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Amarillo Slim Dealer's Choice Program - Copyright (c) 1991 John Comeau - All Rights Reserved. All Other Rights - Copyright (c) 1991 - Villa Crespo Software All Rights Reserved. Introduction Amarillo Slim Dealer's Choice is a detailed simulation of a dealer's choice poker game. Program features include: o Bet limits, blind and ante amounts are user selectable. o Seven different games, with High, Low, High-low, and High-Spade versions of each - User selectable. o California (wheel), Kansas City or Six-Four methods of low hand evaluation - User selectable. o Three levels of competition - User selectable. o Variable playing speed - User selectable. o On-Line odds and statistics. o On-line help. o Scoreboard file to log big winners. o User interface allows fast and easy play with mouse or keyboard. Equipment The IBM PC version of Amarillo Slim Dealer's Choice requires an IBM PC/XT/AT/PSx or compatible with a minimum 512k of memory, and DOS version 2.0 or later. It can be run from floppy disk or hard disk. A mouse is optional, as is color graphics. Limited Warranty & Support Amarillo Slim Dealer's Choice is copyrighted. Duplication of this software or any package contents, other than for personal convenience, without the express written consent from Villa Crespo Software is prohibited by law. See accompanying registration card for warranty information. To receive free technical assistance you must have registered by sending the enclosed Registration Card. Telephone requests for assistance will not be honored unless you have registered. If you have trouble getting Dealer's Choice to run properly, please check this documentation first. If you can't find the solution to your problem, please contact us at the address/phone number below. Villa Crespo Software Technical Support Dept. 1725 McGovern Street Highland Park, IL 60035 (708) 433-0500 Your display adapter Dealer's Choice is compatible with all popular display adapters, including MDA, HGA, CGA, EGA, and VGA. It supports both color and monochrome monitors, in either text or graphics (EGA) mode. If the display looks OK when Dealer's Choice begins running you can skip the rest of this section. You can explicitly tell Dealer's Choice what kind of monitor you have by adding either the MONO or the COLOR switch to the command - 2 - line that starts Dealer's Choice. For example: A:POKER COLOR Starts Dealer's Choice and at the same time tells it that you have a color monitor. These and other switches are described later in this document in the section titled: Command line arguments. Using your Mouse Although not required, a mouse can be used with this program if you are using DOS 3.0 or later. The leftmost mouse button, like the keyboard's 'ENTER' key, selects (or changes) the item that is highlighted on the screen. The rightmost mouse button, like the keyboard's 'ESC' key, causes you to exit from a screen. Moving the mouse, like the keyboards arrow keys, causes the highlight on the screen to move in the same direction as the mouse. Note: To use a mouse you also need appropriate mouse driver software installed. If you routinely use your mouse with other software, then either you know how to install the mouse driver software or it's being installed automatically when you boot your system. If you are unsure if you have the right driver software installed: 1. Try the mouse and see what happens. It can't hurt anything and if it works, you're all set. 2. Ask your favorite computer dealer for help. User Interface The user interface of Dealer's Choice was designed to allow for fast and easy play. It works as follows: 1. The program shows a menu of choices. One of the choices is highlighted. 2. You move the highlight left/right/up/down with the arrow keys (or with the mouse) to the choice you desire. 3. You press the ENTER key (or left mouse button) to select the highlighted choice. When running Dealer's Choice pressing certain keys have a consistent predictable result. These keys are: ESC Pressing the key marked ESC, called 'the escape key' usually means, 'get me out of this screen'. ENTER Pressing the ENTER key (usually a tall dark colored key marked with an arrow pointing left) means 'select/change the highlighted item'. ARROWS Pressing the arrow keys on the right hand side of the keyboard means 'move the highlight over in the direction of the arrow'. - 3 - F2 In the Games and Rules screens pressing F2 means 'save the rules/games I'm looking at in a file'. If you are in the Games screen the games are saved in a file called 'GAMES.SAV'. If you are in the rules screen the rules are saved in a file called 'RULES.SAV'. F3 In the Games screen or in the rules screen, pressing F3 means 'set all the rules or games to the default values.' Default values mean the values as they were the very first time Dealer's Choice was run, not the default values saved later. Because changing the rules while a hand is in progress could affect the outcome of the hand, F3 will do nothing if a hand is in progress. F4 In the Games screen or the Rules screen, pressing F4 means 'restore the games or rules from the appropriate file.' If you are in the Games screen the GAMES.SAV file is read. The games it specifies become the new set of games allowed to be played. If you are in the Rules screen the 'RULES.SAV' file is read. The rules it contains will become the new rules for the game in progress. Because changing the rules while a hand is in progress could affect the outcome of the hand, F4 will do nothing if a hand is in progress. crtl-C Anytime a game is in progress pressing ctrl-C will cause the program to immediately clear the screen, save your game on disk, and exit to DOS. Choice menus: General Info Whenever it is your turn to do something - your turn to bet, for instance - the program will display a menu of choices in the bottom center of the screen. This is your Choice (or ACTION) menu box. One of the choices listed in the box is always highlighted. The highlighted choice is the one that will be selected when you press the ENTER key. If you prefer one of the other choices, you must move the highlight to that choice by using the arrow keys. Another way to move the highlight onto a new choice is to type in that choice's first letter. You will see the highlight jump immediately to the choice. When you have highlighted the correct choice, press the ENTER key to select it. If your system has a mouse, you can move the highlight from choice to choice by moving the mouse. You can select the highlighted choice by pressing the leftmost mouse button. The sections below describe the meaning of options that may appear in various choice menus. End of hand choices The following choices will appear in the choice menu that appears at the end of each hand. Deal Select this option and the program will begin dealing the next hand. If you have any money left, you will be dealt in. Otherwise the Computer players will play among themselves, unless you have extended CREDIT. Save Select this option to save a game that you want to - 4 - continue playing later. The rules, games, statistics, and money totals are stored in disk files, and the program will exit to DOS. The files created by saving a game will be created in the same directory where the POKER.EXE file resides. So, if you are running from floppy disk and want to save the game, your diskette must be write enabled and must have sufficient space avalaible. Quit Select this option when you are finished playing and don't want to continue at a later time. The program will display the scoreboard and exit. Reveal Select this to reveal the hole cards of ALL players who remained until the end of the hand. Traditionaly in poker, the only way to insure that you see the winning players hole cards is to stay in the pot until the end of the hand - to call every bet that's made. A player who wins a pot by virtue of being the only remaining player does not have to reveal hole cards. Likewise, in a high-low game with declare, a player who wins part of the pot by virtue of being the only player to declare high (or low) need not show hole cards. By default, this program respects this tradition by not revealing the cards of such players. By selecting the "Reveal" option you will cause the program to break with tradition and show you any hole cards that remained hidden. Watch If you select this option, the program will continue playing without you. When you want to rejoin the game you can do so by pressing any key on the keyboard. At the end of the next hand you will return to the end of hand choice menu. General choices The following choices are not unique to any particular choice menu - each appears on several of the programs choice menus. Ask Select this to get advice on betting or drawing from the tutor. Its advice will appear in a window at the top of the screen. After you have seen the advice, press any key and the advice goes away. Note: The tutor is a 'strong' computer player. But it has no special knowledge about the outcome of the game such as what cards will be dealt next or what cards your opponents hold. Though it gives mostly good advice, sometimes it is wrong. It always has an opinion and will be happy to tell you what it is. Other Select this item to enter the secondary choice menu. The secondary choice menu contains items for: o Seeing/changing the house rules o Seeing/changing what games are allowed o Seeing what rank of hand beats what o Seeing program revision information o Seeing information on players o Seeing the scoreboard Pressing ESC returns you from the secondary menu back to the - 5 - original choice menu. Bet choices The following choices are unique to the menu that is displayed when it is your turn to bet. Call When this item appears in a choice menu it means you owe money to the pot. If you select 'Call,' it means you want to pay the money you owe, but no more than that. Paying the money you owe buys you the privilege of continuing to play your hand, provided no raises from remaining players are subsequent to your 'Call.' Fold When this item appears in a choice menu, it means you owe money to the pot. If you select 'Fold' it means you do not want to pay what you owe. If you don't pay, you don't play. You're out of the game for the rest of the hand and cannot win any of the money in the pot. Check This item only appears in a choice menu when you don't owe any money to the pot. Selecting 'Check' means that you do not want bet any money. If a rule against check-raising is in effect and you check it also means that you can cannot raise the pot later in the betting round. You must either Call (match their bet) or Fold (pay nothing and wait for the next deal). Bet This item only appears in a choice menu when you don't owe any money to the pot. Select 'Bet' if you want to pay money into the pot (Bet). Whatever money you bet, your opponents will have to either pay that amount into the pot( Call), raise your bet (Raise), or drop out of the hand (Fold). Note: When this item appears in a choice menu it always appears twice. Use the top 'Bet' to make a maximum sized bet, Use the bottom 'Bet' to make a minimum sized bet. If the minimum and maximum limits are the same amount, it doesn't matter which 'Bet' you select. Raise When this item appears in the choice menu, it means that owe money to the pot. Select 'Raise' if you want to pay what you owe plus bet money over and above what you owe into the pot. Whenever you Raise, your opponents are forced to either pay an equal amount into the pot (Call), raise your raise (Raise), or drop out of the hand (Fold). Note: When this item appears in a choice menu it always appears twice. Use the top 'Raise' to make a maximum sized raise, Use the bottom 'Raise' to make a minimum sized raise. If the minimum and maximum bet limits are the same amount, it doesn't matter which 'Raise' you select. Param choices The following choices are unique to the secondary choice menu that appears whenever menu choice 'Param' is selected. Odds Select this to go to the Odds screen. The Odds screen contains helpful information about the current pot - 6 - odds and the odds of your hand being improved by the next card(s). Stats Select this to go to a series of statistics screens. On the first statistics screen you will see information on how often your opponents are staying in vs. dropping. Other statistics screens display information on what types of hands have appeared in the showdown, and what type of hand usually wins in the game you are playing. Games This choice puts you into the Games screen. In the games screen you can add games or remove games from the list players are allowed to call when it is their turn to deal. Player This choice puts you into the Players screen. In the Players screen you will see the names of all players currently in the game, classified by playing style. You also can highlight any players name and get more information about that player. Rules Puts you into the Rules screen. In the Rules screen you can examine/change the house rules in effect. If you enter the Rules screen while a hand is in progress you may not be able to change any rules that will affect the hand in progress. If you enter the Rules screen between hands, you can change practically every house rule. Hands Puts you into the Hands screen. The hands screen shows the standard ranking of hands in High poker. You can highlight any hand rank and get a short explanation of what combination of cards it consists of. Scores Puts you into the Scores screen. The Scores screen shows the scoreboard of all-time high scores including any high scores for the game in progress. Version Puts you into the title screen where you can see program revision information. It also has Villa Crespo Software's address and phone number in case you want to get in touch with us. Draw choices After the first betting round of Draw poker, all players, in turn, have the opportunity to draw cards. A player drawing cards can discard up to 3 cards. The player will be dealt new ones to replace them. When it is your turn to draw, the program displays an expanded choice menu - one that includes the display of the cards in your hand. You will notice that this choice menu is slightly different from most others in that a box is used instead of a highlight. You can move this box from choice to choice using the arrow keys or mouse. To select a card for drawing, move the box around it and press the ENTER key. You will see that card's color darken from its normal white. The dark color shows that that card is selected for drawing (replacement). A selected card can be deselected in the same manner: box it and press the ENTER key, the card will turn normal white again. When you have selected up to 3 cards to draw, move the box to the DRAW choice and select it with the ENTER key. The cards you selected to draw will disappear from your hand and replacements will be dealt to - 7 - you. The following choices are unique to the menu that is displayed when you are playing draw poker and it is your turn to draw cards: Draw When you Select 'Draw' it means that you want to draw replacements for the cards you have selected. True to common poker convention, you will not be allowed to draw more than 3 cards. Anytime more than 3 cards are selected for replacement, the selection of 'Draw' will have no effect. You will have to deselect one or more of your cards and then select 'Draw.' If no cards are selected when you select 'Draw' it means you don't want to replace any of your cards. Keeping all your cards is commonly called 'Standing pat.' Note: When a card is selected, its color darkens. The exact color of the darkened cards depends on your monitor. If you have color display then selected cards are yellow, brown or red. If you have a monochrome display, selected cards are black. Flip choices After each dealing round in Mexican Stud, all active players will have 2 hole cards. At this point everyone must simultaneously flip one of these two hole cards. When it is time for you to flip, a special expanded choice menu appears. In addition to the familiar choices, this expanded menu includes the on-screen display of the cards in your hand. You will notice that this menu is slightly different in another way: the selected choice is indicated by a box rather than a highlight. To flip a card move the box to the hole card you want to flip. Your hole cards are the leftmost 2 cards in your hand. When either of them is boxed, its color darkens from its normal white color. When the hole card you want to flip is boxed, press the ENTER key. The expanded choice menu will disappear and the card you selected will be revealed for all players to see. At this point you will get to see the identity of the cards the other active players flipped. The Main screen The Main screen displays a picture of the poker table. In the center of the Main screen is a dollar amount. This is the pot. All bets made by players during the game go into the pot. Positioned around the pot are all the player's hands. Near each hand is the player name and money total. Often, a description of the player's hand also appears. A description of the player's entire hand always appears at showdown. Before the showdown a description will appear only if a player's upcards show a pair or better. In low-only games a description of each players upcards will appear whenever there are at least three up-cards. In high/low games where the rules specify no declare round or when a player has declared for both ways, two hand descriptions can be displayed, one for high, and one for low (or spade). Your name, hand and money total are displayed in the center of the screen directly below the pot. Your hand is always displayed in full. Any description displayed will be that of your entire hand. Although your entire hand is displayed for you to see, your - 8 - opponents cannot see your hole cards until the showdown. In the bottom right hand side of the main screen is information on the hand in progress. Information such as who's dealing, and what game is being played. At the bottom left hand side the display will show the activity performed at the moment. At the end of the hand the name(s) of the winner is displayed here also. The Hands screen In the center of the hands screen is a list of the standard ranks possible for poker hands. The higher on the list a hand is the better it is. One of these hands is highlighted. A description of the highlighted hand always appears on the window at the bottom of the screen. To get a description of a different hand, use the arrow keys or mouse to move the highlight onto the name of the hand you want described. Press ESC to exit from the Hands screen. The following lists ranking of poker hands. Along with each is a description of that hand, and the standard procedure for breaking ties, in case two hands of the same rank face each other at the end of a hand. Ties most often occur in games with common upcards such as Hold'em. The list of hands is ordered from best to worst. Straight flush Five cards of the same suit and in sequence. For example: K-Q-J-10-9 all the same suit ('a Straight flush, king-high'). A Straight flush running from Ace down to the Ten is called a Royal Flush. In case of ties the highest sequence wins, so: 8-7-6-5-4 beats a 6-5-4-3-2. Four of a kind Four cards of the same rank. For example: 3-3-3-3-Q ('Four threes'). In case of ties the highest rank set of four cards wins. If both players have the same set of four, the player with the highest unpaired card wins. So: 7-7-7-7-6 beats 5-5-5-5-J 8-8-8-8-J beats 8-8-8-8-6 K-K-K-K-4 ties K-K-K-K-4 and pot is split Full house Three cards of the same rank, with a pair of some other rank. For example: 7-7-7-4-4 ('a Full house, sevens over fours'). In case of ties the player with the highest set of three wins. If the sets of three are the same, then the player with the highest pair wins. So: A-A-A-6-6 beats K-K-K-7-7 9-9-9-A-A beats 9-9-9-J-J 3-3-3-7-7 ties 3-3-3-7-7 and pot is split Flush Five cards of the same suit, but not in sequence. For example: K-10-5-3-2 all the same suit ('a Flush,king-high'). In case of ties the player with the highest card wins. If the highest cards are the same rank, the highest - 9 - second card wins. If still tied, the highest third,. If still tied, the highest forth card, and if necessary highest the fifth card. So: A-J-10-5-2 beats K-Q-10-6-3 A-Q-10-5-2 beats A-J-5-4-5 K-J-5-4-3 beats K-J-5-4-2 7-6-5-4-3 ties 7-6-5-4-3 and pot is split Straight Five cards in sequence, but not all of the same suit. For example: Q-J-10-9-8 ('a Straight, queen-high'). In case of ties the highest straight wins. So: K-Q-J-10-9 beats Q-J-10-9-8 Q-J-10-9-8 beats 7-6-5-4-3 J-10-9-8-7 ties J-10-9-8-7 and pot is split Three of a kind Three cards of the same rank. For example: 10-10-10-A-J ('Three tens' or 'trip tens'). In case of ties the player with the highest set of three wins. If the sets of three are the same, then the highest unpaired card wins. If still tied, then the highest final unpaired card wins. So: 7-7-7-Q-4 beats 5-5-5-A-7 8-8-8-K-3 beats 8-8-8-J-6 Q-Q-Q-K-7 beats Q-Q-Q-K-6 4-4-4-8-8 ties 4-4-4-8-8 and pot is split Two pairs Two cards of the same rank, with two cards of some other rank. For example: J-J-9-9-2 ('Two pairs, jacks over nines'). In case of ties, the player with the highest pair wins. If these pairs are the same the player whose other pair is highest wins. If these are also the same the player with the highest unpaired card wins. So: A-A-4-4-10 beats K-K-J-J-A K-K-7-7-9 beats K-K-7-7-4 A-A-7-7-Q beats A-A-7-7-8 9-9-7-7-A ties 9-9-7-7-A and pot is split One Pair Two cards of the same rank. For example: 8-8-J-5-2 ('a Pair of eights'). In case of ties, the player with the highest pair wins. If both pairs are same the player with the highest unpaired card wins. If still tied, the second highest unpaired card decides it, or if still tied, the third highest unpaired card. J-J-6-3-2 beats 8-8-6-5-4 8-8-J-6-4 beats 8-8-7-6-4 K-K-Q-8-4 beats K-K-Q-7-4 4-4-8-6-3 beats 4-4-8-6-2 9-9-K-J-4 ties 9-9-K-J-4 and pot is split Runt None of the above. No pairs, no sequence of 5 cards, no 5 cards of the same suit. For example: K-J-9-5-2 in different suits ('a Runt, king-high'). In case of ties the player with the highest card wins. If the highest - 10 - cards are the same rank, the highest second card wins. If still tied, the highest third. If still tied, the highest forth card, and if necessary highest the fifth card. So: A-J-10-5-2 beats K-Q-10-6-3 A-Q-10-5-2 beats A-J-5-4-5 K-J-5-4-3 beats K-J-5-4-2 8-6-5-3-2 ties 8-6-5-3-2 and pot is split The Scores screen The Scores screen contains a scoreboard listing the 10 best performances by human players in past games. Human players are eligible for the scoreboard after any game in which they have won money. The 'score' is calculated based on amount of money won, number of hands, and adjusted based on the ante, blind bet, and maximum bet size. If you change the ante, blind bet or maximum bet sizes during a session, the score is based on the sizes resulting in the lowest score. The Version/Title screen The Version screen tells you what version of this program you are running. There are no parameters to change on this screen. You exit the Version screen by pressing the ESC key. The Rules screen The Rules screen lists all the 'House rules' currently in effect. One of these rules in this screen is always highlighted. A more detailed explanation of the highlighted rule appears in the window at the bottom of the screen. To get a detailed explanation of any rule on this screen, move the highlight onto that rule using the arrow keys or the mouse. Its explanation will appear in the bottom window. Whenever you are in the rules screen you may change some of the rules. Some are not changeable during the play of a hand. Pressing ENTER changes the highlighted rule. Whenever a rule changes in response to the ENTER key, the explanation in the window may also change to reflect the new rule. Before the game begins, you can change any rule on this screen. After the game begins there are a few restrictions on changing rules. If you enter the rules screen while a hand is in progress, the program will only allow you to change the 'Speed', 'Sort' and 'Sound' rules. If you enter the rules screen between hands you can change all rules. Changing any rules will affect the game in progress. The new rule will go into effect on the very next hand. You can exit from the rules screen at any time by pressing the ESC key. The 'House rules' available are explained in the following sections. - 11 - Maximum bet This is the maximum amount that a player can bet at any time. Its value can be set from 1 to 100. Note: You cannot exit from the Rules screen while Maximum bet is less than Minimum bet. Minimum bet This is the smallest amount that a player may bet. Its value can be set from 1 to 100. In real-life poker games it is common to be able to bet any amount from the minimum to the maximum so long as it is an even multiple of the minimum. However, Dealer's Choice requires that all bets be either the maximum or the minimum - no bets in between. This is no great loss in limit poker because it is rare that a bet other than the minimum or maximum is a player's best choice. The maximum bet is often the best choice to build a pot you expect to win, or to drive other players out of a pot to improve your winning chances. The minimum bet is often the best choice when you desire to use up a raise in order to keep the price of reaching the showdown as low as possible. A bet between them is rarely the best choice, and when it is, it is only marginally effective. Antes and Blind bets ANTE In the absence of a blind bet, this is the amount each player must put into the pot before each hand is dealt. Values for the ante range from 0 (no ante) to 50. If a blind bet is selected, the blind bet is the ante and the value of this rule is moot. BLIND BETS This is the amount of the blind bet in Draw, Hold'em and Forty- four. Its value ranges from 0 to 100. If this value is 0, no blind bet is selected and the first person to speak in the first round has the freedom to make a bet or not. When this value is greater than 0 a blind bet of this value is required of the first person to speak in the first round of betting. As with any other bet, subsequent players must call or drop. Unlike any other bet, the player who makes the blind bet can raise themselves. The blind bet only applies to the very first betting round in the hand. If a blind bet is selected, it overrides any "jacks needed to open" requirement. The player to the left of the dealer must make the blind bet regardless of their hand value. Raise limit This is the maximum total number of raises that will be allowed in a betting round. The first bet in a round does not count against this limit. So, for example, if the maximum bet is $25 and this rule limits raises to 3 per round, the most a round of betting could cost is $100. Having a limit on the number of raises is standard practice in fixed limit poker. Without such a limit, two players, each convinced they had the best hand, could raise each other for round after round, causing half of the players to go broke on one hand. That is against the spirit of limit poker. A limit on the number of raises per round is important for another reason. In real-life poker, two players, cheating as a team, could raise round after round to break one or more honest players caught between them. - 12 - Check-raising This rule allows you to enable or prohibit the practice known as "Check- raising". When a player checks, then later in the same round raises the pot, it is called "Check-raising". Some people consider check-raising to be a less than polite practice. Others consider check raising to be just another tool in a well rounded arsenal of poker ploys and strategies. Check raising is usually permitted in casinos and public card-houses, and is the default status in this game. Draw open req The rule applies only to draw poker. It has two possible settings. One setting, "Pair of Jacks", means that a player must hold a pair of jacks or better in order to open (make the first bet on the first round of draw poker). The other setting, 'Anything', means that there is no opening requirement. A player can make the first bet on the first round regardless of what value hand is held. Note: If a blind bet is selected, it overides this rule. The player to the dealer's left must make the blind bet regardless of hand value. Initial Stake This determines the size of each player's bankroll at the start of a session. Use the ENTER key when this option is highlighted to select an amount between 500 to 3000. Extend Credit The game default ('No') is to drop players from the table if they run out of money. Please note that during a hand, a player is allowed to borrow temporarily, in order to complete the hand. By changing this rule to 'Yes' you will allow your opponents (and yourself) to borrow money (go negative) when necessary, to stay in the game. There are two interesting applications of this particular rule: 1) Forbid credit, and see how many hands it takes you to bust all other players from the table and become the big champ. 2) Extend credit, and save and resume your sessions to always have at hand how badly you have, over time, beaten your opponents (or how badly they have beaten you!). Low Evaluation This rule allows you to select which low evaluation method is to be used in the game. In commonly played poker there are 3 typical methods used to evaluate low hands. These are: California, Six- four and Kansas City. CALIFORNIA METHOD Using the California (or Wheel) method, unpaired aces are lower than deuces. Unlike either of the other 2 methods, straights and flushes are ignored. So, the best low hand is 5-4-3-2-A, regardless of suit. Because straights and flushes are ignored, it is easier for a player to win both the high and low halves of the pot in the same hand. SIX-FOUR METHOD - 13 - Using the Six-Four method, unpaired aces are lower than deuces, but straights and flushes are high. So, the best low hand is a non-flush 6-4-3-2-A. KANSAS CITY METHOD Using the Kansas City method Aces are high, as are straights and flushes. So, the best possible low hand is a non-flush 7-5-4-3-2. High-Low Declare rule This rule determines if there is a declare round where players must choose which direction, high or low, they are competing for. In some forms of high-low games, the cards speak for themselves. There is no declaring round after the last card is dealt. Everybody is eligible to win both high and low. In other forms of high-low games there's a declare round after the last card is dealt. In the declare round, players simultaneously disclose which direction, 'High' or 'Low', they are competing for. Players also have the option to declare for both ways, but any player who declares for both ways and loses either, loses both. The declare round may be followed by a final round of betting. After Declare rule If a High-low declare round is selected, this rule determines what happens immediately following the declare round. There are 2 choices: Showdown There is no betting round after the declare round. The declare round is immediately followed by the showdown. Bet round After the declare round and before the showdown there will be a final round of betting. Back-in win For Hi-low split games, this rule allows or disallows a player to take a share of the pot when their hand (hi or low declared) is second best to someone who declared both and lost one side of it, thus losing claim to any of it (see hi-low declare section). As an example: In Six-Four Hi-low declare cards at showdown declared result --------------------- -------- ------ Player A A-2-3-4-6 all spades BOTH loses Player B A-2-3-4-7 LOW loses Player C K-K-K-T-T full house HIGH wins pot In the above example, with the rule set to 'No', player B does not win half the pot, even though the player's hand is the next lowest hand after the 'Both' declarer is eliminated. If the rule had been 'Yes', player B would have taken half the pot. - 14 - Controls The 'Controls' screen allows you set up various environment options designed to make your session comfortable and to your liking. The options available for you to set up are explained in the following sections: Sound This option allows you to control whether the game will generate appropriate sound effects and to what degree. Use the 'ENTER' key to cycle through the allowed choices. Upcard sorting This rule determines how players upcards are displayed. Cards can be displayed in the order in which they are dealt, with the oldest card on the left and the most recently dealt card on the right. This is typically what happens during a real game. Often, the commonly used rules forbid players from rearranging their up cards in a sequence other than how they were dealt. The alternative is to display cards in sorted order. Displaying in sorted order makes it easier to see pairs and sequences. Sorted order means from left to right: pairs first in descending order, then single cards in descending order. These are the three possible settings of the 'Upcard sorting' rule: None All players upcards will be displayed in the order in which they were dealt. Mine only Your upcards will be displayed sorted highest to lowest. The upcards of computer players will be displayed in the order in which they were dealt. Everyones Upcards of all players will be displayed sorted highest to lowest. Play speed This allows you to select how fast the computer players will play while you are still in the game. The higher you set it for, the faster they will play. On the slowest setting, '1', players will take about 2 seconds for each bet decision. On the fastest setting, '10,' players will make their decisions in far less time, depending on the speed of your computer. Also note that on slower machines such as the original 4.7mhz PC the Strong players may take up to a second for each decision regardless of what the speed is set to. This Play Speed setting does not affect the quality of the computer players decisions. Alt Play speed This allows you to select how fast the computer players will play after you have dropped out of the game. The higher the number you set it for, the faster they will play. Game select Use this option to determine whether the game dealt when it is your turn to deal will be automatically chosen for you, or manually selected by you. In 'Automatic' mode, the program will select, at random, one of the allowed games chosen on the 'Game - 15 - select' screen. When 'Manual ' is chosen, the 'Game select' screen will be displayed. Using the cursor keys or mouse, choose any of the game types available, then press 'ENTER' to finalize your selection. In manual mode, you may select any game variation you desire, even one which was disallowed for computer players. The Games screen At the center of the Games screen is a table showing which games are allowed to be played. Games with entries of 'Yes' may be played, games with entries of 'No' may not be played. To modify entries, first move the highlight to the entry you want to change. You then press 'Y' or 'N' to change the entry to 'Yes' or 'N'. Alternatively, the ENTER key may be used to change entries. Pressing the enter key toggles the entry, that is it changes 'Yes' to 'No' and 'No' to 'Yes'. You also have the ability to change an entire row or column of entries as a group. You do this by moving the highlight onto the name of a game or variation. For instance to allow all forms of 7 card stud, you would highlight onto '7 card stud' and press 'Y'. All entries on the 7 card stud line will change to 'Yes' (except those already showing 'Yes' which will switch to 'No'). If you desire to disallow all low-only games, as an example, move the highlight onto 'Low only' and press the 'N' key. All entries under the column 'Low only' will change to 'No'. Another important feature of the Games screen is the text window on the bottom of the screen. Whenever the highlight is in the leftmost column or the topmost line, a brief description of the highlighted game or variation appears in the text window. To exit from the games screen press the ESC key. Dealer's Choice plays seven different forms of poker. Most are universally known and widely played classics. Mexican Stud and Forty-Four, are examples of the hundreds of lesser known forms popular in some circles. They can be much fun to play, and we included them in our game for your enjoyment. Each of the seven forms of Poker playable in Dealer's Choice is described in the sections below. Draw poker Draw poker is probably the game most people think about when they think of poker. In Draw poker 5 cards are dealt face down to each player. There is a betting round, then each player in turn has the choice to throw away from 0 to 3 cards, which the dealer replaces with the same number of cards. Following this is the 2nd betting round. A common practice in real-life games is to require that the player who opens the betting in the first betting round have a pair of jacks or better. One of the Dealer's Choice rules allows you to specify this requirement for your game, if you wish. Note: In Draw poker with 7 or more players it is possible to run out of cards during the draw round. If this happens the program will add to the deck all cards discarded by players, then reshuffle and continue the draw round. - 16 - 5 card stud Five Card stud is the classic original granddaddy of poker games. Although its popularity has declined in recent decades, it is still widely played. It begins with each player being dealt one card face down, and one face up. A betting round follows. Four more upcards are dealt, with the dealing of each card followed by a betting round. 6 card stud With an extra upcard, the 6 card stud game has interesting possibilities and problems unknown in 5 card stud. Because there is only a single hole card it retains much of the 'feeling' of 5 card stud. Not as popular as 5 card stud in the old days, not as popular as 7 card stud today, 6 card stud is none the less fairly widely played. In 6 card stud each player makes their best 5 card hand from their hole card and their 5 up cards. The dealing sequence is: 2 cards(one up and one down), an upcard, an upcard, an upcard, an upcard. There is a betting round after each event in the dealing sequence. 7 card stud Seven card stud is by far the popular and widely played game of the 'stud' group. Both the high-only version and the low-only version (often called 'Razz') of 7 card stud are very common in casinos and public card rooms. The high-low version is a staple of the modern Saturday-night private game. In overall popularity, no other game comes close to seven card stud, although Hold'em is quickly gaining ground. Because the final hands have 3 down-cards it is very different from 5 and 6 card stud. Very different indeed... In 7 card stud each player makes their best 5 card hand from their 3 hole cards and their 4 up cards. The dealing sequence is: 3 cards(two down and one up), an upcard, an upcard, an upcard, a downcard. There is a betting round after each event in the dealing sequence. Note: In an 8 player game, if all players stayed until the end 56 cards (7 cards times 8 players) would be required and a standard deck has only 52 cards. If, when it is time to deal the seventh card to all players, there are not enough cards in the deck, then no one gets a seventh card. Instead, the showdown or (for High- Low the declare round) immediately follows. Mexican Stud Mexican Stud is a variation of six card stud. It is not played in casinos or other public card games and is strictly a 'dealer's choice' kind of game. It is played like six card stud, except all cards are dealt face down. However between each deal round and betting round all players must simultaneously flip one of their two down-cards cards face up. Thus players can choose their own hole cards, which opens up many interesting opportunities for strategy and bluffing. Hold'em Hold'em is a relatively new game, but in a short time it has become very popular. It is the game played in Slim's annual - 17 - 'Superbowl of Poker'in Nevada and in the annual 'World Series of Poker'. In Hold-em each player makes their best 5 card hand from their own 2 cards face-down and 5 common cards all players can use. The dealing sequence is: 2 downcards to each player, 3 common upcards (called the 'flop'), 1 common upcard, 1 common upcard. There is a betting round after each event in the dealing sequence. Forty Four Forty-Four is another 'dealer's choice' kind of game. Not played in casinos or public card houses, it is another example of the unending variety of poker forms common in private games. In Forty-four each player makes their best 5 card hand from their own 4 down cards plus the 4 common cards all players can use. The dealing sequence is: 4 downcards, 1 common upcard, 1 common upcard, 1 common upcard, 1 common upcard. There is a betting round after each event in the dealing sequence. Variations There are five possible variations of each game which may be played: o High-only o Low-only o High-low without declare round o High-low with declare round o High-spade These variations concern who gets the pot at the end of the hand. In three of these variations, the pot is usually split between two players. True to standard poker convention, in all these variations if only one player remains in the pot, all others having dropped out, the hand is over and the remaining player gets all the money in the pot. In this case the winning player does not have to reveal hole cards. Remember: In game variations where more than 5 cards are dealt for each player, only the best 5 cards in each player's hand can be evaluated to determine the winner. High-only This is the simplest variation. If more than one player reaches the showdown, all players reveal their hands. The player with the highest ranked hand gets all the money in the pot. If two or more players tie with the same rank high hand, all players with the winning high hand get an equal share of the pot. Any odd dollars that cannot be divided, will remain in the pot for the next hand. Low-only If more than one player reaches the showdown all players reveal their hands. The player with the lowest ranked hand gets all the money in the pot. If two or more players tie with the same rank low hand, all players with the winning low get an equal share of the pot. Any odd dollars that cannot be divided, will remain in the pot for the next hand. Low hands are ranked using whichever method was selected in the 'House rules' screen (California, Kansas City, or Six-Four). - 18 - High-low WITHOUT declare High-low 'without declare' is not a specific game chosen from the 'Game select' screen. To play this variation, you must activate 'no declare' in the 'House rules' screen. In this variation, if more than one player reaches the showdown, all players reveal their hands. The player with the highest ranked hand gets half the pot while the player with the lowest hand gets the other half. In case of ties all players tied with the winning high hand split half the pot, while all players with the tied winning low hand split the other half. For example the pot contains $1000 and the player's hands are as follows: Player A 7-6-5-4-A Player B 7-6-5-4-A Player C 7-6-5-4-3 (straight) Player D 7-6-5-4-2 Player E K-K-9-9-Q (two pairs) Player E would get half the pot ($500) because his straight wins high. Player A and B would split the other half ($500) and get $250 each because their hands tied for low. Players D and E would get nothing. Whenever a pot is split, there is a chance that the pot cannot be split evenly in whole dollar amounts. House rules here dictate that these odd dollars stay in the pot for the next hand. In some circumstances it is possible for the same player to have both the highest hand and the lowest hand. In that case the player is eligible for both high and low shares. High-low WITH declare It is a common practice in real life poker games to have a 'declare round' before the showdown in high-low games. The 'House rules' screen gives you the option of having a declare round. If the rules specify a declare round, it will occur at the point just before the showdown. All players declare simultaneously whether they are competing for high, low or for both ways. A player who declares for high is ineligible to win low. Likewise, a player who declares for low is ineligible to win high. A player who declares for both ways is eligible to win both high and low. But if a player declaring both sides is beaten or tied in EITHER direction, that player automatically LOSES BOTH WAYS. If only 2 players are in for the declare, and one declares high, the other low, the hand is over. Each player gets half of the pot. No hole cards are revealed. As with any other variation, anytime all players except one have dropped out, the hand is over. The remaining player gets all the money in the pot and does not need to reveal his hole cards. An additional rule allows you to specify whether the declare round will be followed immediately by the showdown, or by an additional betting round. Whenever a pot is split, there is a chance that the pot cannot be split evenly in whole dollar amounts. House rules here dictate that these odd dollars stay in the pot for the next hand. - 19 - High-Spade Because it's a 'High-spade' game, the player with the highest hand gets half of the pot while the player with the highest spade in the hole gets the other half. Although it is impossible for 2 players to tie with the same rank spade in the hole, ties are possible with the high hands. In cases of ties the pot is split in the same manner as in High-Low without declare. For example the pot contains $1000 and the player's hands are as follows: Hole Up ---- -------- Player A Ks Q-J-T-9 (straight) Player B As A-Q-J-3 Player C Kc Q-J-T-9 (straight) Player B would get half the pot ($500) because of the High spade. Players A and C would split the other half, getting $250 each. If none of the remaining players at showdown has a spade in the hole, the player with the highest hand wins the entire pot. There is never a declare round in High-spade games. The 'cards speak'. Whenever a pot is split, there is a chance that the pot cannot be split evenly in whole dollar amounts. House rules here dictate that these odd dollars stay in the pot for the next hand. As always, anytime only one player remains, all others having dropped out, the hand is over. The remaining player gets the pot and does not need to reveal hole cards. The Players screen In the center of the Players screen are the names of all players currently in the game. Players are listed in one of 4 columns depending on their playing strength. The Strong players constantly base their play on: the number of players in the game, their position, the odds offered by the pot, and their estimation of their opponents hand values and their own hand's chance of winning. The casual players are generally unaware of the pot odds and the various possible values of their opponents hands. They depend almost entirely on 'rules of thumb' such as: "In Seven card stud, Two pairs or more is a betting hand." "With a pair, or a possible straight, stay in for the draw." Average players lie somewhere between these two extremes. And of course Human players can be totally unpredictable. Using the arrow keys or mouse, choose as few as 1 and as many as 7 of the listed players to compete against you. Select a desired player by highlighting the name, then pressing ENTER to include or exclude it from the game. Included players will display a check mark by their names. There are five different computer players for each of the three playing styles: Casual, Average and Strong. There is one human player: You. - 20 - Casual Average Strong Human Rocky Tex Mohsin You Sarge Jake Greek Fingers Doc Bret Kid Vegas J. Alice Betty Annie Roscoe The following sections describe the general characteristics of each of these styles of players. Casual The casual players are generally unaware of the pot odds and the various possible values of their opponents hands. They depend almost entirely on 'rules of thumb' such as: "In Seven card stud, Two pairs is a betting hand." and "A nine low is worth staying but not raising with." Strong The Strong players constantly base their play on their position, the number of players in the game, the odds offered by the pot, and their estimation of their opponents hand values and their own hands chance of winning. It can be expensive to have strong players in the game - But beating them can be very satisfying. Average Average players fall between the extremes of casual and strong. They have some awareness of the pot odds vs their chance of winning, and they use this information to a certain degree. Human This is You for instance. Different human players can be quite different in skill and style, so I can't give you much any general information here. Some of them are more cunning, resourceful and inspired than the computer players when it comes to adjusting their play to take advantage of their opponents, and bluffing. The Statistics screens There are 7 statistics screens which may be chosen from the Statistics selection menu. When viewing a statistics screen press ESC to exit from it. You may then return to the original choice menu. The first statistics screen shows what percentage of the time each player has been in the game after the first betting round, and at the showdown. It may be interesting to compare your figures with those of players of different skill levels. The most common mistake of inexperienced poker players is to stay in the pot too often. It can also be a mistake to drop out too often, but inexperienced players rarely make this mistake. The second, third and fourth statistic screens show the - 21 - number of times various categories of hands have won high, low, and spade in the type of game you are currently playing. The categories on the second screen (for high) are: Runt(less than a pair) Pair of Twos, Threes, Fours or Fives Pair of Sixes Sevens, Eights, Nines or Tens Pair of Jacks, Queens, Kings, or Aces 2 pair smaller then jacks over twos 2 pair equal to or higher than jacks over twos 3 of a kind Straight Flush Full House (or better) The categories on the third screen (for low) are: 2 Pair or more a Pair a King-low a Queen-low a Jack-low a Ten-low a Nine-low an Eight-low a Seven-low a Six-low The categories on the fourth screen (for spade) are: Two or Three of spades Four or Five of spades Six or Seven of spades Eight of spades Nine of spades Ten of spades Jack of spades Queen of spades King of spades Ace of spades For each category, three statistics are listed. They are: 1. The number of times the particular hand has won when it has appeared in the showdown. 2. The number of times the particular hand has appeared in the showdown. 3. The percent of the time the particular hand has won when it appeared in the showdown. The three columns to the left show these statistics for the current session only. The three columns to the right show these statistics for all sessions including the current one. The rightmost column has the number of times the hand has appeared in a showdown. The middle column has the number of times the hand has won. The leftmost column gives the winning percentage. You can use these figures as a guide to your own play. The number of players in the game has a large effect on these stats. The more players in the game, the better a hand it takes to win. The stats given are only for games of the specified size. The stats will, however, be fairly consistent regardless of strength of the players in the game. - 22 - The Odds Screen The Odds screen contains helpful information such as the odds now being offered by the pot and the odds of improving your hand. At the top of the odds screen are 2 lines that tell you what the computer's estimation of the pot odds are. The first of these lines tells the simple pot odds. Simple pot odds are how much is in the pot versus how much you owe. So if there were $75 in the pot and you owed $25, there is three times as much money in the pot as you owe, therefore the simple pot odds would be 3 to 1. In High-low and High-Spade games where the pot will be split, the odds reported are halved also. Thus in a high low game where the pot contains $75 and you owe $25 the odds reported would be 1.5 to 1. In cases where you owe no money simple pot odds cannot be calculated; They are infinite. The second line lists the estimated odds to reach showdown. This is how much money is estimated will be in the pot at the showdown versus how much estimated money you will have to pay to reach the showdown. This form of pot odds is more subjective, since neither of the numbers used to calculate it is known for sure. But this form of odds is often a more realistic calculation to use in guiding your play. As with simple pot odds, if the pot will be split, the odds reported are halved. When there are cards to come, for all games except for Low-only the Odds screen will contain a table of possible improvements for your high hand. These are the hands you can improve to when the next card(s) is dealt. The table shown lists hand values along with the odds against improving to that hand value, and the odds against improving to at least that hand value, which is calculated by adding all the odds for achieving hands above it. When there are cards to come, the odds screen will tell you what is the best final hand possible for you when all the cards are dealt. The game determines this by removing from possibility any cards which are open and visible to all players on the table. If you are playing a split pot game, then a best possible hand is given for each direction. Also shown is an estimate of the odds against a hand of the type you hold winning in a showdown. These odds are calculated for a typical game. They do not take into account the values of the up-cards showing or the strength of the betting in the current hand. Command line arguments When starting Dealer's Choice you can follow the program name with one or more optional command line arguments (switches). There are several recognized arguments, which give you control over such things as display and monitor type and display colors. Normally, the program will automatically recognize which type of display your computer uses. Your intervention will not be required. Should you find it necessary to force a particular mode, legal switches for the command line are described immediately below. Those switches that represent the default start-up values are marked with an asterisk(*). COLOR Color monitor attached to display. - 23 - MONO Monochrome monitor attached to display. You can use this switch to force a monochrome presentation even if you do have a color monitor. TEXT Force Dealer's Choice to ignore the EGA/VGA graphics capability of your system - display will be in 80x25 character text mode. LAPTOP In some laptops, the presence or absence of a graphics card and the type of display (LCD, backlit, etc.) may affect the quality of the game display. If you are having difficulty playing on your laptop, try this switch to see if it improves the screen readability. BLUE * Blue display background. One of two optional background colors for color displays. The two options are provided because personal color preferences vary from person to person and because no two monitors are exactly alike. GREEN You may prefer the Green background. HELP Display a brief summary of all legal command line switches. If there are conflicting switches, for instance MONO and COLOR, appearing on the same command line, it is switch closest to the end of the command line that takes precedence. Whenever Dealer's Choice is started it also looks in the current directory for a file named "POKER.CLI". You can create an ASCII file named "POKER.CLI" with any text editor. Any switches that appear on the first line of "POKER.CLI" will be recognized by the program just as if they were typed in on the command line. In the case of conflicting switches in the "POKER.CLI" file combine with those which may appear on the command line, it is the command line switch that takes precedence. Odds This section is a primer on odds, how to calculate them, and how to use them for better play. Pot Odds are a ratio of reward to risk: What can I gain/how much must I risk to gain it. For instance: it is your turn to speak, the pot contains $75 and you owe $25. Your potential gain ($75) is three times your potential risk ($25). In such a case it is commonly said that 'The pot is offering you 3 to 1 odds'. In general, the higher the odds offered by the pot are, the better it is for you. High pot odds mean you are risking a relatively small amount for the chance of winning a large amount. Improvement Odds are a measurement of how likely future cards are to improve a hand. Like all odds they are a ratio, a ratio of cards that don't improve your hand to cards that do. For example, you are playing draw poker and are dealt 5 cards. You have no pairs, but 4 of the cards are spades. If you draw one - 24 - card, what are the odds against improvement to a flush? Your draw card could be any one of the 47 cards you haven't seen yet. Of these cards 9 are spades(you have 4 of the 13 leaving 9) and the other 38 cards are not spades. The cards that don't give you a flush are roughly four times as numerous as the cards that do, so it can be said that the odds against you getting your flush are 4 to 1 against. The lower the odds against improvement are, the better it is for you. Now let's combine the pot odds and improvement odds examples and test them out. If you played 47 hands, once for each card in the deck, and got a different card each time. Assume you paid $25 each time to get a chance to win the $75 already in the pot. That's 3 to 1 odds. Here's what happens: 9 times get flush win $75 9 * 75 = 675 gain 38 times miss flush lose $25 38 * 25 = 950 lose --------- Total = $275 (big loss) Suppose there had been $100 in the pot instead of $75. The pot odds would have been 4 to 1. We would expect this: 9 times get flush win $100 9 * 100 = 900 gain 38 times miss flush lose $25 38 * 25 = 950 lose --------- Total = $ 50 (tiny loss) Finally, suppose there had been $125 in the pot instead of $75. The pot odds would have been 5 to 1. We would expect this: 9 times get flush win $125 9 * 125 = 1125 gain 38 times miss flush lose $25 38 * 25 = 950 lose --------- Total = 275 (big gain) So what conclusions do we draw from this? If the pot odds are less than the odds against you winning, don't pay the money - it's a bad bet and If the pot odds are larger than the odds against you winning, pay the money - it's a good bet. If a good player knows he is beaten, he will not stay in unless the odds offered by the pot are greater than the odds against his improving enough to win. This odds discussion has been simplified. It ignores the fact that your flush could lose to a stronger hand. It ignores the money you might additionally gain by betting again when you make your flush. However these other factors are relatively minor adjustments to the formula and tend to average out. Computer players / Human players As good as computers are at what they do, they are no match for human beings (yet!) when it comes to creative use of psychology, bluff, counter bluff, and intuition. These can be large factors - 25 - in poker games, particularly when high stakes are involved. Another factor is your unintentional or unconscious behavior. Things like: The way you hold your breath as the final card that might give you a flush is dealt. The expression on your face when you make the flush. The way you gush with confidence as you make the big bet to bluff them out when you didn't make the flush. A human opponent can make use of such information, a computer cannot (yet!). So when you play against real-live human players be careful. But have fun! - 26 - - 27 - Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Limited Warranty & Support . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Your display adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Using your Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Choice menus: General Info . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 End of hand choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 General choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Bet choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Param choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Draw choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Flip choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 The Main screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 The Hands screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 The Scores screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 The Version/Title screen . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 The Rules screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Maximum bet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Minimum bet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Antes and Blind bets . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Raise limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Check-raising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Draw open req . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Initial Stake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Extend Credit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Low Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 High-Low Declare rule . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 After Declare rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Back-in win . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Upcard sorting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Play speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Alt Play speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Game select . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 The Games screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Draw poker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 5 card stud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 6 card stud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 7 card stud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Mexican Stud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Hold'em . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Forty Four . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Variations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 High-only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Low-only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 High-low WITHOUT declare . . . . . . . . . 19 High-low WITH declare . . . . . . . . . . 19 High-Spade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 The Players screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Casual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Strong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Human . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 i The Statistics screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 The Odds Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Command line arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Odds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Computer players / Human players . . . . . . . . 25 ii