Copyright: Copyright © 1998-99 By Randy Rasa
Citation: Copyright © 1998-99 By Randy Rasa


Contents
7 in 1 Poker Patience

An Introduction To 7 in 1 Poker Patience

Introction

Background

Feature List

Games List

Credits

Requirements

Legalese

How To Play ...

Poker Squares

Poker Shuffle

Poker Elimination

Poker Puzzle

Poker Columns

Poker Holdem

Poker Yacht

Customizing 7 in 1 Poker Patience

Options

Scoring

Multimedia Sound

Advanced

Statistics

Strategy

Support

Revision History

How To Contact The Publisher

About The Author

Registration

How To Register

If you enjoy this game, please support it!

7 in 1 Poker Patience is Copyright © 1998-99 by Randy Rasa. All Rights Reserved.


7 in 1 Poker Patience Introduction

7 in 1 Poker Patience is a collection of seven solitaire (patience) card games based on a poker theme.  The object of the games is to make poker hands.  The better the poker hands you can make, the higher your score will be.

This is a very different goal than in typical solitaire games such as Klondike or Freecell, where the object is to arrange the cards in a preset order.  So the strategies you will use in the games in this collection are also very different from a typical solitaire.

These games are an intriguing combination of the familiar and the unique.  All the games use the poker hands you’re already familiar with, but the ways that you put the hands together is very new and different.  In fact, many of the games were invented by the author specifically for this collection, and are available nowhere else.

In addition to the unique games, 7 in 1 Poker Patience also uses a unique scoring system, again invented specifically for this collection.  The new scoring system (called Wild Scoring) is based not only on the hands you create, but the cards you use to create them.  This lends itself to new strategies and techniques, and often makes for very high-scoring games.

Of course, this program offers all of the comforts and conveniences you’ve come to expect from a state-of-the-art solitaire collection.  Undo, wallpaper, statistics, sound, online help, etc. -- this game includes all the goodies you want and need.

See Also: 	Background Information
 	Feature List
Games List


7 in 1 Poker Patience Background

Poker solitaire and I have a long history.  I originally wrote a version of Poker Squares way back in 1988, when I first started writing computer games.  In 1996 I wrote a much-enhanced version of the game for Windows 3.x.

In late 1997 I began to dream up a bunch of new poker-based solitaires, and in 1998 I finally got a chance to turn some of those into real games.  This collection is the result.

Of the seven games included in 7 in 1 Poker Patience, only Poker Squares is a standard game.  Poker Shuffle, Poker Elimination, Poker Puzzle, Poker Columns, and Poker Holdem are all brand new creations, designed especially for this collection. Poker Yacht is a playing card version of popular poker dice game Yahtzee®.

See Also: 	Introduction
Feature List
Games List


7 in 1 Poker Patience Features

7 in 1 Poker Patience offers a large and varied feature set, providing flexibility and ease-of-use.  Some of the many features included in this program:

•	Seven variations on the poker solitaire theme, each with unique rules, card movement, and strategy

•	256-color graphics

•	Hands can be selected at random, or by number

•	Statistics for each game, including number of games played, average score, and best score

•	Fully-configurable screen background, with a user-selectable color or wallpaper image

•	Individually-programmable sound effects

•	Comprehensive context-sensitive help system

•	Virtually unlimited number of undo levels (limited to one undo in the shareware version)

•	Three scoring systems: The traditional “American” and “English” systems, and the new and unique “Wild” system, where the value of each hand is based not only on the type of poker hands, but on the value of the cards in the hand.  This maximizes the strategic importance of each card, and makes for very dynamic scoring.

•	Two card sizes, allowing the game to adapt to nearly any screen size

•	Fully-resizable game windows, with card layouts that compress and expand to handle any window size.

•	Each game sports a toolbar with pop-up hints, as well as a right-click context menu

See Also: 	Introduction
Background Information
Games List


7 in 1 Poker Patience Requirements

•	This program requires Windows 95 or later.  It was developed under Windows 95, and has been tested under Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT4 Server.

•	This program requires at least 640x480x256 video capability; higher resolutions and color depths are highly recommended.

•	To utilize 7 in 1 Poker Patience's multimedia sound, a sound card is required.

•	This program requires at least four megabytes of RAM.


7 in 1 Poker Patience Credits

Author

7 in 1 Poker Patience was conceived, designed, written, and tested by Randy Rasa.

Tools

•	7 in 1 Poker Patience was written with Borland C++ Builder v3.

•	The game was created with a card game component by Michael McCulloch, and is used with permission.  Michael is the author of "Free Solitaire" and "Solitaire Plus", two great collections of solitaires.  Contact Michael at mmccullo@icx.net, or visit his web site at http://www.goodsol.com/freesol.

•	The "large" card images are based on images from Chris Howard's Book, "Programming Games for Beginners",  ISBN 0-672-30313-2.

•	The "small" cards are based on cards created by John Roger Taraldsen <johnrt@online.no>, and are used with permission.  Also, check out his fine solitaires at his web site at http://home.sol.no/~johnrt/solitaire.

•	The installation program was created with Jordan Russell’s excellent Inno Setup.

Appreciation

The following people deserve thanks for lending their knowledge, opinions, suggestions, ideas, and criticisms to the development of this program: Michael McCulloch, John Roger Taraldsen, Michael Keller, and John Cutter.  Thanks, guys.  The game wouldn’t be nearly as good without your support.


7 in 1 Poker Patience Legalese

Copyright

7 in 1 Poker Patience is Copyright © 1998-99 by Randy Rasa. All Rights Reserved.

7 in 1 Poker Patience is shareware!  It is not freeware, and it is not public domain.

As shareware, you can play it, copy it, and give it away as you wish.  In fact, you are encouraged to distribute the unregistered version of the program to friends, family, and strangers alike.  This includes distribution via the Internet, World Wide Web, electronic bulletin board systems (BBS's), user's groups, CD-ROMs, and disk-distribution services. All that I ask is that the package remains unaltered and complete. The registered version may not be distributed.

In addition to the program as a whole being copyrighted, the rules for each individual game are copyrighted as well.  You may not use the rules for the games I’ve created in any manner without the written permission of the author.  This includes publication in any form, or incorporation of the rules into any card game in any form.

Disclaimer

Neither the author nor anyone else who has been involved in the creation, productions, or delivery of this product shall be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages arising out of the use or inability to use this product.

Standard Limited Warranty

This software is sold "as is", without any warranty as to performance or any other warranties whether expressed or implied.  Because of the vast number of possible hardware and software environments in which this software may be used, no warranty of fitness for a particular purpose is offered.  The user assumes the entire risk of using this program.  Any liability of the author will be limited to product replacement or the refund of the registration fee.


Game Descriptions

Poker Squares

Deal cards from the deck one by one, creating the best possible poker hands on the five rows and columns of a 5 x 5 grid.

See Also: How To Play Poker Squares.

Poker Shuffle

The game starts with twenty-five cards dealt to a 5 x 5 grid.  Rearrange the cards within the grid to make the best poker hands in the five rows and five columns.

See Also: How To Play Poker Shuffle.

Poker Elimination

This game is a mixture of the best elements of Poker Squares and Poker Shuffle, requiring a bit of the skills and strategy of each.

See Also: How To Play Poker Elimination.

Poker Puzzle

A poker version of the classic "fifteen puzzle" game, where cards are moved in a 5 x 5 grid, using a single open space, in order to create poker hands.  As hands are created, they are cashed in.

See Also: How To Play Poker Puzzle.

Poker Columns

Cross Poker and Tetris, and this is what you get, a unique solitaire with intriguing card movement and strategy.

See Also: How To Play Poker Columns.

Poker Holdem

Think “Video Poker Meets Solitaire”, and you’ll have a pretty good concept of the idea behind this interesting two-deck poker patience.

See Also: How To Play Poker Holdem.

Poker Yacht

A version of the popular Poker Dice game played with cards instead of dice, using a short deck of 24 cards.  Includes a few innovations unique to this version.

See Also: How To Play Poker Yacht.

See Also: 	Introduction
Feature List
Background Information


How To Play Poker Squares

Introduction

Poker Squares is a standard solitaire, described in most solitaire references.

Getting Started

The game is begun by taking a pack of 52 cards, shuffling it, and dealing the first twenty-five cards face-up into a pile to become the stock.  The remainder of the cards are not used until the next hand.

Object

The object of the game is to move cards, one at a time, from the stock and place them into a 5 x 5 grid so that each of the rows and columns forms the best possible poker hand.

Moving Cards

To move a card from the stock to a position on the grid, simply click on one of the empty positions.  Once a card has been placed, it cannot be moved.  You may also drag a card from the deck to one of the tableau positions.

Scoring

You earn points for each type of poker hand you can create.  The number of points awarded per hand is based on the hand you create, and the cards in the hand.  Refer to the scoring section for details.

For suggestions on how to improve your scores, refer to the strategy topic.


How To Play Poker Shuffle

Introduction

Poker Shuffle is a variation on Poker Squares.  It requires less luck and more skill.

Getting Started

The game is begun by taking a pack of 52 cards, shuffling it, and dealing the first twenty-five cards face-up to a 5 x 5 grid to form the tableau.  The remainder of the cards are not used until the next hand.

Object

The object of the game is to re-arrange the cards within the 5 x 5 grid so that each of the rows and columns forms the best possible poker hand.

Moving Cards

Cards are re-arranged by swapping them.  To swap two cards, simply pick one up, drag it onto the one you wish to swap with, and drop it.  You may continue moving cards in this way until you’re created the best set of ten poker hands possible.  Once you’ve reached this optimum arrangement, click the “new hand” button to score the hand and deal another.

Scoring

You earn points for each type of poker hand you can create.  The number of points awarded per hand is based on the hand you create, and the cards in the hand.  Refer to the scoring section for details.

For suggestions on how to improve your scores, refer to the strategy topic.


How To Play Poker Elimination

Introduction

Poker Elimination is a combination of Poker Squares and Poker Shuffle, combining the best elements of each.

Getting Started

The game is begun by taking a pack of 52 cards, shuffling it, and dealing the cards face-down into a pile to become the stock.

Object

The object of the game is to move cards, one at a time, from the stock and place them into a 5 x 5 grid so that each of the rows and columns forms the best possible poker hand.

Moving Cards From The Stock To The Tableau

To move a card from the stock to a position on the grid, simply click on one of the empty positions.  As long as cards remain in the stock, cards on the grid cannot be moved.  You may also drag a card from the deck to one of the tableau positions.

Cashing In A Hand

When you've created a complete hand in one of the rows or columns, you may cash it in. To do so, click one of the row or column labels within the score box.  When you click it, the specified hand will be removed from the tableau and scored.  You can also right-click anywhere, and select "Cash In" from the resulting pop-up menu.  Note that when the mouse pointer passes over the row and column labels within the score box, the value of the hand will be displayed.

Moving Cards Within The Tableau

Once all the cards have been played to the tableau, and no cards remain in the stock, you may freely re-arrange the cards within the tableau. To move a card, simply drag it onto the card you'd like to swap it with. You can move the cards as often as you like, until you're happy with the arrangement. Then cash in the hands.

Scoring

You earn points for each type of poker hand you can create.  The number of points awarded per hand is based on the hand you create, and the cards in the hand.  Refer to the scoring section for details.  Also, if the deck is not empty, all hands are worth double their normal value.

For suggestions on how to improve your scores, refer to the strategy topic.


How To Play Poker Puzzle

Introduction

Poker Puzzle is variation of the classic "fifteen puzzle" game, using poker hands.

Getting Started

The game is begun by taking a pack of 52 cards, shuffling it, and dealing the first twenty-five cards face-up into a 5 x 5 grid.  The remainder of the cards are not used until the next hand.

Object

The object of the game is to re-arrange the cards within the 5 x 5 grid  to form the best possible poker hands.

Moving Cards

Only cards horizontally or vertically adjacent to the empty space may be moved. Simply click on the card you'd like to swap the space with. You can move the cards as often as you like, until you're happy with the arrangement.

Cashing In A Hand

When you've created a complete hand in one of the rows or columns, you may cash it in. To do so, click one of the row or column labels within the score box.  When you click it, the specified hand will be removed from the tableau and scored.  You can also right-click anywhere, and select "Cash In" from the resulting pop-up menu.  Note that when the mouse pointer passes over the row and column labels within the score box, the value of the hand will be displayed.

Scoring

You earn points for each type of poker hand you can create.  The number of points awarded per hand is based on the hand you create, and the cards in the hand.  Refer to the scoring section for details.

For suggestions on how to improve your scores, refer to the strategy topic.


How To Play Poker Columns

Introduction

Poker Columns is a rather unusual solitaire.  It's based on the same basic layout as Poker Squares (the 5 x 5 grid), but card movement within the grid is based on the concept of "gravity".  That is, any cards placed into one of the five columns will immediately "fall" to the lowest-available space in the column.  For example, if a column is empty, and you place a card on the first row, it will fall to the last row.

Getting Started

The game is begun by taking a pack of 52 cards, shuffling it, and dealing the cards face-down into a pile to become the stock.

Object

To move a card from the stock to a position on the grid, simply click on one of the empty positions.  As long as cards remain in the stock, cards on the grid cannot be moved.  You may also drag a card from the deck to one of the tableau positions.

Cashing In A Hand

When you've created a complete hand in one of the rows or columns, you may cash it in. To do so, click one of the row or column labels within the score box.  When you click it, the specified hand will be removed from the tableau and scored.  You can also right-click anywhere, and select "Cash In" from the resulting pop-up menu.  Note that when the mouse pointer passes over the row and column labels within the score box, the value of the hand will be displayed.

Moving Cards

To move a card, simply drag it onto the card you'd like to swap it with. You can move the cards as often as you like, until you're happy with the arrangement.

Moving Cards Within The Tableau

Once all the cards have been played to the tableau, and no cards remain in the stock, you may re-arrange the cards within the tableau. To move a card, simply drag it onto an empty space.  You can only move cards to the top of another column. You can move the cards as often as you like, until you're happy with the arrangement. Then cash in the hands.

Scoring

You earn points for each type of poker hand you can create.  The number of points awarded per hand is based on the hand you create, and the cards in the hand.  Refer to the scoring section for details.  Also, if the deck is not empty, all hands are worth double their normal value; rows are worth an additional times-two multiplier.

For suggestions on how to improve your scores, refer to the strategy topic.


How To Play Poker Holdem

Introduction

Poker Holdem is sort of a sort of Video Poker-ish type of solitaire.  Rather than the 5 x 5 grid that games like Poker Squares employ, this game uses only five cards at a time.  Since you can only see a few cards at once, it’s actually harder to come up with high-scoring hands than it is in some of the other games in 7 in 1 Poker Patience.

Getting Started

The game is begun by taking two packs of 52 cards (104 cards total), shuffling them, and dealing the cards face-down into a pile to become the stock.  Five cards are then dealt to the five tableau positions

Object

The object, of course, it to make the best poker hands you can.  Each of the five tableau cards may be either held or discarded.  Click the cards themselves, or the buttons below them, to toggle between “Hold” and “Discard”.  Click the “Deal” button (or the deck) to replace the “discard” cards with new cards from the deck.  The current value of the hand is displayed in the box below the cards.

Cashing In A Hand

When you've created a complete hand, click the “Cash In” button to score it.

Scoring

You earn points for each type of poker hand you can create.  The number of points awarded per hand is based on the hand you create, and the cards in the hand.  Refer to the scoring section for details.  When all ten hands are filled in the score box, the hand is over, regardless of whether cards remain in the deck or tableau.  Likewise, if the deck is exhausted before all hands are scored, the game is over.

For suggestions on how to improve your scores, refer to the strategy topic.


How To Play Poker Yacht

Introduction

Poker Yacht is a version of the well-known and popular poker dice game, the commercial version of which is called Yahtzee® (a registered trademark of Hasbro).  This implementation uses playing cards rather than dice, of course.  It actually uses a short deck (sometimes called a cut deck) consisting of only 24 cards (9-10-J-Q-K-A of each suit).  This game also offers a few innovations not possible in the dice game, such as support for suits.

Getting Started

The game is begun by taking a standard 52-card deck, removing all 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 cards, and shuffling the remaining 24 cards to form the stock.  Five cards are then dealt to the five tableau positions to form the initial hand.

Object

The object is to fill up the score card, creating one of each type of hand. Each of the five tableau cards may be either held or discarded.  Click the cards themselves, or the buttons below them, to toggle between “Hold” and “Discard”.  Click the “Deal” button (or the deck) to replace the “discard” cards with new cards from the deck.  You may discard and deal new hands twice before you must score the hand.

Cashing In A Hand

When you've created a complete hand, click one of the possible hands in the score card to cash it in.  If you leave your mouse pointer over a hand name for a second or two, the “hint” will show you how much the current hand would be worth if you cashed it in.

Scoring

Scoring in this game is a bit different than it is in most of the games in this collection.  Rather than using the Wild, American, or English scoring systems, Poker Yacht uses it’s own unique system:

Hand	Description	Value
Nines	The total of all the 9s in your hand.	Calculated
Tens	The total of all the 10s in your hand.	Calculated
Jacks	The total of all the Jacks in your hand (Jack = 11)	Calculated
Queens	The total of all the Queens in your hand (Queen = 12)	Calculated
Kings	The total of all the Kings in your hand (King = 11)	Calculated
Aces	The total of all the Aces in your hand (Ace = 11)	Calculated
One Pair	At least two cards of the same value	50
Two Pair	At least two cards of one value, and two cards of another	60
Three Of A Kind	At least three cards of the same value	70
Full House	Three cards of one value, and two cards of another value	80
Straight	Five cards of consecutive value, of different suits	90
Flush	Five cards of the same suit	100
Four Of A Kind	Four cards of the same value	110
Straight Flush	Five cards of consecutive value, of the same suit	120
Clubs	The total value of all the clubs in your hand	Calculated
Spades	The total value of all the spades in your hand	Calculated
Diamonds	The total value of all the diamonds in your hand	Calculated
Hearts	The total value of all the hearts in your hand	Calculated
In addition to the point to be scored directly from the hands above, you can also score a 75-point bonus if the sum of your Nines, Tens, Jacks, Queens, Kings, and Aces hands totals at least 177.  Note that you can see how close you are to a bonus by passing your mouse pointer over the “Bonus” label on the score card.

For suggestions on how to improve your scores, refer to the strategy topic.


7 in 1 Poker Patience Scoring Systems

7 in 1 Poker Patience offers three scoring systems.  You may choose which of the systems you wish to use in the Options dialog,  The three choices are:

•	Wild Scoring – A unique system in which scores are based not only on the hand, but on the cards the hand contains.

•	American Scoring – A traditional scoring system based on the likelihood of hands in regular poker.

•	English Scoring – A traditional scoring system based on the likelihood of hands in Poker Squares.

Wild scoring is the default, and is highly recommended.  The other two modes are provided for completeness, and for those who may be more comfortable with traditional scoring.


Wild Scoring

7 in 1 Poker Patience has an interesting scoring method I call “wild” scoring.  Rather than each type of hand being worth a fixed amount (as in the original Poker Squares), the value of a particular hand is based on the hand as well as the cards it contains.  This creates very dynamic scoring possibilities, increases the strategic importance of each card, and makes for some very high game scores.

The multipliers for each type of poker hand are:

Hand	Multiplier
Five Of A Kind*	75
Royal Flush	50
Straight Flush	40
Four Of A Kind	25
Full House	12
Flush	15
Straight	5
Three Of A Kind	10
Two Pairs	3
One Pair	2
None	1
In wild scoring, the sum total of the card values is multiplied by the multiplier in the table above to get a score for the hand. The card values are:

Card	Value
Ace	14 (if not low card in a straight)
King	13
Queen	12
Jack	11
Ten	10
9	9
8	8
7	7
6	6
5	5
4	4
3	3
2	2
Ace	1 (if low card in a straight)
Note: The “Five Of A Kind” hand is only possible in the “Poker Holdem” game.


American Scoring

This is a traditional scoring system, in which each of the hands has a fixed value, based on the relatively likelihood of the hands in regular poker.  You may wish to use this mode if you’re familiar with other versions of Poker Squares.

The scores for each type of poker hand are:

Hand	Score
Five Of A Kind*	150
Royal Flush	100
Straight Flush	75
Four Of A Kind	50
Straight	15
Full House	25
Three Of A Kind	10
Flush	20
Two Pairs	5
One Pair	2
None	0
Note: The “Five Of A Kind” hand is not defined in standard English scoring.  The value used here is of my own choosing


English Scoring

This is a traditional scoring system, in which each of the hands has a fixed value, based on the relatively likelihood of the hands in Poker Squares.  You may wish to use this mode if you’re familiar with other versions of Poker Squares.

The scores for each type of poker hand are:

Hand	Score
Five Of A Kind*	40
Royal Flush*	35
Straight Flush	30
Four Of A Kind	16
Straight	12
Full House	10
Three Of A Kind	6
Flush	5
Two Pairs	3
One Pair	1
None	0
Note: The “Five Of A Kind” and “Royal Flush” hands are not defined in standard English scoring.  The values used here are of my own choosing


Poker Hands Reference

Royal Flush

Definition: Ace-King-Queen-Jack-Ten of the same suit
Multiplier: 50
Example: (14 + 13 + 12 + 11 + 10) * 50 = 3000

Straight Flush

Definition: A straight with five cards of the same suit
Multiplier: 40
Example: (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5) * 40 = 600
Note: In this case, the Ace counts “1” because it’s being used as a “1” card.

Four Of A Kind

Definition: Four cards of one value, one card of another value
Multiplier: 25
Example: (10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 14) * 25 = 1350

Full House

Definition: Three cards of one value, two cards of another value
Multiplier: 12
Example: (11 + 11 + 11 + 4 + 4) * 12 = 492

Flush

Definition: Five cards of the same suit, not in consecutive order
Multiplier: 15
Example: (2 + 5 + 11 + 6 + 7) * 15 = 465

Straight

Definition: Five cards of consecutive value, regardless of suit
Multiplier: 5
Example: (14 + 13 + 12 + 11 + 10) * 5 = 300

Three Of A Kind

Definition: Three cards of one value, two cards of other values
Multiplier: 10
Example: (7 + 7 + 7 + 13 + 14) * 10 = 480

Two Pair

Definition: Two cards of one value, two cards of another value, and another card of some other value
Multiplier: 3
Example: (7 + 7 + 6 + 6 + 14) * 3 = 120

One Pair

Definition: Two cards of one value, and three cards of some other values
Multiplier: 2
Example: (7 + 7 + 6 + 13 + 14) * 2 = 94


7 in 1 Poker Patience Statistics

Statistics

7 in 1 Poker Patience keeps track of a number of statistics for each game, including the number of hands played, average score, and best score.  These stats can provide you with feedback as to how well you are playing, and give you an incentive for improvement.

Clearing The Statistics

The statistics can be cleared by clicking on the "Clear" button in the statistics dialog.  If you answer "yes" to the "Are you sure?" question, all statistics will be reset.

Improving Your Scores

For hints on improving your scores, refer to the strategy section.


7 in 1 Poker Patience Strategy

Each of the games in 7 in 1 Poker Patience is different, and require their own strategy.  For the most part, you’ll come up with your own winning strategies on your own, through hard-won experience.  Nevertheless, here are a few suggestions for each of the games, as well as some general suggestions and reminders:

General

The most important strategy hint is simply to pay attention to card values.  Higher-ranked cards are worth more than lower-ranked cards, so if you can create, for example, a full house from either three 2’s and two 8’s, or three 9’s and two 8’s, the second choice will yield you more points.  Likewise, it’s important to remember that an Ace is normally worth 14 points, but is only worth 1 point if used as part of an A-2-3-4-5 straight.

Poker Squares

A typical strategy is to try for flushes on each of the first four rows, and full houses, four of a kind, or three of a kind on the columns. The last row is often used as a dumping place for cards that don't fit elsewhere.  This approach often yields several flushes without hurting your chances for higher-scoring hands.

Straights are the most difficult hands to create, because they require you to give up a chance for safer hands, such as pairs and threes of a kind. You'll often get the first three cards of a potential straight, then be tempted to give it up for a quick payoff.  But if you hold firm, your faith will be rewarded (at least some of the time).

Poker Shuffle

As in Poker Squares, I generally shoot for flushes on the rows, and full houses, four of a kind, or three of a kind on the columns. This game allows you a great deal of latitude in card placement; take advantage of the free card movement to experiment with different strategies, and watch the results in the score box.

Poker Elimination

As this game is a combination of Poker Squares and Poker Shuffle, it shares many of the strategies discussed for those two games.  Remember that you can pass the mouse over the “Row” and “Col” labels in the score box to see what each hand is worth.  Remember also that hands are worth double as long as cards remain in the deck.  Once the deck is exhausted, you can move the cards freely, but you’ll lose that big bonus.

Poker Puzzle

This game often allows for very high scores.  I find that I can sometimes hold back potentially lucrative cards for later use, while using lower-value cards such as twos, threes, and fours just to get rid of them.  Be very careful that you remove hands along one of the edges of the grid (not the middle!) just before exhausting the deck.  Once the deck is empty, it’s very easy to end up blocking yourself off from further moves.

Poker Columns

This game has very pleasing card movement, but it can sometimes be tough to get good scores.  I usually play for flushes in four columns, and try for something special in the fifth column.  Remember that hands count double as long as cards remain in the deck.  Even more importantly, rows are doubled as well,  In other words, if you manage to create a nice hand in one of the rows during the first half of a game, you’ll get a very nice bonus indeed!

Poker Holdem

This game relies a bit more on luck and judgement than some of the other games in this collection.  That, coupled with the fact that you can only see five cards at once, makes for a sometimes-miserly score.  Offsetting that is the opportunity for a five-of-a-kind hand, possible in no other game in this collection.  Be careful of running out of cards before all ten hands are scored.  If you find yourself running out of cards, you may have to settle for whatever you can get by the end of the game.

Poker Yacht

In this game, strategy consists primarily of using your judgement to select the optimum home for a particular hand.  Some hands are subset of other hands, so early in a hand you can often aim for one of the more difficult hands, such as a Full House, and if you don’t get it, settle for a lesser hand such as Two Pair.  As more of the score card is filled, your choices become much more restricted.  The bonus granted on the top half of the score card is worth striving for, but not at the expense of even higher-scoring hands such as Four Of A Kind.  Finally, the “suit” hands can often be used as a fallback position if the desired hand does not appear.  Be careful of using up the suit hands too quickly.


7 in 1 Poker Patience Sound

This program produces a number of sounds, such as when the cards are shuffled, picked up, and set back down.  These sounds are built into the game, and may not be changed.  A future version of the program may offer customizable sound.

If you’re prefer that the program run silently, uncheck the “Sound Enabled” option in the Options dialog.  You may also enable or disable each of the individual sounds.


7 in 1 Poker Patience Options

General Options

Large/Small Cards – This option allows you to select either “large” (72 x 100) or “small” (45 x 63) cards.  The large cards look much nicer than the small cards, but take up more screen real estate.  If you’re running at 640x480, you’ll probably need to use the small card size.

Sound Options – This program produces a number of sounds, such as when the cards are shuffled, picked up, and set back down.  Normally, this enhances the gameplay, but if you’re playing 7 in 1 Poker Patience in a quiet environment, such as a library or office, and you don’t want to reduce your speaker volume, you may want to simply mute the game.  The “Sound Enabled” option does that for you.  Each of the individual sounds may also be enabled or disabled.  Note: The little speaker icon next to each of the sound names allows you to preview the sound. Refer to the Sound topic for more information.

Scoring System – 7 in 1 Poker Patience allows you to select from three different scoring systems.  “American” and “English” scoring are based on fixed point values for each hand.  The “Wild” system uses the values of the cards within a hand, as well as a multiplier based on the type of hand. Refer to the Scoring topic for more information.

Background

This set of options allows you to customize the appearance of the program.  The left-hand side of the dialog gives you a preview of how your background choices will look in an actual game.

Solid Color – Select this option if you’re running on a low-color computer, or simply don’t want to be distracted by fancy backgrounds.  Click the “Edit…” button to select a color.

Wallpaper – The program comes with a number of built-in wallpaper patterns.  Simply select one of the names from the list, and view it in the preview window on the left.

Bitmap – In addition to the standard wallpaper images included with the program, you can also select a custom wallpaper bitmap.  Click the “Browse…” button to search thru your hard disk for an appropriate image.


How To Contact The Publisher

World Wide Web

http://www.ultisoft.com

Internet E-Mail

support@ultisoft.com

Snail Mail

Ultisoft, Inc.
P. O. Box 5015
Central Point, OR 97502
USA

Phone

1-800-925-3147 (U.S. and Canada)
1-541-664-1885 (International)
1-541-664-3403 (FAX)

Your comments, criticisms, suggestions (and of course, registrations) are always welcome.  If you think of something that would make the game better, we'd like to hear it!

This program has been thoroughly tested and debugged, but with the wide range of hardware and software that Windows supports, problems are always possible. If you're having any difficulties with this game, please let us know about it, and we'll do our very best to help. Please describe the problem in as much detail as you can, and include information about your computer's configuration.

The latest version of this game, as well as a large number of other games, are available from the web site above.


About The Author

Randy Rasa has been writing and inventing solitaire games for many years, and is the author of a number of shareware solitaire games. He also maintains two popular and useful web sites:

Solitaire Central – http://www.solitairecentral.com

A central resource for solitaire and patience card game enthusists, with solitaire information, an online solitaire rulebook, a solitaire FAQ, and a huge number of links to solitaire for Windows, DOS, Macintosh, Windows CE, PalmPilot, the web, and other platforms.

The House Of Cards – http://thehouseofcards.com

The very best in card game and playing card information, with links to information and software for all types of card games, as well as information on playing cards themselves, card collecting, and card manufacturers.  Special sections for online card games and WebTV-compatible card games.


How To Register
How To Register 7 in 1 Poker Patience

Select the “Register” menu, of click the “Register” button in the “About Box” to bring up the Ultisoft Order Screen.  Read and follow the directions to register on the web, by e-mail, by phone, by fax, or by mail.


About Box
7 in 1 Poker Patience "About" Box

This dialog box is displayed each time you run the program (in the shareware version) or if you select the "Help-About ..." menu item. Once you have registered, received your code, and entered it, this box will no longer be displayed automatically each time you run the program.

You can click on the Register button to enter your registration code.


7 in 1 Poker Patience Revision History

v1.10 	02/05/1999

•	First public release for Ultisoft.

v1.00 	11/12/1998

•	First public release.


7 in 1 Poker Patience Registration Dialog

Here's where you enter the registration code you will receive as a registered user of 7 in 1 Poker Patience.  Once you enter the correct code, you need never see the shareware reminder screen again.


Hand Values Window

This window shows you the value of each poker hand that you may create, using the current scoring mode. This window will stay on to pf the main 7 in 1 Poker Patience Window.  To get rid of it, press F3 or select the "Hand Values" item on the "Options" menu.


Select Hand

Use the spin button, or type in a number, to select a specific hand number, in the range of 0 to 32767.


Select Player

Use this dialog to select a player from the list box …

Note: This dialog is not yet complete.