Contests!

[patty15]

I love this site and I have played here for years. But I've never won anything... And that's OK, this is not sour grapes. I play for fun!

I think I have it figured out. To win, you have to be dealt a RF, or something else with a huge payout like 4 2's and a kicker, etc. I think the people who win quite a few times have some kind of program that deals them that FIRST hand over and over till they get the big hit dealt to them. Then it's a game worth playing.

I'm sure there are contests won by people who just play like me. After all someone has to be dealt a royal now and then. But I've never had one and I've been playing VP for decades. I've seen someone else get one.

That's how I think they do it!

[Webman]

First, you are correct that it takes a massive dealt hand in most of these contests. In this current contest, it takes a big spin... (4,000 multiplied several times). This is a spin that usually comes on the last hand of the contest. So it's a little different this time around (the current leader's best hand is a dealt flush).The "best hands" display shows you what deal people got their winning hands on. If we saw a lot of winners in the first 10 hands or so, then the approach you describe could be suspected. But that doesn't seem to be the case. When you look at how many hands are played over the thousands of sessions, you expect to see a fair number of dealt huge winners. And the number that we see lines up with what should be expected.I think you're right that some people play a portion of the contest and then cash out and start over if the session isn't going to well. This is fine. That might be a good strategy if you reach a point where even a jackpot isn't going to win for you. But most of the time, a dealt winner (which is just as likely to come on the 100th hand as the first) would get you close enough to keep trying. And of course, in the daily contests where you have limited sessions to play, this wouldn't gain anything.Just my two cents. Starting over again after a few hands, going through a game load and menus, etc. doesn't seem any more likely to get a good hand than simply continuing on in your session. I don't see the advantage there, personally.I should also note here that using automated programs to play in the contests is a violation of our terms and conditions and anyone caught doing so would forfeit their prize and future participation.

[patty15]

If I was going to do something like that, and I never would. I would write a simple script. Actually, it would be quite easy and I don't think you would ever know unless you had access to my computer. Now if I was on your side of the fence, I would look for an impossible number of games originated by one user.

Well, you're the admin and if you say that's not the way it's being done, I believe you. Back to the drawing board. I really thought I had it figured out. But there's some kind of trick to it. I've never seen or even heard of anyone winning that big at VP in the casino(and I live in Vegas). The most I've ever seen anyone win on quarters is a sequential royal progressive for 18K. That's the royal I saw dealt. The guy didn't even realize for a minute what had happened.

If there wasn't a trick to it, those folks wouldn't be here. They would be playing at the casino!

[BillyJoe]

If there wasn't a trick to it, those folks wouldn't be here. They would be playing at the casino!
Patty, you can play a lot more hands on a free site than you can afford to play in a casino.

[patty15]

Very true!

Of course except for the end of the month contest, it's finite. You can only play 8X per contest. Sort of similar to having X dollars to play with.

[onemoretry]

Very true!

Of course except for the end of the month contest, it's finite. You can only play 8X per contest. Sort of similar to having X dollars to play with.
 However, you can play non-contest VP until your fingers go numb. By the way, being dealt a monster hand is no guaranty of success in a contest.  Once, in a 100 hands at a time one, I was dealt a royal, and didn't even come close to the top ten.  The game involved multipliers, and I didn't have one.

[cardshark_2]

For me, the monthly contests go on too long. Wouldn't  5 days instead of 10 be enough? The daily contests are more fun because of the variety. Also, why is triple play always used for contests when a game is also available in 5 and 10 play? Spin Fever is a good example of a game that is much more fun in 10 play where you have a better chance of getting good hands.

[Webman]

Most contests begin on the 24th of the month, which makes them anywhere from 5 (February) to 8 days. Some have complained this is not long enough (they used to be 2 days longer), but I think it's a pretty good range. This contest (and the one in December) will be a little longer, just because of the Holidays. In January we will likely begin again on the 24th, or we could push the start dates to the 25th of each month if more people think the contests are too long. So we definitely appreciate the feedback.

As for the contests being primarily 3 hands, the main reason is that usually in a contest a dealt winner will come out on top. But occasionally, someone puts together a nice session with multiple hands to win a prize. We like that that's a possibility in most cases. If you make it 10 lines, then that becomes virtually impossible since a dealt winner would take TEN great hands to overcome in too short a time. So, it makes it interesting from that point of view... but I agree, in many cases 10 lines can be more fun in the moment. This is why we ran some Ultimate X contests in 10 line format earlier this year, and I think it went over well.

In hindsight, Spin Fever would probably have been better off in 10 lines as well, and we may do that the next time we run it. Of course, that's REALLY going to make for a lot of multipliers and the leader is going to appear completely out of reach when they hit that 4,000 on the wheel. Which of course leads to the usual accusations of how the top scorer has to be cheating, even though such scores are actually expected if you look at the statistics. But we're pretty used to that by now.

[BOOPSAHOY]

This contest is doubly hard as you need to rack up those fullhouses, flushes and 4oaks. I think the leader had somethinglike 13 of oneof those and it hit the 4000 on the wheel. I havent been able to get ANYWHERE near as many!

[edog743]

First time back on this site in a while, since the incident. Seem's to me people are still suspicious of the validity of these contest's Webman has reassured me numerous time's they are on the up and up. I will be back on a permanent basis soon. BEWARE..... LOL