*******SOLITAIRE POKER****** (V.1 / 07AUG01)
for TI-83+ / by Taren Nauxen
*Programmed in TI-83+ BASIC*
****************************

All five 8XP files are necessary to play Solitaire Poker. Once they are available and unarchived, run prgmSOLPOKER.

Intro:
Solitaire Poker is pretty self-explanatory. It combines the solo play of Solitaire with the wholesome fun of Poker. This game is played by choosing your cards from four stockpiles and placing them on a 5x5 grid in an attempt to make the best poker hands.

Notes:
This program will use all six Lists, plus make one savefile. If you've ever experienced a "RAM Cleared", you probably know how frustrating it is to lose all sorts of high scores and stats. This program's savefile is automatically archived when not in use, just in case your RAM ever gets cleared.

Gameplay:
On the title screen, there are three options: "1-P", "TRY-1", and "FILE". "1-P" is a continuous play mode. "TRY-1" is a one-deal game. "FILE" recalls a saved 1P game. 

First, choose between "VIEW-1", "VIEW-2", or "VIEW-3". View-1 is the most challenging, as you can see only the top card in each column. View-2 allows you to see the top three cards in each column. View-3 allows you to see all six. None of these will affect the score goals in each round.

As for TRY-1, you can choose "EASY", "MEDIUM", or "HARD". Easy will show all six cards. Medium shows three, and Hard doesn't show any at all! Also, Quota increases with easy difficulty level.

Each time you begin a round, you will see the round number, and the word "SHUFFLING". The bar below indicates how much the deck is shuffled. Expect this to take around 30 seconds. (It will move very slowly once it gets up to 90% or so, so please be patient.)

Each round begins with all 52 cards shuffled and placed into four columns of 13 cards each. In the upper right corner your score is shown. There are four significant numbers in this game: Total, Bank, Quota, and Points (T, B, Q, and P, respectively). Total is the amount needed to clear the round. Bank will decrease this number, which provides the Quota. You must match or beat the Quota in order to clear the round. The excess amount scored above Quota is carried over to the next round's Bank.

Here's how hands are scored. As soon as a hand of five cards is complete, it will be scored. Points are awarded as follows:

01 pt : Pair
03 pts: Two Pair
05 pts: Three of a Kind
08 pts: Straight
10 pts: Flush
12 pts: Full House
15 pts: Four of a Kind
18 pts: Straight Flush
20 pts: Royal Flush
There is no penalty for a hand containing none of these combinations.

There are a total of 12 possible hands in each round: five columns, five rows, and two diagonals.

Begin placing cards in the grid by first selecting a card from the four stockpiles. At any given time, you may or may not see a number above the column. If it is there, the number indicates how many unseen cards remain in the column. (Example: +7 means there are 13 in the column: six seen and seven unseen.)

Move the cursor to a desired card and select with either the [2nd] or [ENTER] buttons. You may only select cards on the bottom row. Another cursor will appear above the grid. Move it to the desired column and press [2nd] or [ENTER] again. When a column is selected, the card is placed in the lowest available spot. If the column has five cards in it, it is full, and you must select another. Once you select a card from the stockpiles, you must place it in the grid.

At this point, the calculator takes between 5-30 seconds to ready itself for the next card. It must place the card, then it shifts every card in the selected stockpile down one spot and checks for hands. It's not uncommon to spend 15 minutes on a single round.

When all 25 places are filled up, you will find out whether or not you cleared the level. If you don't clear a round, you are given the opportunity to try again. When you try again, it will be as if you never even began. The cards will be in the exact same setup, and Total, Bank, and Quota will all remain the same.

When you clear a level, you will see "File Saved" on the screen. This means your progress has been saved, and should you quit the current game, you can begin the next round later using the FILE option in the main menu.

************************
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Got an idea on how to make this darn thing run faster?
x12x300x@aol.com
************************

LEGAL:
Ok, so Solitaire Poker isn't MY idea. The original concept comes from the Game Gear(R) game "Solitaire Poker". I only take credit for writing the TI-83+ programs and this help guide. SOLPOKER.8XP and all four subprograms are (c) Taren Nauxen.