                               DRAW POKER 
     
     
          Poker,  known in some circles as "The Great American Game", 
     actually  originated  in the United States!  It  became  popular 
     among  the  Cajuns and French of New Orleans in the 1800's.   At 
     that  time  they called the card game "poque",  likely from  the 
     French  word  "pocher" meaning "to bluff".  As the  game  worked 
     its  way  north by way of Mississippi steamboats the  name  came 
     to  be known as "poker",  probably because of  mispronunciation. 
     Poker  is  loosely  based on card games which date back  as  far 
     as  the  fifteenth  century.  There are many  forms  of  today's 
     game including Spit-in-the-Ocean,  Criss-Cross,  Michigan, Base-
     ball,  High-Low,  Showdown  and  Stud.   But the most popular is 
     Draw Poker. 
     
     
                                THE GAME 
     
          Draw  Poker  is  played with a fifty-two  card  deck,   the 
     Jokers  being  discarded.   All players "ante" an  amount  which 
     has  been  previously  agreed upon.  The  dealer  shuffles  then 
     five  cards each are delt to the players,  one at a time,   face 
     down,   in turn to the left of the dealer.  After inspecting the 
     hand  delt him,  each player to the left of the dealer  receives 
     the opportunity to bet,  raise,  see, or fold. A player "sees" a 
     bet by matching it,  in order to stay in the game.  After seeing 
     a bet,  a player may "raise" the bet,  requiring all who wish to 
     continue  to  see the raise.  Usually,  seeing and  raising  are 
     combined as raising.  Those not wishing to continue,  "fold" and 
     forfeit all amounts bet.  After all betting is complete and each 
     remaining player has seen the last bet, each player to the left, 
     in  turn from the last to see,  may discard up to five cards and 
     draw  new  ones as replacements in order to better his  odds  of 
     winning.    A player who discards none "stands pat".  When  each 
     player  has  drawn or stood pat,  the last to see  starts a  new 
     round of betting.  Play is finished when all but one player have 
     folded  or when one player "calls" the bet.  The player with the 
     highest hand wins the pot and becomes the dealer. 
     
     
                                 SCORING 
     
          There  are  no  points  awarded in Poker.   It  is  usually 
     played  with  money or chips representing money instead.   Hands 
     are valued from least to highest in order as follows: 
     
     High  Card: 
     The  highest  valued  card  held wins the hand.   Deuce  is  low 
     and Ace is high.  (If all cards in all hands match,  the highest 
     suit  wins.  Ace of spades is high,  then Hearts,  Diamonds, and 
     Clubs.  Lowest card is the two of Clubs.) 
     
     A  Single  Pair: 
     The  highest  valued pair wins.  Again,  Deuce low -  Ace  high. 
     To break a tie,  the next highest single card wins. 
     
     Two  Pair: 
     The  highest  combination  wins.   In the case  of a  tie,   the 
     next highest single card wins. 
     
     Three-of-a-kind: 
     The highest threesome wins. 
     
     Straight: 
     The  highest  five cards in sequence,  but not all of  the  same 
     suit...Ace  may  be  high or low to make the sequence.   Tie  is 
     broken by the highest high-card's suit. 
     
     Flush: 
     The  highest five cards held in a single suit.  Ties are  broken 
     as with the Straight. 
     
     Full  House: 
     The  highest  combination of Three-of-a-kind and a  Pair.   Ties 
     are broken by highest three-of-a-kind. 
     
     Straight  Flush: 
     The  highest five cards of a single suit,  in sequence.  Tie  is 
     broken by the highest suit. 
     
     Royal  Flush: 
     Ace,    King,  Queen,  Jack and Ten of a single  suit.   Highest 
     suit wins in case of a tie. 
     
     
                            LAS VEGAS DRAW POKER 
     
          Draw  Poker  as played in Las Vegas allows a draw  of  only 
     three  cards  and  requires that a player have a pair  of  Jacks 
     or better in his hand. Players not meeting this requirement must 
     fold and forfeit their ante,  which is usually a quarter. 
     
          The  maximum  bet in Las Vegas Draw Poker is  usually  five 
     dollars.    Raises  may  be considered as bets  or  may  not  be 
     specified, depending on the house. Most casinos allow only three 
     raises. Some, however, allow five before the player in turn must 
     see,  call or fold. 
     
                            USING THE KEYBOARD 
     
          VALUES:  2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,1,J,Q,K,A.   SUITS: S,H,D,C.   "1" 
     is equal to 10. Press <ESC>, "Q", or Ctrl Break to Quit midgame. 
     
     
                           COMPUTER DRAW POKER 
     
          The  computer  game  is  played as  Five  Card  Draw  Poker 
     with  no  requirements for opening bet and no limit.   Both  the 
     player  and  the computer start with 1000 "chips".   Each  antes 
     one chip  before  cards are dealt.  Three raises per  round  are 
     allowed in the computer version of the game. 
     
          This  game  is  designed to allow the computer  to  act  as 
     both  tutor  and player.  It does not look at your hand to  make 
     playing  descisions  and  doesn't  remember  any  of  the  cards 
     in  your  hand  when it does check them.  It  checks  your  hand 
     only  to  see  that  you are playing the  game  properly.   When 
     you are in a rule-breaking situation,  it will display a message 
     to  help  you  to get it right.  It also  displays  messages  to 
     direct you when to bet,  see,  raise,  call,  fold,  discard and 
     draw.    The computer plays with a certain degree  of  sophistry 
     and will bet high or low,  as well as bluff, at random. When you 
     can  consistently  beat  the  computer you are  playing  with  a 
     good deal of skill. 
     

         ----------------end-of-author's-documentation---------------

                        Software Library Information:

                   This disk copy provided as a service of

                        The Public (Software) Library

         We are not the authors of this program, nor are we associated
         with the author in any way other than as a distributor of the
         program in accordance with the author's terms of distribution.

         Please direct shareware payments and specific questions about
         this program to the author of the program, whose name appears
         elsewhere in  this documentation. If you have trouble getting
         in touch with the author,  we will do whatever we can to help
         you with your questions. All programs have been tested and do
         run.  To report problems,  please use the form that is in the
         file PROBLEM.DOC on many of our disks or in other written for-
         mat with screen printouts, if possible.  The P(s)L cannot de-
         bug programs over the telephone.

         Disks in the P(s)L are updated monthly, so if you did not get
         this disk  directly from the P(s)L,  you should be aware that
         the files in this set may no  longer be the current versions.

         For a copy of the latest monthly software library newsletter
         and a list of the 1,800+ disks in the library, call or write

                        The Public (Software) Library
                              P.O.Box 35705 - F
                           Houston, TX 77235-5705
                               (713) 665-7017

