For the Serious Player...

Blackjack Gold is designed to grow, be expandable, and add functionality without requiring the user to download a full game.  That's why we've developed the idea of Sidekicks.

For example, the 300+ Sounds with 8 MB of sound files is available as a Sidekick, for those who want to hear Sassy Sal.

Everyone will not want every Sidekick.  Some will be designed for the serious player, others will be purely for entertainment, and have nothing to do with a "real" game of blackjack. 

Your job is to tell us what you want, so that we can put it on the Feature Request list.  Many options have been added since the initial release, as requested by players just like you.

For those who want to know what makes the game tick, and are full of WHY questions, we offer the following...

Deck Shuffle and Penetration:  

The first shuffle when you start a new game is always random.  The cards are randomly mixed.  During gameplay, as the dealer picks up your cards, they are put onto the discard pile, the most recent cards on top.  The cards are added to the discard pile just as you see them taken from the table.  If you bust, those cards are taken away immediately and added to the discard pile, just as a real blackjack dealer would.  Ditto for paying out blackjacks, surrendering, busting, etc.  The game determines when to shuffle based on the number of players.  Each player has a possibility of playing 15 cards in a turn, times 7 players, plus up to 5 for the dealer.  [# of players x 15 + 5 = minimum # of cards deck must have left, less than this the dealer shuffles]  Once the deck gets down to the point where there are not enough cards to cover this, the undealt cards are put on top of the discard pile, and the deck is shuffled.  To shuffle, the deck is divided into 4 equal piles.  Half the pile is taken from each of two piles, shuffled together twice, and put into the new deck pile.  The actually shuffle riffles the cards so that anywhere from 1 to 3 cards from each deck is riffled into the other deck.  1-3 cards from deck A, then 1-3 cards from deck B, and so forth until they are fully riffled.  The final new deck will have sections 1/5 on the bottom, then 3/7, 2/4, and finally 6/8 on top.  If you had divided the original discard pile into 8 parts, the top "part" would be section 1, followed by 2 thru 8.  We have many Sidekicks planned for Blackjack Gold, including one that's even more detailed in its ability to mimic real casino play.  The Expert Sidekick will include several casino shuffles that you can choose from, as each casino has a very specific way of shuffling.

Our Strategies:  

Many claim to know the best strategies for blackjack play.  We do not claim knowledge of how to win blackjack.  Our task is to create a game that is fun for all, and that allows you to simulate a casino game of blackjack, so that you can test YOUR strategies.

In order to create a few built in strategies for our computer players, we studied the strategies of many self-proclaimed experts, and compiled strategies based on their suggestions.  We also threw in a couple of strategies that someone who knows squat about the game might use (such as the HappyGoLucky Strategy).

The Basic Strategy was compiled from several sources, who all agreed on what the Basic Strategy should be.  This in no way implies that it is a GOOD strategy.  Only that it is the suggested Basic Strategy that many espouse.

As far as we know, there is no general rule for the other strategies.  Each "expert" will have his own idea of what an "Expert" strategy should be.  Ditto for Advanced, and so forth.  Our strategies may not match yours.

That's why you can set your own strategies in Blackjack Gold, or edit the preset strategies.

We've included many settings for you to adjust.  There may be other settings that you wish to adjust, or more advanced features you wish to add.  If so, please send us a Feature Request form.  We will be creating a more advanced window for setting strategies, and only you can tell us what you want it to include.

If you believe you have a good strategy, that you can recreate using our Strategies window, we would love for you to share it with us.  Perhaps we will add it to the preset strategies list in the future.

Setting Strategies:  

The strategy window allows you to set the following for the computer players:  

--  Which cards to double down on depending on the dealer's up card, and optionally on the last 2 cards 
--   When to surrender, based on the dealer's up card, and optionally on the last 2 cards dealt
--  Buying insurance based on your hand total, and optionally on the last 2 or 3 cards dealt
--  Whether you want to stop playing when you reach a win limit, loss limit, if the dealer isn't breaking, or if you lose a set number of hands in a row
--  Whether you want to bet on the Wishing Wheel
--  Progressive betting options, to multiply your bet after a certain number of wins/losses
--  To always take Even Money, or never, or depending on the last 2 or 3 cards dealt
--  When to hit, depending on your hand total, whether it's hard or soft, the dealer's up card, and whether to bet more on the first hand after a shuffle, and how much
--  How many decks and players you are willing to play with
--  How much to bet, whether a set amount, or a percentage of your pot
 
There are 8 preset strategies, which you can edit.  And you can create up to 25 more custom strategies.

Best Strategies:  

A game ends when all the players leave the table, or when you decide to stop playing and exit the game.  Each player always starts a game with $250.  When the game ends, the amount of money you have in your pot will determine your Game Score.  If you have $300, you've won $50, so your Game Score will be $50.  If you have $100 left, your Game Score will be -$150, a loss.   You also have a Cumulative Score, remembered from game to game.  If you lose $50, gain $75, and lose $10, your Cumulative Score will be (plus 75 minus 50 minus 10) plus $15, a gain of $15 overall.  Which strategy you were using (computer players only, human players strategies are listed as Human), and the number of players and decks during that game, are also tracked.  You can sort the Best Strategies window by any of the categories.  The top 100 strategies are remembered, based on the Cumulative Score.  If you win $400 in one game using the Basic Strategy and then lose $1000 in subsequent games, then overall the Basic Strategy has lost you $600, so this number is the key number in how Blackjack Gold chooses the top 100.

Weird Options and all those WHY questions:  

We've been asked why Blackjack Gold has options not available in all casinos, such as Five Card Charlies, and why the dealer says things a Vegas dealer wouldn't say, and what the devil a Wishing Wheel is.

People all over the world play Blackjack Gold.  Some have never been to a casino.  Others have been to Vegas, Monte Carlo, cruise ships, riverboats, back alleys, Europe, and other places where Blackjack is played.  And the rules are as varied as the places they are found.  You may not have seen an option where you play, but trust me, somewhere the option does exist.

Blackjack tables exist where there is Wheel of Fortune type spinner, as a side bet.  Put a dollar down, and if you get blackjack, you can spin the spinner to win extra money.  We named ours the Wishing Wheel.  Because before you spin, you choose a number (make a wish), and if it lands on that number, you win DOUBLE the amount.  

Casinos exist that do recognize 5 card Charlies, 6 card Charlies and 7 card Charlies.

Why is there a PASS/DONE button?  Where the Wishing Wheel bet is offered the dealer enquires before any cards are dealt who wishes to place this side bet, and the bet is offered at the time when players are placing bets.  The PASS/DONE button simply means you are done betting, and to pass the choice to the next player.  This has confused a few of you.  We changed the name of the button to DONE.  We are not sure whether this will make more sense, but the danged button has to say something!  Trust me, you'd be MORE confused if we allowed all the players to choose at once.  You'd have to make your choice and then select which player it affected.  This would not be better.  

Why can't a player not play?  As in skipping a hand?  Do you guys really want this?  It would make it easier for you to mess up, hitting PASS or DONE when you really weren't.  We've tried to build it into the game to "catch" errors folks make when clicking away in the game window, so that the game doesn't get away from you.  Removing these safeguards would create a certain anarchy.  All who want anarchy, email us.  We'll consider it.

The game is intended to fulfill two purposes:  Be entertaining, and be useful.  Serious players can turn off the options that are not relevant to them, such as the Wishing Wheel.  Many folks just want to have fun, and we will be as accomodating as we can :-)

You may not believe this, but the current dealer is a big selling point in Blackjack Royale, the precursor to Gold.  Most folks register just to hear the dealer.  She is quite popular.  She is not intended to sound as dry and uninviting as a Vegas dealer.  She is intended for entertainment only.  We are aware that a casino dealer may not sound as she does.  We specifically had her record this way to generate a certain type of interest in the game.

We have many updates planned.  And many Sidekicks.  Adding dealers would be considered a Sidekick, something that adds new functionality to the game.  New choices.  We are researching the issue of monitor size before making any moves regarding the size of the table.  

Serious players can be very specific in what they want the Strategies window to offer.  What casino options they want.  And we can then put out a Sidekick to fulfill them.  Novice players may want "fun stuff".  Sidekicks will allow us to please more people over a period of time, as we add functionality to the game.  The initial release was never intended to have everything all at once.  It would never have been released if we tried to do that.  At some point, it had to go out into the world, and bring home registrations.  Mama has to eat :-)

