarely at casinos.
==============================================================================
The usage of bj is:

bj [-b<num>] [-m<num>] [-n<num>] [-p<num>] [-t<bit>]
   [-h<bit>] [-d<bit>] [-r<bit>] [-l<bit>] [-c<bit>]
   [-s<bit>]

Where <num> appears you should substitute an appropriate number.
Where <bit> appears you should enter a bit, 0 or 1, to turn the option
off or on.

The command line options and their meanings:

-b: Specify starting bankroll.
-m: Specify minimum bet allowed.
-n: Specify number of decks.
-p: Specify percentage of cards after which to reshuffle.
-t: Whether dealer checks for Blackjack on tens.
-h: Whether dealer hits on soft 17's.
-d: Whether player can double down after splitting.
-r: Whether player can split more than once.
-l: Whether player can late surrender on two cards.
-c: Whether to show all burned cards.
-s: Whether to show the portion of the deck remaining.

If an option is not specified, its default value is used. To
determine the defaults for these options as compiled for your
version, simply run bj with a meaningless argument to receive a usage
message with all the defaults displayed.


When playing the game, you'll be asked to enter your bet. Enter your
new bet, or hit return to get the default shown.

When the hand has been dealt, simply pick the letter corresponding to
the option displayed you wish to use. Only options legally available
to you by the rules of the game and those selected with the command
line options will be displayed.

When the dealer has an ace showing, you'll be asked if you wish
to buy insurance. Simply hit return if you wish to select the
default answer ("No"). Otherwise enter y.

The game does not end when you reach $0; you can always get more
money from your credit card. Use ^C (or on Unix, your interrupt
character) to end the game when you're done.
==============================================================================
Thanks to extensive, expensive research done by #Ron ([e-mail],
[e-mail]), I've got rules for a number of Las Vegas casinos.

Currently I've got rules for the Barbary Coast, Bally's, Caesar's Palace,
the Flamingo Hilton, the Horseshoe, and the Stardust.

If you're on unix, you can use the aliases in the file bjalias.txt to
to run bj with the appropriate options for each of these casinos.
Simply run the command "source alias.txt" to set up the aliases.

If you're on ms-dos, you can use the batch files (*.bat). There's one
batch file for each casino.

In either case, all you have to do to use a given casino's rules is
type the name of the casino (or whatever abbreviation was actually
picked). E.g. to use the Barbary Coast rules, simply run "barbary".

Note that the command line options -b (bankroll), -c (burned cards),
and -s (deck remaining) are not specified via the aliases and batch
files. These have nothing to do with the casinos, but rather with
what the player wants to do. If you wish, any or all of these options
may be used with the predefined commands. E.g. barbary -b50 -c0 -s1.
==============================================================================
Blackjack rules summary:

In Blackjack, also known as 21, the player(s) compete with the dealer
to get higher totals of cards without going over 21.

The values of the cards are:
  Tens and picture cards = 10
  Aces = 1 or 11
  Spot cards = face value.

The player and dealer are each dealt two cards, and the first of the
dealer's cards is visible (the up card). Based on what cards the
player holds, and what dealer's up card is, the player has to make a
decision among several options as to what he wants to do to try to
win.

The options the player has are:
  Stand: Don't take any more cards on this hand.
  Hit: Take one more card on this hand. If you're total goes above 21,
    you've "busted", and this hand has lost, no matter what happens to the
    dealer.
  Double Down: If you've got only two cards in this hand, you double
    your bet and take exactly one more card. You may bust, as with
    hitting normally. You may or may not be able to double down after
    splitting (see below), depending on casino rules.
  Split: If your hands consists of two cards with exactly the same
    rank, (e.g. two 5's, two J's, two A's) you may split the hand
    into two hands, each with one of the two cards you held, plus
    a new one dealt to you. Your bet is doubled, with one bet applying to
    each hand. Each hand is now independent and is won or lost separately.
    In the case where the cards split were aces, each ace is given
    a new card, and the play stops here. No further hitting, splitting,
    or doubling down is permitted. There may be restrictions to
    further splitting and doubling down, depending on casino rules.
    Late surrendering (see below) is not permitted after splitting.
  Late Surrender: When you have not hit or split yet, i.e. still have
    your original two cards, you may concede the hand, surrendering
    only half your bet, rather than playing the hand out and possibly
    losing your entire bet. Some casinos do not allow this at all.

(Note: a card combination containing an ace in which the score can
be one of two because the ace is worth either 1 or 11, is known as "soft".
Thus the cards A 2 2 would be a soft 15.)

After the player(s) have finished their hands, the dealer plays by
following a predetermined algorithm. The dealer turns over the down
card. He then continues to hit until his total becomes 17 or higher.
If the dealer busts, than all player hands which have not busted win.
If a player hand and the dealer have not busted, whichever one has
the higher score wins. If it is a tie, this is known as a push, and
the player's bet is returned. If the player wins, the payoff is 1:1.
(In some casinos, the dealer must hit if the total is a soft 17.)

Exception: a two-card combination totalling 21, that is, an ace and a
ten or picture card, is worth more than any other 21 combination.
This is known as a Blackjack. If the player get a Blackjack, and the
dealer doesn't, the player wins, and in addition, gets paid 3:2. If
the dealer gets Blackjack, there's no way for the player to win,
though it will still be a push if the player also gets a Blackjack.
(Note that if you split, and get a "Blackjack", this is not a
Blackjack. This applies only two your original two cards.)

If the dealer's down card is an ace, then all players are immediately
given the option to buy insurance. This means that the player pays
out an additional 50% of his original bet. Whether insurance is
bought or not, the dealer immediately checks to see whether he has
Blackjack. If dealer has Blackjack, all players lose their original
bets, but those with insurance get their insurance bet back, and get
paid off at 2:1 for this bet. If the dealer does not have Blackjack,
those players who bought insurance lose their insurance bets.