Blackjack Game and Basic Strategy Calculator

by Eric Farmer
Download Blackjack Game and Basic Strategy Calculator files (Version 5.0)
Download Blackjack Game and Basic Strategy Calculator files (Version 4.1)
Download Blackjack Game and Basic Strategy Calculator files (original version)
Blackjack Game and Basic Strategy Calculator
Version 5.0
Copyright (C) 1999, 2001, 2002 Eric Farmer (erfarmer@comcast.net)

Original card images by Oliver Xymoron
Blackjack game written using the Allegro Game Programming Library

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*** License ***

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA

    Original card images have been modified as follows:

    1. Converted to 16-color Windows bitmap format
    2. Transparent color mask changed to Allegro default

    Source code for the card images may be obtained at:
    http://www.waste.org/~oxymoron/cards/

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*** Requirements ***

    The Blackjack game and the Basic Strategy Calculator require Windows
    95, 98, NT, 2000 or XP.

    The Blackjack game also requires:

    1. VGA driver with 800x600x256 resolution support
    2. The DirectX run-time libraries, which can be downloaded free at:
       http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/downloads/default.asp

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*** Introduction ***

The Blackjack Game and the Basic Strategy Calculator are only two
examples of the use of a library of C++ classes that compute
probabilities and expected values in blackjack, based on exact
probabilistic analysis (see the source files Blackjack.h and
Blackjack.cpp for more details).  This library is stand-alone, and can
be included in your own programs to be used as you wish.

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*** Documentation ***

    *** Blackjack ***

In Blackjack, you can play any of various styles of casino blackjack,
with a number of decks and rule variations of your choosing.  As you
play, exact probabilities of outcomes of the dealer's hand and exact
expected values for your hand(s) are displayed.

When you run Blackjack, you must first select the file containing the
rule variations for the casino you want.  Files for several casinos have
been included in the distribution.  These files are in text format; you
can modify these or create your own.  Comments are included in each file
to explain how the casino variations are specified.

Once basic strategy for the selected casino has been computed, you are
ready to begin playing.  Press the F1 key at any time to toggle the help
display of each key's function, or press Esc at any time to quit.

To play a hand, use the up and down arrows to set your initial wager.
The table limit is $500.  Your current balance is displayed in the lower
right corner.  This is essentially the "money in your pocket;" it
decreases as you increase your wager, and vice versa.  Press Enter to
deal the hand.

The numbers to the right of the dealer's hand are the exact
probabilities (0 = impossible, 1 = certain) of each possible outcome of
the dealer's hand.  These probabilities take into account all cards
dealt from the shoe.  (Tip: insurance is a good bet only when the
probability of dealer blackjack is greater than 0.333333333.)

The numbers to the right of your hand are the exact expected values (in
percent of initial bet) of each available option.  These values take
into account all cards in your current hand and the dealer's up card.
For example, suppose the number displayed for standing is -12.345.  This
means that if you played out the current situation many, many times,
standing each time, with a $1 initial wager, then on average you would
lose 12.345 cents.

Note that if you select an option other than the one which maximizes the
expected value of the hand, the suggested option is displayed below your
hand, and you are given another chance to select the correct option.

Once all hands have been settled, your new balance is displayed in the
lower right corner.  Press Enter to clear the table and play another
hand.  The shoe, displayed in the upper right corner, will be
automatically reshuffled when the "new shoe" card (indicated by the red
line) has been reached.

    *** Basic Strategy Calculator ***

Press Ctrl-C at any time to quit.

When you run the Basic Strategy Calculator, you must first enter the
casino rule variations, similar to those specified in the data files for
the Blackjack game (see above).

Once basic strategy for the selected rule variations has been computed,
enter the name of a file in which to save the basic strategy table.
This will be a text file, so a '.txt' extension is suggested.  (Tip: the
basic strategy table prints nicely on three pages when opened in
Word 97.)

In addition to the table of basic strategy for all possible two-card
player hands and all possible dealer up cards, the saved file also
contains the expected values against each dealer up card (and overall),
as well as the probabilities of each possible outcome of the dealer's
hand.

You may then enter individual hands to display the corresponding expected
values.  Enter the dealer's up card, the number of cards in your hand,
and the values of those cards.  For example, suppose you have a 10, 4,
and 2 against a dealer's 7:

Enter dealer up card and player hand (Ctrl-C to exit): 7 3 10 4 2

where:
    7 is the dealer' up card,
    3 is the number of cards in the player's hand,
    10 is the player's first card,
    4 is the player's second card,
    2 is the player's third card.

Note that all tens and face cards are to be entered as 10, and all aces
are to be entered as 1, not 11.

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*** List Of Files ***

    The Blackjack4 package consists of the following files:

    Blackjack.exe  Executable for Blackjack game
    Strategy.exe   Executable for Basic Strategy Calculator
    Readme.txt     This file
    gpl.txt        GNU General Public License
    Casinos\       4 casino data files
    Images\        55 card and table bitmaps
    Source\        5 C++ source files for both programs

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*** Revision History ***

5.0  The algorithm for computing expected values for pair splitting has
     been completely reworked.  The specification of resplitting rules
     is more general, allowing a different maximum number of split hands
     for each pair (including no splits).  Expected values are exact
     when resplitting is not allowed.  All "private" data is now
     protected.

4.2  A bug in the algorithm for splitting expected values has been fixed.
     The hand data in BJDealer is now protected instead of private, and a
     bug in the game's help screen display has been fixed.

4.1  Expected values may now be computed using a sub-optimal playing
     strategy (e.g., "mimic the dealer").  The playing strategy, as well
     as rule variations and a progress indicator callback, are now
     specified as objects, allowing easier extensibility.  The player
     hand and expected value data in BJPlayer is now protected instead of
     private, and the class and method naming convention has been changed
     in anticipation of a possible port to Java.

4.0  The engine now accepts an arbitrary distribution of cards in the
     shoe, rather than an integral number of decks.  The engine classes
     are now const-correct, eliminating problems with compilers not
     supporting some standard extensions.  Also, the game now displays
     the help screen on startup.

3.1  Additional functions have been added to the engine for computing
     overall expected values; this additional information is included in
     the printable strategy table.  Also, the game now indicates when an
     incorrect play has been selected, giving you the opportunity to
     select the correct play.

3.0  The computational engine has been separated from the user interface.
     In addition to the text strategy calculator, a graphics blackjack
     game now allows you to play blackjack while displaying dealer
     probabilities and player expected values, using the same
     computational engine.

2.0  A completely new computational engine now computes exact
     probabilities and expected values for a given number of decks and
     rule variations.  The text interface now creates a printable table
     of basic strategy for all two-card player hands, as well as expected
     values for any individual player hand and dealer up card.

1.0  This first version uses an infinite deck approximation; i.e., the
     probability distribution of card values is not affected by removing
     cards from the shoe.  A text user interface creates a table of
     total-dependent basic strategy and dealer probabilities.