WELCOME TO BLACKJACK Blackjack Plus Copyright (C) 1996 Ronald L. Mueller All Rights Reserved Blackjack is a Shareware program for Windows that calculates real time probabilites and also simulates the card game head to head with the dealer. The program calculates all probabilities of the game of blackjack, depending on various casino rules and what cards have been played. The probabilites of Standing, Drawing, Doubling Down and Splitting are calculated continuously as the cards are dealt. The basic probablity tables can be calculated for any variation of the game. The dealers probabilities of reaching 17 throught 21 or busting are calculated. All these probabilities are calculated as the player takes on the dealer with a graphical user interface that is like a real casino. Take it out for a test drive free; if you like it register; if you don't like it, please delete it. Thanks for trying blackjack. The blackjack program is a copyrighted Shareware program, and if you find it useful it should be registered with the author at the cost of $39.00. When the program is registered, you will receive the latest registered version, all future updates, fixes, and full product support. BASIC RULES OF BLACKJACK The object of the game is to obtain a total that is greater than that of the dealer without going over a total of 21. Aces have a value of either 1 or 11; face cards (Jack, Queen and King) have a value of 10, and the value of the other cards is their face value. The player and the dealer are each dealt two initial cards. One of the dealers card is dealt face up and the player uses this information and his/her cards to determine playing strategy. If the first two cards dealt either to the dealer or the player consist of an ace and a 10 value card, it is a blackjack. Players with blackjack get paid 3 to 2 in most casinos. If the dealer and player have the same final total, it is a "push" and no money is lost or won. The player may either "draw" additional cards, "stand" on his/her present count, or under certain conditions "double" down or "split" pairs. When all the players have drawn their cards, the dealer turns up his/her hole card, and draws cards until the total is 17 or greater. If one of the dealers cards is an ace, and counting it as 11 would bring his/her total to 17 or more (a "soft" count), he/she must stand. In some casinos the dealer hits a soft 17 and stands on a soft 18 or more. Splitting: If the players initial two cards are numerically equal, they may be "split" into two seperate hands, at the cost of an additional bet equal to the original bet. The split hands are then played seperately as individual hands. In the case of split aces most casino rules allow only one additional card on each ace. Also if split aces receive a 10 count as the second card, it is not a blackjack; it counts as an ordinary 21. Doubling Down: A player may elect to "double down" on his/her hand by doubling his/her bet; double down hands receive only one additional card. Some casinos allow doubling down on any first two cards; some only allow doubling on a count of 10 or 11; some allow 9, 10 or 11; a few allow doubling on any count, anytime. Insurance: If the dealers up card is an ace, a side bet of "insurance" is offered at half the original bet. If the dealer has a blackjack the side bet pays 2 to 1. If the dealer doesn't have blackjack the side bet is lost. Surrender: Some casinos will allow a player to drop out of the hand by "surrendering" one-half of their original bet. Players could, after looking at their first two cards and the dealer's up-card, "surrender" instead of continuing play. There are two variations, "late" and "early." The "late surrender" permits the player to throw in his/her hand after it has been determined that the dealer doesn't have a blackjack. "Early surrender" permits the player to surrender his/her hand before the dealer checks his/her hand for a blackjack. Early surrender has been discontinued in almost every casino in the world. CASINO OPTIONS The Casino options allow the player to select the rules of any casino, then all probabilities and card play are based on these selections. To change the options, use your mouse to click on the radio (option) buttons of your choice. The player can change the number decks, the dealers rules such as hitting a soft 17, peeking at his/her hole card, etc.. After selecting the casino rules, the blackjack simulator software will use this information to calculate all the probabilities - from the basic probability tables, to the correct playing strategy and the expectancy of the hand. Once you select these options, the blackjack simulation software will follow these rules, and cards will be dealt accordingly. Play Blackjack Command: Click on the "Play Blackjack" command when you want to go the Blackjack simulation program. What if? Command: Click on the "What if?" command to find out the correct strategy and probabilities with different combinations of card possibilities. For example: What if the player has a 9 and a 2 with the dealer showing an ace; should you draw or double down? Calc. Basic Prob. Command: Click on this command to "calculate the basic probability" tables for the selected casino options. These calculations takes some time (45 seconds for 60 Mhz Pentium), so be patient. The tables will be displayed showing the correct basic strategy for drawing, doubling, splitting, hard totals, soft totals, etc.. The tables are saved to disk for future reference and can also be printed from the "Basic Probability Tables" window. Number of Decks: The number of decks may be from one to eight. This number affects the calculated probabilities of the player and dealer. Dealer Peeks: If the dealer "Peeks under Aces and 10's", then all dealer blackjacks are settled immediately and the player gets no more cards. If the dealer doesn't have blackjack, the probabilities will reflect that and play continues. If the dealer "Peeks under Aces Only", then if the dealers up card is an ace and she has a blackjack, bets are settled immediately. If the dealer shows a 10 count, play continues as usual with the possiblity that she could have a blackjack. If the dealer "doesn't peek" under aces or 10 counts, play continues with the possibility of a dealer blackjack. The player can split, double down, hit or possibly bust. All bets and cards are left on the table until it is determined if the dealer has blackjack; if he/she does, only the amount of the original bet is lost. Double Down On: "Any First Two Cards" - Player may double down with any hard or soft 2 card total. If double down after splitting is permitted, then and 2 cards can be doubled after a split. "First 2 Cards Total of 9-10-11" - A player may double down on his first two cards only if the total is 9, 10, or 11. "First 2 Cards Total 10-11" - A player may double down on his first two cards only if the total is 10 or 11. "Any No. of Cards, Any Total" - A player may double down on any number of cards, or with any hard or soft total dealt to his hand at any time. Splitting: "Splitting Aces" - Most casinos allow split aces to receive only one additional card. Some casinos will allow split aces to receive any number of hits. "Doubling Down after Splitting" - Some casinos allow doubling down on a split pair. All the house rules on doubling would be in effect. Insurance: Most casinos offer the side bet of insurance when the dealers up-card is an ace. If the dealer has a blackjack, insurance pays 2 to 1. Blackjack: When the player has 21 on first two cards, most casinos pay off at 3 to 2. But there are a few that just pay it off like a regular bet. Surrender: Only "late Surrender" or "no surrender" is offered with the blackjack simulation software program. HOW TO PLAY BLACKJACK The initial Blackjack window shows a table with a deck of cards spread out, with dealer chips in the upper left corner and player chips in the lower right corner. Command buttons such as "Drawing or Standing" are displayed lower center on the screen. Start by clicking on the "Shuffle" command button. The cards will be shuffled randomly into the dealers deck. To make a bet, click on any of the player chips. The chip will automatically go to the betting area of the table, and the cards will be dealt. The player then makes a decision to draw, stand, double down, etc., by clicking on a command button. Strategy/Advantage: The Strategy/Advantage box is displayed in the upper right corner of the screen. The best strategy for "Splitting", "Standing", "Drawing", or "Doubling" is highlighted in green. The players "advantage" is the numerical value displayed in the strategy box. The player expects to win, on the average, the unit bet times the advantage. The probabilities are calculated each time a hand or a card is dealt, using the remaining cards in the deck. The Strategy/Advantage box shows the best strategy to use as the play progresses and will vary from the basic strategy tables. Running and True Count: Card counting is a method of gathering information about the deck, that can be used in decision making and varying the size of the bet. Blackjack uses the easiest, most popular, and efficient "High-Low" system. High-Low is based on a players favorable deck, rich in aces and 10 value cards, versus a dealer favorable deck, rich in small cards, 2 through 6's. Face cards, 10's, and aces are counted as a minus one (-1); cards 2 through 6 are counted as a plus 1 (+1); while cards 7, 8, and 9 are counted as zero (0). A "running count" of the cards is kept as they are played. A more meaningful count, especially for multiple deck games, is the "true count." The true count is calculated by dividing the running count by the number of decks, or fraction of decks, yet to be played. The higher a plus count becomes, the more favorable the deck is toward the player; the more negative, the less favorable the deck. The higher the plus count, the higher the bet should be; the more negative, the smaller the bet should be. The player will be more inclined to stand, double down and split on plus counts, because of the richness of 10's left in the deck. In minus counts, the player will hit more, while doubling and splitting less. Insurance: When the dealers up card is an ace, an insurance window will open in the left center of the screen. To take insurance click on the "yes" option button. Insurance is a good bet only when more than one-third of the remaining deck consist of 10 value cards. As a general rule, take insurance when the true count is plus three (+3) or greater. WHAT IF? The "What If?" window lets the player select the dealers show card, and the two cards that the player will receive, then the program calculates the probabilites and correct strategy for the situation. These probabilities are based on the cards selected and the casino rules that were selected in the "Casino Options" window. Selecting Cards: Click on the option buttons for "Dealer Shows", "Your First Card", and "Your Second Card"; then click on the "Probabilities" command button to calculate probabilities and strategy. Probabilities Command: Click on this command to calculate the probabilities, strategies and advantage. Probabilities are calculated based on the casino options, selected in the "Casino Options" window, and with dealer show card, and players two cards removed from the deck. Strategy/Advantage: The best strategy for "Splitting", "Standing", "Drawing", or "Doubling" is highlighted in green. The players "advantage" is the numerical value displayed in the strategy box. The player expects to win, on the average, the unit bet times the advantage. For example, if the players bet is $1 and the advantage of Drawing is .500, he/she expects to gain $.50 on the $1 bet. If the advantage of Doubling Down is .560, the player can expect to gain $.56 on the $2 bet ($1 initial bet, plus $1 to Double Down). The player should double down. The probability of drawing is based on multiple possible draws with the player using the correct strategy decisions as based in the basic strategy tables. Some times the players advantage is negative, i.e., the player expects to lose money; in these cases, the correct strategy is to minimize the possible loss. If the best strategy has an advantage of less then -.500, the player should Surrender if the casino rules permit. Probabilities of the Dealer: These are the probabilities of the dealer getting a total count of 17 through 21, and busting. The probabilities are based on the casino options and the players 2 cards plus the dealers up card missing from the deck. The probabilities will be different, depending on the casino options such as, the number of decks, if the dealer hits a soft 17, and if the dealer peeks under aces or tens to check for blackjack.