Tommy's fan tan (c) copyright 1990 by tommy's toys
P. O. Box 11261, denver, co 80211 usa. All rights reserved.
Catalog #90-131-1a
Instructions:
Fan tan is an old game of ill-repute. Tommy's fan tan makes it respectable
Again, implementing the original game plus several variants. (in real games
Of fan tan, players in cahoots with each other can arrange to squeeze the
"mark" for his dough by making him think he is winning until the end, when all
The cards "mysteriously" go against him ... In tommy's fan tan you don't think
We'd clip you, do you?)
Players:
3 to 8 may play. The computer can play any or all of the hands (enter a
Null name). In addition, hitting function key f2 during play causes the
Computer to take charge of all hands (until f2 is pressed again) for a demo
Mode. Of course, keyboard-player hands must be shown on the screen, so if
There is more than one keyboard player, they can see each other's hand.
Fancy note: if you enter a name starting with ctrl-d then it will be taken as
A computer, not a keyboard, player.
Open hands: any hand played by the computer is concealed from the screen.
The open hands option is to force the computer to show cards on the screen.
Cards:
The standard deck of 52 is used. Card ranking is ace low, king high.
Dealer:
With real cards the first player drawing a jack deals. In tommy's fan tan
The initial dealer is chosen by the computer after flipping a coin in its
Inscrutable circuits.
The pots:
At the beginning each player is given m chips. Play continues indefinitely
As long as 2 or more players have some chips left. M is equal to 100*l,
Where l is the user-selected difficulty level, 1..9.
The pool & the ante:
Before each deal each player antes 1 chip to the pool, a central pot which
Is the current wager for the deal.
The deal & the equity option:
The dealer deals cards one at a time clockwise (to the left), beginning with
The first player to the left. The whole pack is dealt out regardless of
Whether some players end up with one more card than others (if the equity
Option is active then the players who have less cards must ante one chip to
The pool).
The play:
The concept of the game is "play or pay": a player unable to play a card in
His turn must throw a chip into the pool and pass.
To enter a card: just type in the rank (a,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,t,j,q,k) and suit
(s,h,d,c), or type p to pass. Or use the left and right arrow keys on the
Numeric key pad to hilite the card you want, then press the <enter> key.
Passing:
A player can pass when able to play, but he must throw in an additional n
Chips, where n is the number of players still in the game. If he passed when
Able to play a foundation card (see below), he must pay an additional 5 chips
To the pool. Note: if one can play either a foundation card or a building
(non-foundation) card, the non-foundation card can be played with no penalty.
To pass: hit the "p" key.
The winner of the hand:
Play ends when any player gets rid of his last card. Each other player must
Then put 1 extra chip in the pool for each card remaining in his hand. The
Winner (who got rid of his last card first) then takes the entire pool and
A new hand is begun.
Game:
As players exhaust their chips they drop from the game. When there are only
2 players left the one with the most chips wins the game. Opinions differ
Here, from shanghai to the orion nebula, but some then permit the winner to
Take the loser's chips also, while some let them each go home with their
Booty.
Note: during a hand, if any player has to drop because he runs out of chips,
The hand goes dead, the pool is left untouched, and a new hand is dealt.
Game modes:
There are 4 ways to play the game:
1. Sevens (parliament)
2. Five or nine
3. Play or pay
4. Original fan tan
1. In sevens, the 7-spot is the foundation card. Until the first 7-spot is
Played no other card can be played. Once a 7 is laid down, the 6 and 8
Of the same suit are playable, and so on like in solitaire, building up the
King and down to the ace at the same time. As the four sevens are played,
Each is kept in its own row, increasing the scope of playable cards.
2. In five or nine, the first card laid on the table may either be a 5 or a 9.
Thereafter the card is played as in sevens, with the 5 or 9 fixing the
Four foundation cards.
3. In play or pay, the first player (eldest hand) leads any card (he may not
Pass). Thereafter the player at his left must play the next higher card of
The same suit, or pass. The sequence of cards wraps around, that is, ace
Follows king and deuce follows ace. After the 13th card in the suit is
Played, the player of the 13th card leads any card to start a new sequence.
4. In original fan tan, the first lead fixes the rank of all four set or
Foundation cards, when are then built both up and down in continuous sequence.
Again, the lead player may not pass.
Restarting a game:
When asked for a card to play, you can hit the esc key and restart the game
From scratch instead.
Replay hand option:
Before shuffling the cards for a new hand you can tell the computer to reset
The deck like it was in the last hand, with the dealership optionally changing
Hands also. Note that in any case the dealership is determined by you, not by
The natural rules of play.
High score file:
If there is one keyboard player competing against 2-7 computerized hands,
And he beats them all, a score is awarded based on how long it took to beat
Them, and the number of chips won. The 10 highest scores for each difficulty
Level are automatically kept on disk by the computer.
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Function key commands:
Sound effects toggle: function key f1 toggles the sound effects on and off.
Demo mode toggle: function key f2 toggles the demo mode. In demo mode, the
Computer plays both hands.
Note that for all "toggle" keys the legend at the bottom of the screen
Indicates the mode that will be entered by pressing the key, which is the
Opposite of the mode in effect at the time.
To quit: hit function key f7.
To display these instructions: hit function key f5.
To change the screen border color (color monitors only): hit function key f10.
Command line parameters:
s start up with sound off
m force mono mode
c force color mode
Example: >fantan ms
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Tommy's toys, p.o. Box 11261, denver, co 80211 usa.
Have fun!
