Coder Radio Programming Challenge #001: A Black Jack helper based on http://www.blackjack-chart.com

BlackJackHelper.py

"""
Russell Folk
Coder Radio, Programming Challenge #001
22 July 2016
"""

def get_recommendation(dealers_card, players_cards):
    """
    Look up and return the appropriate recommendation for what move the player
    should make according to the dealer's card on display and the player's own
    hand.
    Appropriate actions are: Hit (H), Stand (S), Double Down else Hit (D),
    Double Down else Stand (DS), Split (SP), Surrender else Hit (X/H), Surrender
    else Split (X/P), and Surrender else Stand (X/S)
    Information for action comes from: www.blackjack-chart.com
    """
    action_table = {
        '8'   : ['H',  'H',  'H',  'H',  'H',  'H',  'H',  'H',   'H',   'H'],
        '9'   : ['H',  'D',  'D',  'D',  'D',  'H',  'H',  'H',   'H',   'H'],
        '10'  : ['D',  'D',  'D',  'D',  'D',  'D',  'D',  'D',   'H',   'H'],
        '11'  : ['D',  'D',  'D',  'D',  'D',  'D',  'D',  'D',   'D',   'D'],
        '12'  : ['H',  'H',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'H',  'H',  'H',   'H',   'H'],
        '13'  : ['S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'H',  'H',  'H',   'H',   'H'],
        '14'  : ['S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'H',  'H',  'H',   'H',   'H'],
        '15'  : ['S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'H',  'H',  'H',   'X/H', 'X/H'],
        '16'  : ['S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'H',  'H',  'X/H', 'X/H', 'X/H'],
        '17'  : ['S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'S',   'S',   'X/S'],
        'A8'  : ['S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'S',   'S',   'S'],
        'A9'  : ['S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'S',   'S',   'S'],
        '22'  : ['SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'H',  'H',   'H',   'H'],
        '33'  : ['SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'H',  'H',   'H',   'H'],
        '44'  : ['H',  'H',  'H',  'SP', 'SP', 'H',  'H',  'H',   'H',   'H'],
        '55'  : ['D',  'D',  'D',  'D',  'D',  'D',  'D',  'D',   'H',   'H'],
        '66'  : ['SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'H',  'H',  'H',   'H',   'H'],
        '77'  : ['SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'H',  'H',   'H',   'H'],
        '88'  : ['SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP',  'SP',  'X/P'],
        '99'  : ['SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'S',  'SP', 'SP',  'S',   'S'],
        '1010': ['S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'S',  'S',   'S',   'S'],
        'AA'  : ['SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP', 'SP',  'SP',  'SP']
    }
    
    dealers_index = lookup_dealer_index(dealers_card)
    players_index = lookup_player_index(players_cards)
    return action_table[players_index][dealers_index]

def lookup_dealer_index(dealers_card):
    """
    This will take the dealers card and translate it to the index in the list
    to use for a recommendation. This will also normalize face cards (Jack,
    Queen, King).
    """
    if dealers_card == 'A':
        # we want to return the index of the list which is an A, hence 9
        return 9
    elif dealers_card == 'J' or dealers_card == 'Q' or dealers_card == 'K':
        # it's a face card, so return the same index as a 10, hence 10-2=8
        return 8
    else:
    	return int(dealers_card) - 2

def lookup_player_index(players_cards):
    """
    This will convert the players hand into the appropriate index
    """
    # normalize face cards
    for index in range(len(players_cards)):
       if players_cards[index] == 'J' or \
          players_cards[index] == 'Q' or \
          players_cards[index] == 'K':
           players_cards[index] = '10'

    # let's handle pairs
    if len(players_cards) == 2 and players_cards[0] == players_cards[1]:
        return players_cards[0] + players_cards[1]
    
    # grab the total hand score
    return get_hand_result(players_cards)


def get_hand_result(hand):
    """
    This will total up the cards in your hand so that an accurate recommendation
    can be given. Yay for not wanting to do the math by hand.
    """
    num_aces = 0
    running_total = 0
    for card in players_cards:
        if card == 'A':
            num_aces += 1
        else:
            running_total += int(card)

    while num_aces > 0:
        if running_total < 10 and num_aces == 1:
            # if we're in a special case, return that case
            return 'A' + str(running_total)
        elif running_total >= 10:
            # there isn't a case that we want to add 11 because that's handled
            # elsewhere in the code (the special case above or a 2 card hand
            running_total += 1
            num_aces -= 1
    return str(running_total)	

def get_readable_result(result):
    """
    Translate the short code recommendation to a human readable sentence.
    """
    if result == 'H':
        return 'hit'
    elif result == 'S':
        return 'stand'
    elif result == 'D':
        return 'double down if allowed, else, hit'
    elif result == 'DS':
        return 'double down if allowed, else, stand'
    elif result == 'SP':
        return 'split'
    elif result == 'X/H':
        return 'surrender if allowed, else, hit'
    elif result == 'X/P':
        return 'surrender if allowed, else, split'
    else:
        return 'surrender if allowed, else, stand'

players_cards = input("What are your first cards (seperated by commas)? ")
# normalize the input
players_cards = players_cards.upper()
# split the cards into a list for processing
players_cards = players_cards.split(',')

dealers_card = input("What is the dealers card? ")
# normalize the input
dealers_card = dealers_card.upper()

result = get_recommendation(dealers_card, players_cards)
result = get_readable_result(result)

print("You should " + result + ".")