Brings back memories. One of my earliest programs was a Black Jack simulation. I found the mathematically most sound betting program from books, and simulated play over millions of hands. What I concluded was that you needed to bet very large amounts to make any decent money, and if you made any mistakes, as humans do, a few would put a weeks work to no gains and a few more would put you in the poor house. That program was possibly responsible for my first practice. The money I saved up working while in high school and college would have gone straight to the casinos, had I not made that simulator, oh, and read a book that pretty clearly stated that if you believe the people who built Vegas on organized crime wouldn't cheat you at cards, think again. It only takes replacing a couple of 5s or 2s for 10-count cards in an entire shoe to tilt the odds back in the house's favor.
Anyway, long story longer.... beautiful background, neat layout, and it sounds like this baby will have all the bells and whistles of a first class made for prime time computer game. It's stuff like this that makes we wish Rob would have had a simple way to port the language to mobile device. Obviously I'm glad he didn't try with Windows phone, RIP, but it would be neat to see this game on tablets, Android phones and iphones, but I digress... In regard to the game, it's great that you included double down, insurance, surrender, etc. Very professional! I haven't read all the pages, so I'll ask. Did you consider a two version option, playing from a shoe, which is Vegas style, or playing from a 52 card deck, which is played in Reno?
Awesome project. Best wishes on its completion,
Pete
