Amiga Plus Extra 1996 #3/AmigaPlus_CD-ROM-EXTRA_Nr.3.bin/aminet-spiele/brettspiele/poker/poker.doc

Text File | 1993-03-31 | 8KB | 141 lines

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VIDEO POKER
© 1992 By Richard Ramella
JUMPDISK
All Rights Reserved
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     THIS PROGRAM ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON THE OCTOBER 1992 ISSUE OF JUMPDISK,
THE ORIGINAL DISK MAGAZINE FOR THE AMIGA:

     Amiga clubs and individuals are free to distribute all the material in
the POKER drawer. However, for-profit groups such as "PD disk companies" are
prohibited from distribution.

JUMPDISK
1493 MT. VIEW AVE.
CHICO, CA 95926 U.S.A.      Telephone [phone]

     On single-drive systems without hard drive, there will
be a swap of Workbench and JUMPDISK. After this the POKER screen will not be
evident, but you can bring it to the front of the screen and start the game
with a Left-Amiga-M. That is, at the same time press the A key at left of
the space bar and the M key.

     The following documentation appeared in the JUMPDISK issue of original
publication:

     In the editor's column of the September issue, I told how I forced
myself to drive 176 miles to Reno, Nevada, eat fine food and lose $30 playing
video poker machines. I did it to learn at least superficially how the
machines work.
     I've written a simulation of the casino-style poker machine. While it
works as the casino machines do, I wrote it for speed. There are no heart-
stopping pauses for cards to appear. I think when you're playing for free,
you'll want quick results. I also kept down the sound. There are a "beep"
when a bet is registered and a sound when a winner is paid. If you don't
like these, turn down your sound.
     You should have little trouble running the game, for the essential
instructions are printed on the game screen. Even so, here is a more complete
rundown:
     You are given a pot of $10 to start. After the screen opens, your first
task is to place a bet. To do this, click with the mouse pointer over the box
containing the word "PLAY". One click plays one hypothetical quarter. You may
increase your odds by clicking up to five times, playing a total $1.25 per
hand. Each play of a quarter increases the odds by the starting amount. The
single exception to this rule is that the payoff for a royal flush jumps from
1000 to 3000 when you play the fifth coin.
     If you bet five quarters, the hand is automatically dealt. If you wish,
you may start the hand after betting one to four quarters. To do this, click
on the box containing the word "DEAL". If during the bet sequence your pot
reaches a zero amount, the hand is automatically dealt. If you are out of
money, the machine informs you.
     When the five cards of the hand are dealt, you are allowed to hold any
of the cards and draw new cards for the others. To hold a card, click in the
red rectangle above it. This produces the word "HOLD" in the rectangle. To
"unsave" a HOLD card, click the rectangle a second time.
     At any time your hand holds a winning combination, the description of
that winner will be highlighted in the list at left of screen. Keep that list
in view, for at times you may not see a winning combination. Winners can
result from the initial deal.
     After you have selected any cards you want to hold, you are allowed to
draw. To do this, click a second time on the DEAL box.
     If you have won anything, the description of the win will be
highlighted, and pot will be increased and shown in the POT box.
     The pot is shown by the amount of "cash" in it. The odds are stated by
the number of units you stand to win. Example: A win of 10 units will add
$2.50 to the pot.
     That completes the cycle. Go back, bet again and continue play.

A CUTE FEATURE
     After a win, your first bet is free. That is, the first click to
register a quarter does not subtract from your pot. I pondered whether this
unexpected result was a bug or a feature. It's a feature.

NEVER PLAYED POKER?
     The basic Reno poker machine does not pay anything unless you get a pair
of jacks or better -- queens, kings or aces. A pair is easiest to get. The
payoffs increase along with the statistical improbability of getting a
specific hand. Here they are in order of ascending difficulty, along with
descriptions for people new to the concept:
     JACKS OR BETTER: Two of the same face card or two aces.
     TWO PAIR -- Two of one rank and two of another, such as two 3's and two
aces.
     THREE OF A KIND - Three cards of the same rank, such as three 2's.
     STRAIGHT -- Five cards of two or more suits, all in a sequence, such as
5 clubs, 6 diamonds, 7 spades, 8 hearts and 9 spades. These cards need not be
in sequence from left to right on the screen. An ace can be used to start or
end the sequence.
     FLUSH -- Five cards all of the same suit, such as the 7, 2, ace, 10 and
9 of hearts.
     FULL HOUSE -- Three cards of one rank and two of another, such as the
6 spades, 6 hearts, 6 diamonds, 10 diamonds, 10 spades.
     FOUR OF A KIND: Four cards all of the same rank, such as four 7's or
four aces. It doesn't matter what the fifth card is.
     STRAIGHT FLUSH -- Fulfills both the rule for a straight and for a flush.
The five cards must be in numerical sequence, and they must all be of the
same suit, as in the 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of hearts. Again, an ace can lead off
a straight flush, as in the ace, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of spades. Again, "sequence"
does not mean left to right on the screen.
     ROYAL FLUSH -- The 10, jack, queen, king and ace of the same suit,
whether hearts, diamonds, clubs or spades. On-screen sequence is immaterial.

A CONSIDERED OPINION
     No one let me peek into the program of a Reno poker machine, so I can't
claim my version exactly simulates such a gambling device. In fact, after
comparing the program to what I experienced in Reno, I am certain the Reno
machines are "gaffed." That's old-time carnival lingo for a device that
prevents the suckers from winning a prize.
     I don't mean the casino machines are illegal. Casinos have the right to
limit the payoffs on their machines to whatever the customer accepts.
     What I am saying is that the randomly selected deal on the Amiga
produces far more winning combinations that any of the machines I played in
Reno. So I strongly suspect the casino machines are programmed to be far less
generous than a truly random deal of a deck of cards would be.
     I don't know how this gaffing would be achieved. It would be fairly
simple, for example, to store the number of specific types of wins, then to
withhold a needed card until the total number of bets provided a required
profit before yielding such a hand. There are other ways to limit payoffs
statistically. None could be considered cheating. As example, an electronic
deck could be programmed so that one card required for each of the four royal
flush combinations is dealt in the first third of the ceck, the others in the
final third.
     My game offers a fair deal -- a random selection from a full deck.
I decided to go most of the way through a deck of cards. However, if at the
start of a hand the remaining deck contains fewer than 10 cards -- the total
that could be requested in the hand -- the final few cards are not used, and
the full deck is recalled. This seems fair enough.

WHAT NEXT?
     No promises, but I think I might go back to Reno and try to figure out
the symbol wheels on a slot machine. I'd really like to simulate one of those
machines that pays multiple lines, diagonals and the like. I'd like to see
those symbols spin naturally.
     I guess I might have to go back to Reno, as much as I dread the
prospect.

     (ADDENDUM -- Yes, I did write that SLOT MACHINE game. It's on the
November 1992 issue of JUMPDISK.)

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