Getting Started

3.1. To Start Blackjack

You can start Blackjack in the following ways:

Applications menu

Choose Games  ▸ Blackjack.

Command line

To start Blackjack from a command line, type the following command, then press Return:

blackjack

3.2. When You Start Blackjack

When you start Blackjack, the following window is displayed.

Figure 1Blackjack Start Up Window

The Blackjack window contains the following elements:

Menubar

The menus on the menubar contain all of the commands you need to work with files in Blackjack.

Toolbar

The toolbar contains a subset of the commands that you can access from the menubar.

Statusbar

The statusbar displays information about current Blackjack activity and contextual information about the menu items.

Playing area

The playing area contains the dealer position, player position, player wager stack, and the player's chips.

3.3. Blackjack Menus

The menu bar, located above the game table, contains the following menus:

Game

This menu contains these items:

  • New game (Ctrl-N) — This clears the table and starts a new game.
  • Restart game — This clears the table and restarts the game.
  • Hint — This will give you the computer's best suggestion for your move.
  • Exit (Ctrl-Q) — This quits the game.

Settings

This menu contains these items:

  • Show tool bar — This toggle switches the tool bar on and off.
  • Preferences… — This opens the Preferences Dialog, allowing you to configure the game.

Help

This menu contains:

  • Contents — Opens your help browser and shows this manual.
  • About — Opens the About Dialog, showing basic information about Blackjack such as its version number and the names of its authors.

3.4. Blackjack Playing Area

The playing area (or table), located below the toolbar, contains the following elements:

Dealer position

This is where the dealer hand will be placed. It is located at the top of the playing area. On a clear table it will appear as a white outlined region.

Player positions

This is where the player's hands will be placed. Initially, there will be only one player position. More will be created if the player splits a hand. On a clear table they will appear as white outlines below the dealer position.

Player wager stack

The wager stack represents the initial wager on each hand. It consists of a stack of chips located directly to the left of each player position.

Player chips

The player's chips represent an infinite stack of chips for each of the chip values 100, 25, 5, and 1. These chips are used to modify the wager.