Do you fill in the pools every week? Would you like to increase your chances of winning? Could a computer assist in filling out your coupon? If the answer to any of these questions is Yes, then SYSTEM 8 - THE POOLS PREDICTOR is for you!

SYSTEM 8 - THE POOLS PREDICTOR is a football pools forecaster which can help you plan your coupon for UK football pools.

It predicts the outcome of matches in the four English and three Scottish Divisions. It cannot predict the result of those games involving non-league clubs or Australian leagues.

The program uses a stored database in order to calculate the possible result of the current match from the results of previous matches. This database should be compiled for a minimum of four weeks before any level of prediction accuracy can be assumed.

In order to make life simpler when completing coupons, System 8's 'Perm against Plan' option causes selections to be displayed in columns ready for direct copying to the coupon.

In order to retain the match result data needed to predict future results, the 'Save data' option must be used before the computer is turned off. It is strongly recommended that this data is saved to separate data tapes each week. This makes it very simple to go back to a previous week's data if an error or a recording fault is found subsequently. The master cassette must NOT be used to record match data under any circumstances.

Please note that System 8 is published for amusement only and that whilst Blue Ribbon believe the program to be accurate, they provide no warranty as to its use and will accept no claims for losses incurred.

The five option main menu appears next.

For the first use, or to start a new season, select option '5 - Set up Divisions' and then follow the on-screen prompts. If there is an odd number of teams in any division, enter a dummy team as the entered team total must be even. Once this has been done, save the data via option '4', so that this information is not lost in case of future problems. As a further insurance against loss of effort, record the data twice at least.

To prepare to use for the current week, select option '1'.

Please not that only league games should be entered, not cup matches. For mid-week matches, it is essential that results are entered immediately as the fixture list is not saved for these games.

Saturday fixture lists are saved with the data and so these can be created at any time.

To create a match list simply enter the team numbers at the prompt. Press 'Q' to quit a division if all the teams are not playing.

After the match list is created the selections can be made by following the on-screen prompts. Remember that System 8 needs to have at least four weeks' data loaded before the selections can be expected to have any accuracy.

'Perm against Plan' displays a coupon-like read out of the selections. System 8 makes a maximum of 32 selections.

Option '3 - Enter Results' is used to record the week's data ready for subsequent weeks. Saturday match results can be entered at a later date due to the fixture list/s being stored on tape. Mid-week match results must be entered immediately after creating the fixture list as this list is not saved to tape although the results are.

Data is saved using option '4'. Please note that this should be the final option selection before turning off the computer. Saving the data twice is a good idea in order to decrease the chance of a saving or loading error causing problems.

Result entries are:

Home win   H   Away win   A
Score draw  S   No-score draw  N
Postponed   P

Upon loading the program, you are first prompted to load the previously stored match data.

For the first use of the program you should load the start-up data recorded on the master program cassette.

To do this ignore the prompts to change and/or rewind the cassette and simply press RETURN. Remember to have a blank cassette available in order to record the database at the end of this session of program use.

Most of the program controls and options are prompted on the screens concerned. By reading the screen carefully, it should be possible to input all the information required simply and easily.