As always, thanks to everyone who pitches in and helps when issues are uncovered. With 83 games across multiple devices and platforms (82 on Android), the code base for Riverboat Gambler has grown tremendously.

As my first app, this was originally/simply meant to be a fun diversion. Now, though, it has grown into a popular application with a loyal Player community and it requires a lot of care and feeding to maintain.

I really couldn't do this without your help!

~ Danny

This is another major release for the Android platform! In this release, I've added a new game and basically gutted the entire core of the app to focus on stability.

I also spent several hours working on screen layouts - especially for tablets. To prepare for upcoming changes in the Android ecosystem, I've also started to increase support for tablets; especially those have been rotated into landscape mode. Work in this area will continue.

I started to panic about orientation changes when I rotated an emulator and the screens changed. Since the app was not designed to support landscape mode, the experience was horrifying. Screens were completely skewed and embarrassingly unusable.

It was only after purchasing an actual Android tablet that I discovered that it may only be the emulators that force orientation changes if the user opts to change the Aspect Ratio in Settings to override the application's default setting. I discovered this because the screens didn't change when I rotated my new device!

IDK what Google's plan is. Some guidance indicates that the developer settings will be honored for games and others say the long-term plan appears to be that Google feels entitled to play the role of product manager on a developer's app and force them to support all orientations. Obviously, I would disagree with the latter. After all, it's not their app, it's mine. My position is that "the marketplace" should dictate whether an app is unworthy of support if it won't rotate and the Players find that too annoying.

As a result of the grueling month I just spent reacting to an emulator, my skills and understanding of screen design have grown exponentially and I intend to maintain the momentum and continue refining screen. I'm not going to commit to supporting landscape on phones, but you never know!

That having been said, my intention has always been to support both orientations because user-experience is important to me. That's why most of the games already support left-handed & right-handed modes in Preferences.

It's virtually impossible for me to identify and test all possible variations of screen sizes and resolutions. You can help by reaching out using "Send Feedback" to let me know if the screens on your device could use some "tweaks".

Interesting tidbit: When my new tablet wouldn't rotate, I downloaded an app from the Play Store called "Rotation Control". Not that my endorsement is worth a nickel, but I will give those developers a huge shoutout. It's a great utility app that will allow you to control the orientation on your tablet (may be all devices?) and it works like a charm. After the 48 hour test expired, I was hooked and spent the $4.99 to support their work. Now, I can force my table to respect orientation changes which allows me to perform the required testing.

Release Highlights

The new game in this release is a mash up between Texas Hold'em and Three Card Poker. To avoid any trademark infringement complaints, I have named the game "One Card Hold'em" because the Player and Dealer each receive a single hole card and then share three Community Cards as they seek to make their best three-card poker hand following Texas Hold'em rules!

The game was requested by Gary out in Arizona and I suspect it will be a crossover favorite of folks who enjoy both genre of casino carnival games. The Players in the beta program have had good things to say about it!

Notable changes:

1. The Games Menu: I've added a new sub menu to the main screen: "The Poker Pit". I did this in an attempt to simplify the list of games. Now that there are 80+ games, it's become crazy to navigate the menu. The new sub menu is intended to group all of the "stud poker" carnival games together.
   
   To those who will notice that Mississippi Stud remains at the top of the games list and is also included in the new sub menu: Nice catch! Mississippi will always be at the top of the list. It's pretty much the only game I play and was the reason I created RBG. So, I've exercised my "developer privilege" and left it at the top of the menu!
   
   More sub menus are coming!
   
   As a reminder: You can mark any game as a "favorite" in Preferences. That will pin it to the top of the menu. Also, the search menu lists all games in alphabetical order.
2. Crazy 4 Poker & Four Card Frenzy: A bug in the last release caused some bonuses for hands ranked as 3 of a Kind to not be paid. This bug was reported by Aaron up in Issaquah who has been supporting me for a long time. Thanks, Aaron!
   
   The cause of the bug was that when I updated the payout engine in the last release, I apparently saw that Straight was the lowest payout for those bonuses on the payout table and then only checked hands that were ranked as a Straight or higher. However, in four-card poker games, 3 of a Kind beats a Straight or a Flush! DOH! 🤦‍♂️
3. Craps: In Craps, the Shooter must have placed either a Pass or a Don't Pass wager in order to roll the dice. Once a point has been established, the Pass Line wager may not be removed. A Don't Pass may be removed, though, but only if a Pass Line wager has been posted.
   
   A Player reached out using "Send Feedback" to alert me to the fact that it wasn't possible to change a Don't Pass wager to a Pass Line wager after the Come Out. I can't, for the life of me find their message so I can't thank them by name, but I so appreciate that they took the time to let me know.
4. All startup processes that configure the app were completely re-written to prevent crashes and to support the silliness that occurs on an Android device when the orientation changes.
5. Caching has been completely re-engineered. Now, should the app be deleted, all of your progress should be restorable. Emphasis on "should be". I've tested it a lot, but I'd not recommend uninstalling for fun!
6. Issues related to bonuses and alert notifications should be resolved with the complete rewrite of both of those modules. A lot of silliness goes on in the Android ecosystem when an app is active in the background and an alert fires and gets tapped.
7. Eleven games now support landscape mode on a tablet (Texas Hold'em & Three Card Poker games). I've only tested on a 7" tablet until I can invest in a 10" table. Although I do have emulators, I've found they are not 100% reliable. Focusing on the screens for tablets is going to be my major priority for the near future and the next few releases. If you use a tablet and have feedback, I welcome your help!
8. As I usually do, I discovered a couple of obscure bugs and necessary screen tweaks while I was performing these surgeries. TBH, I don't remember all of them. But, the good news is they are fixed too!

As always, I appreciate your support! If you haven't already, please consider taking a moment to post a review on the Play Store to let others know how you feel about the app. I am going to take a well-deserved nap and get back into the operating room!

~Danny