Copyright: Copyright ® Androcles 1995


Contents

Objective

Bidding

Play

Scoring

Menu

Shareware

Disclaimer

Solo is supplied as is.  The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation,the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose.The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of Solo.


Menu

Game:
    Shuffle:

A shuffle occurs when the game begins, and thereafter will only occur if selected from the menu. It is up to you if you want to shuffle.
    Cut:

Check this to cut the cards before every deal. Do not use cut if you are trying to set up each hand using Create Hand or Load Hand (see below).

    Deal:
Cards are dealt four cards to the left, three opposite, three to the right and three to the dealer, then three cards to the left, four opposite, three to the right and three to the dealer, then three cards to the left, three opposite, four to the right and three to the dealer, then three cards to the left, three opposite, three to the right and four to the dealer. This method of dealing has the effect of generating long suits in each hand, which is desirable for this game.Cards are arranged in the order Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades in each hand.
    Auto:
Sit back and watch the computer play your cards for you! (Clicking the left mouse button anywhere in the window will turn this off.) This is useful if you are certain you will make your bid, but dont be surprised if the program plays cards differently to you!
    Resign:
If you know you will lose and don't want to go all the way through the round, select resign.
    Deck:
Just try it.
    Quit:
Exits the program. Don't ever try this, it's bad for your fun!
Cheat:
    See All Hands:
Lets you peek at other hands. Only use this if you are learning the game, as you will not score anything.
    Create Hand:
Point to a card, click and hold the left mouse button, then, without releasing the button, move the cursor to another card and only then release the button. The two cards will be exchanged. The first set of cards will be dealt to the left of the dealer, the second set opposite and the third set to the right of the dealer. You can save this arrangement as a file with a '.dck' extension. Select deal when you are satisfied with your arrangement. Only use this if you are learning the game. If cut is turned on, you will not see the cards that you expect in each hand, but you will see them ordered.
    Load Hand:
        Loads the hand you created earlier.
    Save Hand:
        Saves the hand you just created. Useful if you want to repeat play to study it.
Speed:
        Fast:

Shortcuts the animation for those users with lower Mhz and shorter patience.

        Slow:

Full animation.

Other:

        Debts:

Displays the current scores.

        Sound:

Turns sound on or off.

Collecting the cards (information only):
Cards are picked up in the order that they are played, and then any remaining in the player's hand are collected. This causes the deck to remain ordered.


Objective

The objective of Solo Whist is to compete against three opponents, outbidding for and attempting to win one of 0 (zero), 5, 9 or 13 tricks.

The game is played using the standard 52-card pack, and each player is dealt thirteen cards, which are dealt four cards to the left, three opposite, three to the right and three to the dealer, then three cards to the left, four opposite, three to the right and three to the dealer, then three cards to the left, three opposite, four to the right and three to the dealer, then three cards to the left, three opposite, three to the right and four to the dealer. This method of dealing has the effect of generating long suits in each hand, which is desirable for this game.Cards are arranged in the order Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades in each hand. Each player holds his cards hidden from the view of the others. The player that successfully plays and wins the bid called wins the reward appropriate for the bid.


Scoring

Rewards:
Win five tricks                                     1 penny from each player
Win zero tricks -                                 2 pennies from each player
Win nine tricks -                                 3 pennies from each player
Win nine tricks using current trumps -  3 pennies from each player
Win no tricks with cards face up -        5 pennies from each player
Win all thirteen tricks -                       10 pennies from each player plus the kitty

Penalties:
Fail to win five tricks bid-                     1 penny to each player and 1 penny to the kitty
Fail to win zero tricks bid -                  2 pennies from each player and 2 pennies to the kitty
Fail to win nine tricks bid -                  3 pennies from each player and 3 pennies to the kitty
Fail to win no tricks, cards face up -    5 pennies from each player and 5 pennies to the kitty
Fail to win all thirteen tricks bid-         10 pennies from each player and 10 pennies to the kitty


Bidding
Bidding:

Each player bids (in turn, starting with left of the dealer)  for the number of tricks he will take, and the player with the highest scoring bid competes against the other three; who should coordinate their efforts to prevent the declarer from achieving the objective. Low bids are overcalled by higher bids, and only the highest bid is played.
Trumps:
Trumps rotate from Hearts through Clubs and Diamonds to Spades, as each dealer takes his turn. South always deals Hearts, West always deals Clubs, North always deals Diamonds and East always deals Spades.
When a player has bid to take zero tricks, there are no trumps for the round.
When a player has bid to win nine tricks he automatically gets the lead, and the suit of the first card played is the trump suit.
Note: A bid of nine tricks using current trumps overcalls a bid of nine tricks with user declared trumps.

Program Note: The program will attempt to bid each hand according to its value. It doesnt always succeed!


Play
Play:

Solo

Lose All

Bundle

Royal

Open

Win All


Solo
Solo:
Trumps

Trumps are according to the dealer. North deals Clubs, East deals Spades, South deals Hearts and West deals Clubs.

Lead

Initially the lead is from the left of the dealer, and thereafter from the winner of the previous trick.

Objective

The objective is to win five tricks.

General

You must follow suit unless you have the lead. If you cannot follow suit, you must either trump in or discard. Play ends when the declarer has either won five tricks or is unable to do so. If you are the declarer, the other three players coordinate their efforts to prevent you from winning any tricks. If you are not the declarer, you should attempt to prevent the declarer from winning.

THERE IS NO ADVANTAGE IN TAKING TRICKS THAT YOUR ALLIES CAN WIN.


Lose_all
Lose All:
Trumps

There are no trumps.

Lead

Initially the lead is from the left of the dealer, and thereafter from the winner of the previous trick.

Objective

The objective is not to win any tricks.

General

You must follow suit unless you have the lead. Declarer must endeavour not to take a trick, and his opponents must attempt to force hime to do so. When bidding, beware of long suits without the deuce. When playing, try to discard high cards in short suits early in the round.


Bundle
Bundle:
Trumps

The lead starts with the declarer. If you are the declarer, it is up to you to lead, regardless of whoever dealt. Whatever card the declarer leads, trumps are of the suit of that card.

Lead

Initially the lead is from the declarer, and thereafter from the winner of the previous trick. The suit of the first card played is the trump suit.

Objective

The objective is to win nine tricks.

You must follow suit unless you have the lead. Play ends when the declarer has either won nine tricks or is unable to do so. If you are the declarer, the other three players coordinate their efforts to prevent you from winning any tricks. If you are not the declarer, you should attempt to prevent the declarer from winning.

THERE IS LITTLE ADVANTAGE IN TAKING TRICKS THAT YOUR ALLIES CAN WIN.


Royal
Royal:
Trumps

Trumps are according to the dealer. North deals Clubs, East deals Spades, South deals Hearts and West deals Clubs.

Lead

Initially the lead is from the left of the dealer, and thereafter from the winner of the previous trick.

Objective

The objective is to win nine tricks.

General

You must follow suit unless you have the lead. Play ends when the declarer has either won nine tricks or is unable to do so. If you are the declarer, the other three players coordinate their efforts to prevent you from winning any tricks. If you are not the declarer, you should attempt to prevent the declarer from winning.

THERE IS LITTLE ADVANTAGE IN TAKING TRICKS THAT YOUR ALLIES CAN WIN.


Open
Open (or Lose All, Face Up):
 Trumps

There are no trumps.

Lead

Initially the lead is from the left of the dealer, and thereafter from the winner of the previous trick.

Objective

The objective is not to win any tricks.

General

You must follow suit unless you have the lead. Declarer must endeavour not to take a trick, and his opponents must attempt to force hime to do so. When bidding, beware of long suits without the deuce, and try to discard high cards when playing. This is the same as Lose All, except that the declarer's cards are turned face up after the first round, and each of the other players can see them. The program will look at your cards if you call this bid.


All
 Win All:
 Trumps

There are no trumps.

Lead

Initially the lead is from the declarer, and thereafter from the winner of the previous trick.

Objective

The objective is to win all the tricks.

General

Declarer must win all thirteen tricks, without any trumps. Usually this call is made if you have all the cards in a suit or all the master cards.


Shareware

Solo is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to the user for evaluation.  Feel free to share it with your friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of another system.  The essence of "user-supported" software is to provide personal computer users with quality software without high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to continue to develop new products.  If you find this program useful and find that you are using Solo and continue to use Solo after a reasonable trial period, you must make a registration payment of $13.95 to

 Androcles

7215 Church Ave. 1R

Ben Avon

PA 15202

USA.

The $13.95 registration fee will license one copy for use on any one computer at any one time.

The money you send will help support the author while he writes the best Bridge game ever!

You are encouraged to pass a copy of Solo along to your friends for evaluation.  Please persuade them to register their copy if they find that they can use it.