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  PUNTER                         (c)1990 Back Street Software / Wizard Games  


PUNTER - a game of skill and chance: for gamblers, would-be millionaires,and all
         punters anywhere!


You  start  with  50000  and  try  to  make  a  million,  by one or more of the
following:

          - Betting on the daily horse races
          - Weekly football pools
          - Play Bob (your friendly? computer) at Pontoon or Poker
          - Hack into the bank's computer
          - 1,000,000 jackpot bandit
          - buy and sell shares on the Wizard stockmarket

Watch the Jackpot meter while you make your first million - then go on and on..

If you run out of money, Bob will still take bets for pontoon and poker, and the
bandit  will  allow you credit. But beware - debts of over 50, 000 will have an
unpleasant effect on you come the end of the day!

STAKES ETC

Throughout the game, select your stake amount by using the , , ,  keys PgUp,
PgDn,  Home  and End will generally alter the stake by larger amounts. Press Esc
to chicken out. Press  or spacebar to place stake.


F2 - BET

There is one race every day.

You can only bet if you have more than 1.

Choose a nag: tips are worth considering. You can only choose one horse per race

Bet  to  win  (press  Y), or else bet each way (in which the cost of your bet is
doubled).

Press Esc  to chicken out at any point.

Press F4 to see the race, but only when you have finished that day's play.

Your horse in the race will be highlighted in red.


F3 - PONTOON

You must surely know the rules of pontoon? If you don't, then ask a friend!

Bob is  always the bank, and will match your chosen stake. Maximum stake allowed
is 100,000.

You may increase or decrease your stake before twisting; thereafter you may only
increase the stake.

Press Enter to twist, F10 to stick. After F10, Bob will take his turn.

Bob may get angry if you end up owing too much money.


F5 - BANDIT

10 per game on the 1,000,000 jackpot bandit!

See  the  bandit screen for winning combinations. The jackpot can be won only by
ascending  to  the  top  of  the  ladder.  sends you back to the start, as does
having no number in your winning line.

NUDGE:  use  and  keys to move the wheel above the highlighted NUDGE bar up or
down.  Any  other  key  ends  the  NUDGE. You will be allowed a random number of
nudges.

HOLD:  press  the spacebar to HOLD the wheel above the highlighted HOLD bar. Any
other  key  moves  HOLD  to  the  next  wheel, or ends the HOLD (after the third
wheel).

GAMBLE:  always offered on any winning line. Press the spacebar to COLLECT or F1
to GAMBLE. If gambling, press spacebar when WIN is highlighted, to win. You may
gamble as many times as you like, until you lose.


F6 - STOCKMARKET

The Wizard Stockmarket has its own help screen - press F1 when in the market.

Once  you  have  entered  the  stockmarket,  you must spend the rest of that day
there. Press Esc to jump to the end of the day. Press Esc again to return to the
main PUNTER screen.


F7 - POOLS

The  Pools  let  you stake money on predicting either draws or home results from
five  20  team  leagues.  Matches  are all played on Saturday, but coupon can be
filled in, or altered any day of the week.

To  win  the  jackpot  you  need  to  predict 8 score draws from 10 selected (or
predict  all  the  draws  if  there  are less than 8). You can also win a lesser
dividend  by accumulating 21 or more points from your 8 best predictions. If you
choose  to predict home wins you must get all 10 correct. The dividend will then
depend on how many home wins there were in total throughout the 5 leagues.

To  predict a match to be a draw press the Enter key. An X should appear next to
that  match.  To  predict  a  home win press F1. An H should appear next to that
match. If you change your mind press any key marked DEL when the bar is over the
correct  fixture. The X or H will disappear. If you select the League option you
will  be  shown the league table for the division which the teams under the menu
bar  play  in. It is worthwhile doing the pools as the cost is only 1 for homes
or draws.

F2 lets you see the league tables. PUNTER has 38 weeks in a year, corresponding
to the length of the football season.

If  you  select less than 10 matches, your coupon will be ignored. Otherwise you
will get the results on Saturday.


F8 - POKER

The  ANTE is the opening stake, which must be paid again for every card changed.
The maximum 'ANTE' is 20,000.

The KITTY includes Bob's stake money.

There are no wild cards. Ace is always high.

Bob is always the banker.

F1 lets you rearrange your cards.

  lets you change up to three of your cards. You only get one chance per game.
You  can  raise  Bob,  after  changing  your  cards, by hitting the  key. If he
doesn't meet you, you win.

 again ends your turn. Bob may then change some of his cards, and then might
raise you. If you don't meet him , you lose, without getting to see his cards.

Winning hands are evaluated in the following order:

Best - Royal Flush (5 run; ace high)
2nd  - Flush (run of 5)
3rd  - 4 of a kind
4th  - Full House (3 of a kind, and one pair)
5th  - 3 of a kind
6th  - 2 Pairs
7th  - Straight (run of 4)
8th  - Pair
9th  - High Card

If you have the same class of hand as Bob, the winner is determined as follows:

- Royal Flush : better suit
- Flush : best card in flush, or if equal then better suit
- 4 of a kind : best card
- Full House : best 3 of a kind
- 3 of a kind : best card
- 2 Pairs : better of your greater pair, and Bob's greater pair. If equal, then
better of your lesser pairs. If equal then better fifth card
- Straight : best card in run, or if equal then better suit
- Pair : better pair, or if equal then highest card
- High Card : better card. If equal then better of your second best cards. if
equal then better of your third best cards. Etc for fourth and fifth

Suits are valued as follows:

Best - 
2nd  - 
3rd  - 
4th  - 

If no winner can be determined from these rules, then Bob wins by default
(being the banker).


F9 - HACK

You  too  can  be  a  hacker.  You  have  five  minutes  only to get into Fetish
Smelecom's  computer by guessing the four-letter password. Clues are given. Then
five  more  minutes to guess a five-letter password to get into their data: what
to do then is up to you to work out!

If you get this far, you then have to find the six-letter password to the bank's
conputer,  then  a  seven-letter password to the data. Again you must figure out
what to do then. Beware, you may be caught!


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That's it folks - bon chance!
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For information on other WIZARD games, contact

  WIZARD GAMES
  PO BOX 12
  KELSO
  TD5 8BG
  SCOTLAND

or

  WIZARD GAMES OF SCOTLAND
  PO BOX 498
  WILMINGTON
  MA 01887-0498
  U.S.A.

  1-508-658-2209

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  PUNTER                         (c)1990 Back Street Software / Wizard Games  

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