Play Atari 2600 Video Games Online

Back to main list of All our 2600 Games

The Atari 2600 was first released in North America in September 1977 and featured 9 launch titles: Air-Sea BattleBasic MathBlackjackCombatIndy 500Star ShipStreet RacerSurround and Video Olympics. The final licensed Atari 2600 game released in North America was Secret Quest in 1989, and the final licensed game released in Europe was Klax and Acid Drop in 1990 and 1992. Even with their 1980s limited colors and block graphics these games are still entertaining to play today! We have over 500 Atari 2600 games for you to play online for free using our Atari 2600 Javascript Emulator.

This game is mobile device friendly and Iphone compatible. Enjoy!

Instructions and Keyboard Controls towards bottom of page.
Click “Game Reset” or F12 to Start Game

Casino

INSTRUCTIONS:
If you grew up in the 80’s you shouldn’t need instructions!! You might find some help at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Atari_2600_games and look up the game you need assistance playing.

CONTROLS:
Click “Game Reset” or F12 to Begin/Restart Game
Arrow Keys – Move
Space bar to fire/action button


TRANSCRIBED ORIGINAL ATARI GAME MANUAL AND INSTRUCTIONS
CASINO

by Atari
c 1979


Use your Standard Paddle Controllers with this ATARI(R) Game
Program(tm).  Be sure the Controller cable is firmly plugged into the
jack at the rear of your ATARI Video Computer System(tm).

For one and two player games, plug the Paddle Controllers into the LEFT
CONTROLLER jack.

For three and four players, you will need an additional set of Paddle
Controllers.  See Section 3 of your Owner's Manual for further details.

Note: Always turn the console power switch OFF when inserting or
removing an ATARI Game Program.  This will protect the electronic
components and prolong the life of your ATARI Video Computer System.

Note: To play any Casino game, be sure to depress the game Reset switch
after you turn the power to ON.



HOW TO PLAY BLACK JACK
----------------------

This Game Program has two games of Black Jack:
* Game 1 -- One or two players with card splitting
* Game 2 -- Up to four players with no card splitting
All players compete against the Computer Dealer.  Each card is worth
points.  The object is to score 21 points or as close to 21 points as
possible without "busting" (exceeding 21 points).

Note the following point system for cards:
* Number Cards = Face Value (i.e. 5 = 5 points)
* Ace (A) = 1 or 11 points
* Jack (J), Queen (Q), and King (K) = 10 points


Hard and Soft Hands

A card hand is called soft when the Ace is used as 11 points.  A card
hand is hard when the Ace is used as 1 point.  For example, a soft 17
is an Ace (11 points) and a 6.  A hard 17 could be 10,6 and an Ace (1
point).


Hit or Stay

The Computer deals two cards face-up to each player.  The Computer also
deals two cards to itself -- one face-up and another face-down.  If you
are satisfied with the points of your first cards, STAY on that hand. 
If you want more points, request a HIT, and the dealer will give you
another card.  Continue to take hits until:
1 -- You are satisfied with your hand (STAY)
     OR
2 -- You exceed 21 points and BUST (lose the game).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Accepted Black Jack strategy is to STAY on 18, 19 or 20 points.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------


Winning

When you win a hand, you win the amount of chips you bet.  You win
whenever:

* Your card hand equals 21 points or less and is more points than the   
  dealer's hand.
* The dealer busts by exceeding 21 points.
* You score Black Jack (Ace and a face card or a 10-card).

When you score Black Jack, you win 1 1/2 times your bet.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: A tie game (called PUSH) occurs when the dealer's card points
equal your card points.  In a push you do not win or lose your bet.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------


CONSOLE CONTROLS FOR BLACK JACK GAMES

Game Reset

Slide this switch to reset each player's score to 1000 (the number of
betting chips each player initially receives).


Game Select

Use this switch to select the game you want to play.  Press the switch
and the number of the particular game appears in the upper left corner. 
Game 1 -- Black Jack, 1 or 2 players; Game 2 -- Black Jack, 1 to 4
players.


Left Difficulty Switch

When the switch is in the "b" position, the Computer will shuffle the
cards after each hand.  With the switch in "a" position, the Computer
will shuffle the cards after 34 cards are dealt.


Right Difficulty Switch

This switch determines the rules of the games.  When in the "b"
position, Casino I Rules are used:

* Dealer stays on 18 or greater.
* Dealer stays on hard 17 (all Aces count 1 point)
* You automatically win the hand when you take the maximum number of    
  hits without busting. (Game 1: 3 or 8 hits; Game 2: 3 hits)

In "a" position, Casino II Rules are observed:

* Dealer stays on 17 or greater


CONTROLLER ACTION TO PLAY BLACK JACK

To Begin Play

Press your red controller button once to get into the game.  Press the
controller button again to place your bet.


Betting

Each player receives a "Bank" of 1000 chips.  When it's time to bet, a
question mark will appear to the right of your betting digits.  Turn
the controller knob to select the amount of your bet, which can range
from 20 to 200 chips.  Enter your bet into the computer by pressing the
red controller button.

If there is more than one player, the last player to make his be erases
any cards from the previous game on the screen.  The Computer then
deals the hand.

Each time you win or lose a hand, your bet is automatically added or
subtracted to your total number of chips on the playfield.


Leaving the Game

If one or more players wish to leave the game (but) wants to save his
Bank) depress the console game select switch four (4) times.  Each
player remaining in the game must then press his controller button and
the game will continue.

The players who have left the game can return by pressing their
controller button before the deal.  The computer will "deal them in"
and display their previous Bank total.


Hit, Stay or Double Down

After players make their bets, the computer deals two cards to each
player.

* If you are satisfied with the points of your first two cards, turn    
  the controller knob until the word STAY appears.  Press the red       
  controller button to indicate your decision.

* If you want another card, turn the controller knob until the word HIT 
  appears.  Press the red controller button and the computer will deal  
  another card to you.  Continue to HIT until you are satisfied with    
  the point value of your hand.  The maximum number of hits allowed for 
  Game 2 is 3.  In Game 1 the number of hits allowed is 3 or 8.

* You may double your bet after the first two cards are dealt.  Turn    
  the controller knob to DBLE.  Then press the red controller button.   
  One more card appears, and no more hits are allowed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Doubling is not allowed when the original bet is more than half
the number of remaining chips.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------


Splitting

Only Game 1 allows splitting.  When your first two cards have identical
value (i.e. two 5's, or a Jack and King) you can split your cards into
two hands.  Turn the controller knob until the letters SPLIT appear. 
Press the red controller button and the computer deals a card to each
of the SPLIT cards.  Now you play the two sets of cards as separate
hands.  Your original bet is also duplicated for the second card hand.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Splitting is allowed only if the bet is less than half of your
remaining chips.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------


Insurance

Both Games 1 and 2 allow insurance.  The need for insurance occurs when
the computer dealer's hand shows one face-down card and an Ace...a
possible Black Jack combination.

An "i" will appear on your set-up.  If you wish to protect your bet
from a possible dealer Black Jack, turn the controller knob to INSR and
press the red controller button.  If you wish no insurance, turn the
controller knob until the word PASS appears and press the red
controller button.

The price of insurance is half your bet.  Each player must decide on
insurance.  If the dealer has Black Jack, the dealer's face down card
is shown.  All players lose their original bets.  Players with
insurance win twice the amount of their insurance bets which is equal
to their original bets.

If the dealer does not have a Black Jack, the players with insurance
lose their insurance bets.  The game play continues as each player
decides to hit, stay or double down.



STUD POKER -- GAME 3
--------------------

Game 3 is Stud Poker for one to four players.  Players compete against
the Computer Dealer.  The Computer deals five cards to each player and
five cards to itself.  Before the first card is dealt and after the
second, third, fourth and fifth cards are dealt, players must place
bets or fold (drop out of the game).  The object is to beat the
dealer's five-card hand.  The following chart shows the ranking of
possible card hands starting with the highest valued hand:

[Since the keyboard doesn't provide keys that look like hearts,
diamonds, spades, and clubs, the following keys will be used to
represent them: * is a club, ^ is a spade, v is a heart, and + is a
diamond] 
      ___     ___     ___     ___     ___
     |  *|   |  *|   |  *|   |  *|   |  *|
     | A |   | K |   | Q |   | J |   | 10|
     |___|   |___|   |___|   |___|   |___|

     Royal Flush - All cards are the same suit and are sequential with
     the Ace being the highest card.

      ___     ___     ___     ___     ___
     |  v|   |  v|   |  v|   |  v|   |  v|
     | 5 |   | 6 |   | 7 |   | 8 |   | 9 |
     |___|   |___|   |___|   |___|   |___|

     Straight Flush - All five cards are the same suit and are
     sequential.

      ___     ___     ___     ___     ___
     |  v|   |  ^|   |  *|   |  +|   |  ^|
     | 3 |   | 3 |   | 3 |   | 3 |   | 4 |
     |___|   |___|   |___|   |___|   |___|

     Four of a Kind - Four out of the five cards are the same value.

      ___     ___     ___     ___     ___
     |  *|   |  ^|   |  v|   |  *|   |  +|
     | A |   | A |   | A |   | 2 |   | 2 |
     |___|   |___|   |___|   |___|   |___|
     
     Full House - Three cards are the same value and the remaining two
     cards are the same value.

      ___     ___     ___     ___     ___
     |  *|   |  *|   |  *|   |  *|   |  *|
     | A |   | 10|   | 5 |   | 7 |   | 9 |
     |___|   |___|   |___|   |___|   |___|

     Flush - all five cards are the same suit.

      ___     ___     ___     ___     ___
     |  ^|   |  v|   |  ^|   |  *|   |  v|
     | 5 |   | 6 |   | 7 |   | 8 |   | 9 |
     |___|   |___|   |___|   |___|   |___|`

     Straight - All five cards are sequential.

      ___     ___     ___     ___     ___
     |  +|   |  *|   |  ^|   |  *|   |  v|
     | 10|   | 10|   | 10|   | Q |   | K |
     |___|   |___|   |___|   |___|   |___|

     Three of a Kind - Three of the five cards are the same value.

      ___     ___     ___     ___     ___
     |  +|   |  *|   |  ^|   |  +|   |  *|
     | Q |   | Q |   | J |   | J |   | 2 |
     |___|   |___|   |___|   |___|   |___|

     Two Pairs

      ___     ___     ___     ___     ___
     |  ^|   |  v|   |  +|   |  v|   |  *|
     | 7 |   | A |   | 7 |   | 6 |   | 5 |
     |___|   |___|   |___|   |___|   |___|

     One Pair

      ___     ___     ___     ___     ___
     |  v|   |  +|   |  ^|   |  +|   |  *|
     | A |   | 5 |   | 6 |   | 7 |   | 2 |
     |___|   |___|   |___|   |___|   |___|

     High Card - Example: If a hand has an Ace, 5, 6, 7 and 2, the
     high card is an Ace.  This beats a hand that has no higher card
     combinations.  A hand with and Ace and an 8 (or higher) would be
     this hand.


If your hand ranks higher than the Computer Dealer's, you win an amount
equal to what you bet.  If the Computer's hand beats yours, you lose
your bet.

If your hand and the dealer's hand rank the same, the hand with the
highest value card wins.  If all five cards match in numerical value,
it's a tie game and no scoring change occurs.


CONSOLE CONTROLS FOR STUD POKER

Game Reset

Slide this switch to reset your score to 1000 (the number of betting
chips each player initially receives).


Game Select

Press the game select switch until the number 3 appears in the upper
left corner.  Now you're ready to play Stud Poker.


Left Difficulty Switch

When this switch is in "a" position, the dealer's first card will be
dealt face down.


Right Difficulty Switch

The player's first card will be dealt face down when the switch is in
"a" position.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: When both difficulty switches are in "b" position both the
player's and the the dealer's cards are dealt face-up.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------


CONTROLLER ACTION FOR STUD POKER

To Begin Play

Press your red controller button once to get into the game.  Press the
controller button again to place your bet.

Each player receives a "Bank" of 1000 chips on the set-ups.  Before the
first card is dealt, an "i" will appear next to your chip score.  You
must make your initial bet (ante).  Turn the controller knob to select
the amount.  Bets must be between 10 and 100 chips.  Enter your bet
into the computer by pressing the red controller button.  The Computer
deals two cards to each player and two cards to itself.  Bets are made
again using the same betting procedure.  Players continue to make bets
after the third, fourth, and fifth cards are dealt.  A player can fold
(drop out of the hand), at any time after the ante.  If your hand ranks
higher than the dealer's, all the chips you bet are automatically added
to your score on the screen.

To play again, place your ante bet.
 ________       ________       ________       ________
|     #  |     |    ##  |     |  ##  ##|     |    ##  |
|   ## ##|     |  ##  ##|     |    ##  |     |  ##  ##|
|     #  |     |        |     |        |     |    ##  |
|        |     |        |     |        |     |        |
|        |     |        |     |        |     |        |
|________|     |________|     |________|     |________|
   CLUB           SPADE          HEART         DIAMOND


Leaving the Game

If one or more players wish to leave the game (but wants to save his
Bank) depress the console game select switch four (4) times.  Each
player remaining in the game must then press his controller button and
the game will continue.

The players who have left the game can return by pressing their
controller button before the deal.  The computer will "deal them in"
and display their previous Bank total.


BREAKING THE BANK OR GOING BROKE
In any of the Casino games, you've broken the Bank if your score
reaches 10,000.  Press the red controller button to enter the game
again with another 1000 chips.



POKER SOLITAIRE
---------------

Game 4 is a one-player game, Poker Solitaire.  The matrix on the screen
has five rows and five columns, creating 25 card positions.  Cards
appear one at a time at the top of the screen.  You must select a
matrix position for each card.  After you fill each matrix position,
you will have 12 poker hands worth points.  (5 horizontal poker hands,
5 vertical poker hands and 2 diagonal poker hands).

A flashing cursor appears on the screen at all times.  You can move the
cursor by turning your controller knob.  To place a card in a
particular matrix position, move the cursor to the matrix position and
press the red controller button.  The card will appear in the position
you selected with the cursor, and the next card in the deck will appear
at the top of the screen.


SCORING FOR POKER SOLITAIRE

For a description of poker hands, see the chart under STUD POKER.  The
list on the following page reviews the points of each hand in Poker
Solitaire.

Royal Flush (Ace High Card).................................500 Points
Straight Flush..............................................300 Points
Four of a Kind..............................................160 Points
Straight....................................................120 Points
Full House..................................................100 Points
Three of a Kind..............................................60 Points
Flush........................................................50 Points
Two Pair.....................................................30 Points
Pair.........................................................10 Points
All other Combinations........................................0 Points

Your objective is to build the best 12 poker hands from the 5 columns,
5 rows and 2 diagonal configurations.  The maximum number of points you
can score is 3340.

 4 -- Royal Flushes............... 2000 points
 5 -- Four of a Kind..............  800 points
 2 -- Straights...................  240 points
 1 -- Straight Flush..............  300 points
                                  ------
12 -- Hands....................... 3340 points


CONSOLE CONTROLS FOR POKER SOLITAIRE

Game Select

Press the game select switch until the number 4 appears in the upper
left corner.  Now you're ready to play Poker Solitaire.


Game Reset

Use this switch each time you want to start the game.


CONTROLLER ACTION TO PLAY POKER SOLITAIRE

You've already pressed the reset console button to start game action. 
Now the screen is cleared, the card deck shuffled and the deal begins.

You have 25 matrix positions to fill with cards.  Select the position
of the cards which appear one at a time at the top of the screen.

Turn the controller knob clockwise or counterclockwise to move the
cursor.  After a card appears at the top of the screen, move the cursor
to the position you which to place the card.  Now press the red
controller button.  The card appears in the matrix position.  Continue
the selection procedure until all 25 cards are placed.

After the last card is positioned, the score will show the points with
the matrix' 12 five-card poker hands



And of course, this game was made by Atari in 1979.  This game manual
was typed in by me!  Who am I?  I am Eddie Beiles.  I can be reached at
beiles@lambada.oit.unc.edu if you have any questions about this game
manual.  Or you can email me and thank me for typing it in.  Anyway,
enjoy the game and this wonderfully typed in manual.     4/3/95



REQUIRMENTS:
Our Atari 2600 emulator utilizes Javascript to run in your browser. No plugin is required, but a fast modern web browser will enhance the game play.

image 4
SAMPLE IPHONE GAMEPLAY SCREENSHOT

Emulation on mobile devices will drain your battery quite fast. I recommend playing while device is plugged into charger.


KEYBOARD CONTROLS

controls
help

Casino Arcade Game Emulated on the Atari 2600. Play Casino in your web browser or mobile phone. This Atari 2600 console emulator provides very accurate Casino gameplay. Casino is a classic 1980s Atari 2600 video game.