# The &megami; Handbook

## Introduction

&megami; is a Blackjack game for &kde;. Any queries about &megami; should be sent to the author and maintainer, Neil Stevens neil@qualityassistant.com. Any queries about this documentation should be sent to the documentation maintainer, listed at the end of this document.

## How to Play &megami;

### Aim of the Game

The aim of &megami; is to win as much money as possible by getting a hand with a higher value than the dealer's, without the value of your hand exceeding 21.

To start a game of &megami;, select New from the Game menu. You are presented with a dialog box in which you can select how much cash each player starts with. Enter the amount you want, and then click OK.

### Playing a Hand

To start a round of &megami;, click on Deal, select an amount in the spin box and click Bet to bet that amount. That amount of money will be removed from your on-screen account, and each player will be dealt two cards. The value of the cards in each person's hand is shown below the cards.

The value of the cards is calculated by adding the values of the cards in the hand, with the values of cards as follows:

Number cards (2, 3, ... 10)

- Each number card has the same value as its number. So a 5 is worth 5 and so on.

Picture cards (Jack, Queen, King)

- Each picture card is worth 10.

Ace

- The Ace is a special card, which can be worth either 1 or 11. Its value is 11 unless this causes the total to become greater than 21, in which case its value is 1. To clarify, let's take an example:

  Consider a hand containing an Ace and a 5. If the Ace has value 11, the total value of the hand is 16, which is not greater than 21, so 11 is used as the value of the Ace. If another card is added, the value of the Ace can be changed. So, suppose a 9 is added to this hand. If the Ace were counted as 11, the total of the hand would be 25. Since this is greater than 21, the Ace is counted as 1 instead, and the hand has total value 15.

### Actions

When your hand has been dealt, you have two options: Take another card from the pack (Hit, or H by default) or keep the current hand (Stand or S by default). You can choose to Hit as many times as you wish, until your total is 21 or greater. If your total exceeds 21, your hand is Bust, and you cannot draw another card. When you do not wish to draw any more cards, click Stand.

If the total of the two cards you are dealt is 21 (&ie;, you have an Ace and a picture card), you have Megami, and you automatically Stand. With Megami, you cannot lose your money, but will either win or push (see below).

Once you have chosen to Stand, the other players take their turns, and the dealer plays.

### Dealer Play

The behaviour of the dealer follows a simple pattern: The dealer draws cards until his total is greater than 16, unless he has a soft 17, that is, a total of 17 in which one of the cards is an Ace counting as 11 (⪚ an Ace and a 6). If the card drawn when the dealer has a soft 17 takes the total above 21, the value of the Ace is changed to 1, and the total of the hand recalculated.

### Winning, Losing and Pushing

Once every player and the dealer have drawn all their cards, each player can either win, lose or push.

You win in the following situations:

- Your total is higher than the dealer's and you have not busted (gone over 21).

- You have not busted and the dealer has.

- You have Megami and the dealer does not.

In these cases, you receive double the amount of your bet back, unless you have Megami, in which case you get 2.5 times your money back. So, for example, if you have $100 and you bet $50 and win, you receive $100 and finish with a total of $150, or if you have Megami, you receive $125 and end up with $175.

You lose in the following situations:

- You have busted (even if the dealer has also busted).

- Neither you nor the dealer has busted, but you have a total lower than the dealer.

- The dealer has Megami and you do not.

In these cases, you receive no money.

You push when you have an equal total to the dealer. You receive your bet back, and so end up with the amount you started with. You also push if both you and the dealer have Megami.

## Menu Reference

### The Game Menu

Game New

- Starts a new game of &megami;, showing a dialog in which you can select the amount of money with which each player starts the game.

Game Deal

- Deals cards to the players. You do not see the cards until you bet.

Game Bet

- Bets the amount indicated in the money spinbox at the bottom of the &megami; window.

Game Hit

- Draw another card from the pack.

Game Stand

- Choose Stand when you do not wish to draw any more cards.

Game Quit

- Quits &megami;.

### The Settings Menu.

Settings Configure Shortcuts...

- Displays the &megami; Shortcut Configuration Dialog. Here you can change the keyboard shortcuts for almost every action in &megami; in the usual &kde; way.

Settings Configure Carddecks...

- Displays the standard &kde; Carddecks Configuration Dialog, where you can change the appearance of the cards.

Settings Configure Megami...

- Displays the &megami; Configuration Dialog, in which you can change the background color and the text color used in the game area, your name and the names of the computer players.

## Credits and License

&megami;

Program copyright 2002 Neil Stevens neil@qualityassistant.com

Documentation copyright 2002 Philip Rodrigues phil.rod@ntlworld.com

&underFDL; &underX11License;

## Installation

### How to obtain &megami;

&install.intro.documentation;

You can find a list of changes at http://www.freekde.org/neil/megami.

### Compilation and Installation

&install.compile.documentation;
&documentation.index;