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Punter is a game about betting on horses, and I must say that it is a superb version. There is a pool of 50 horses with the usual race-horsey type names, and a pool of thirty jockeys, also named.

The game can be played by any number of players, and the object is to bet on horses and hence accumulate as much money as possible, though there is no fixed point at which the computer declares a winner - you can either go on forever or fix your own target. You'd better not make it too high because it is a pretty realistic game and you don't find many millionaires down at the betting shop (not this side of the counter anyway!).

Apparently, the game was written by a mathematics graduate and I think this explains the realism. All the odds for each horse are worked out prior to each real race by running a 'pretend' race a hundred times over in machine code!

The actual race includes betting and the players have computerised access to the form book which holds up to several hundred previous races. (The 16K version has a more limited type of form book.) You must skilfully weight up with is the best bet by taking into account the quality of the horse and the quality of the jockey (There are secret - you have to work them out for yourself!) plus the ground conditions.

Just as in real racing, you can spend ages poring over form, or you can bet on a whim or a hunch. The comprehensive accompanying leaflet explains all the ins and outs of weighing up the form. Whatever way you play, it's all good fun, especially when the race actually begins. The animated graphics are achieved using machine code and are extremely good.

My only criticism is that there is no facility for making an "each way" bet, but only hardened punters will be disappointed by this.

To sum up, I would say that this is a very thorough and realistic game that is also a lot of fun and easy to use. One would be hard put indeed to find a better version of Punter on any micro.

A. Woodcock