atari2600land's Blog

Baccarat is kinda high-stakes Blackjack (in that you start with 2 cards and then get more cards trying to get a higher score). But unlike Blackjack, there's little/no decision making. The cards you (or the dealer) has determines whether you (or the dealer) gets another card. Hmm.. kinda like BJ where you automatically follow the basic strategy.

 

Keno is akin to a typical N of M lotto. You pick N numbers from M possible values and the house picks a set of numbers. The more numbers you match, the more you win.

 

Craps is really two games. There's the base game with the "come-out" (2,3&12 lose; 7&11 win, others become the point number) and point (point number win; 7 lose; others roll again). The second game is all of the side bets.

 

Wikipedia has decent info on the various casino games. The real limitation on the 2600 is the screen real estate and resolution. Tough to display 5 cards with playfield graphics. (Not to say it can't be done, but...)

 

Hmmm... it might be cool (and possible) to do Texas Hold-em on the 2600. Each player has a paddle to select the action, and press the button to pick the action, including showing what cards they have.

 

I spent some time in a casino in the Bahamas and had some fun. But since then I've soured on them as all casino games are either random number games against the house advantage or skill games against the other players. Either way, I'm going to lose.