Thursday, August 21, 1997

When gamblers have nothing to lose

(These are reviews of shareware programs for IBM-compatible computers. The programs are available from the Internet and on disks and CD-ROM from this column. Users try them, then pay a fee to register if they decide to use them regularly.)

By Noah Matthews

Knight-Ridder Newspapers

From where we live, Las Vegas is a mere five hours away. But only three hours away, at the Nevada border, the casinos start. Gas stations have casinos and slots, coffee shops have casinos and slots, and once we even dropped a quarter into a slot on our way to a restroom. Trust us, it's an addiction.

Here's a solution for gamblers who'd rather win and lose in front of a computer monitor:

GAMBLER'S HEAVEN CD-ROM (IBM) - This classic has been updated for Windows 95, and it will run under Windows 3.1 and even under DOS. In all, it has 275 games for every kind of gambler. They don't call it Gambler's Heaven for nothing.

You want cribbage? You get cribbage. Blackjack? Bingo? Lotto, Hearts? NFL Forecaster? Roulette? Baccarat? Gin? Video Poker? Slots? Rummy? Pinochle? Keno? Craps? Yacht-Z? Canasta? Five Card Draw? Crazy 8's? There are answers here for everyone. And, win or lose, you're only out the modest cost of the CD.

Gambler's Heaven runs from your CD-ROM drive, or you can copy programs to your hard disk. It's menu-friendly, and about the only thing it doesn't do is take your money. I haven't seen this many card games, casino games and lotto games in one place since the last time I visited Lost Wages (purely for research purposes). Go ahead, enjoy.

I've also downloaded the latest card games from the Internet. These are available on floppy disks for IBM-compatibles.

One of the handsomest sets is Fun Cards, which goes by the compressed name of Funcrd95. Despite its name, the program doesn't require Windows 95. Windows 3.1 will work as well for this set of four games: Hearts, Spades, Cribbage and Go Fish. Look for FUNCRD95.ZIP at ftp://fs001.infi.net/pub/sjmercury/shareware/081797 - where you'll also find other games reviewed here.

For an elaborate Windows 95 version of Spades, try SPADES32.ZIP, which provides a championship version of the game. Less elaborate Windows card games include handsome versions of Patience that you'll find as PATIEN12.ZIP, of Acey Deucy or Red Dog (AD.ZIP) and of Nine-Card Pitch, a variant of Auction Pitch in which you and a partner play against the computer.