Blackjack Banshee 🎴

A modern, feature-rich blackjack card counting trainer with a spooky twist! Practice your card counting skills, learn basic strategy, and improve your game with this sleek web application.

Features

• Card Counting Practice: Real-time running count and true count display using the Hi-Lo system
• Basic Strategy Guide: Interactive strategy recommendations with explanations
• Split Functionality: Full support for splitting pairs
• Customizable Gameplay: Adjust deck count and dealing speed
• Visual Card Distinction: Special styling for Aces (green glow) and face cards (gold borders)
• Count History Tracking: Keep track of your counting progress throughout the shoe
• Remaining Cards Display: See exactly which cards are left in the shoe
• Smooth Animations: Realistic card dealing with customizable speed
• Dark Theme: Easy on the eyes with a modern, futuristic design

How to Play

1. Open the Game: Simply open index.html in your web browser
2. Deal Cards: Press Space or click "Deal" to start a new hand
3. Make Decisions: Choose to Hit, Stand, Double Down, or Split (when available)
4. Track the Count: Watch the running count update as cards are dealt
5. Learn Strategy: Follow the basic strategy recommendations to improve your play

Hotkeys

Game Controls

• Space - Deal new hand
• H - Hit
• S - Stand
• Z - Double down
• X - Split (when you have a pair)
• R - Reset shoe

Display Toggles

• C - Show/Hide running count
• Shift+C - Show/Hide remaining cards display
• B - Show/Hide basic strategy guide

Navigation

• Escape - Hide count display

Card Counting System (Hi-Lo)

The game uses the Hi-Lo counting system:

• +1: Cards 2-6 (low cards)
• 0: Cards 7-9 (neutral cards)
• -1: Cards 10, J, Q, K, A (high cards)

Count Display

• HC: Hand Count - Count of visible cards in the current hand only
• RC: Running Count - The raw count of all cards seen
• TC: True Count - Running count divided by remaining decks
• Decks: Number of decks remaining in the shoe

Basic Strategy

The trainer includes a comprehensive basic strategy guide that shows:

• Recommended action for your current hand
• Detailed explanation of why that action is optimal
• Real-time feedback on your decisions
• Accuracy tracking to monitor your improvement

Settings

Click the gear icon (⚙️) in the top right to access settings:

Deck Count

Choose from 1, 2, 4, 6, or 8 decks

Deal Speed

Adjust the speed of card dealing from 100ms (fast) to 2000ms (slow)

• Default: 1000ms (realistic dealer speed)

Special Features

Split Mode

When you split a pair:

• Cards separate into two hands displayed side by side
• Active hand is highlighted in green
• Play each hand completely before moving to the next
• See individual results for each hand

Visual Card Design

• Aces: Green border with animated sparkle effect
• Face Cards (J/Q/K): Gold borders with crown symbols
• Regular Cards: Clean, classic design

Count History

The right sidebar tracks your counting history, showing:

• Timestamp of each action
• Running count at that moment
• Description of what happened

Tips for Card Counting Practice

1. Start with Single Deck: Begin with 1 deck to practice basic counting
2. Hide the Count: Use the 'C' key to hide/show the count and test yourself
3. Check Remaining Cards: Use Shift+C to verify your count against actual remaining cards
4. Watch the True Count: This is more important than running count for betting decisions
5. Practice Basic Strategy: Try to make the correct play before checking the recommendation

Technical Details

• Pure Frontend: No server required - runs entirely in your browser
• Responsive Design: Works on desktop and tablet devices
• Modern JavaScript: Built with ES6+ features
• CSS Animations: Smooth, GPU-accelerated animations
• Local Storage: Settings are saved between sessions

Browser Compatibility

Works best in modern browsers:

• Chrome (recommended)
• Firefox
• Safari
• Edge

Version Management

This project uses automatic version management that updates the version displayed in the settings with the current git commit hash.

How it works

1. VERSION constant: The script.js file contains a VERSION constant at the top that stores the current git hash.
2. Automatic updates: The version is updated automatically when deploying via make deploy
3. Manual update: You can manually update the version by running:

   ./update-version.sh

Deployment

To deploy the latest version:

make deploy

This will:

• Update the VERSION constant with the current git hash
• Commit all changes
• Push to the origin repository

Notes

• The version will show "dev" when not in a git repository
• The version uses the short hash (first 7 characters) for brevity
• The version is displayed in the Settings modal footer

Credits

Created with 🎰 by the Blackjack Banshee

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Remember: This is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Always gamble responsibly!