Video Poker For Winners Simulator/Trainer

[MikeA]

I have advocated in other posts that new players use Simulators to get proficient in accuracy on VP machines.  I stand by that.  The simulator that I use is Dancer's VPW.  I do not push it over the others out there, it's just that Dancer's software is the product that I happen to have.  Others here on the forum push the Winpoker software and I've heard good things about Jean Scott's Frugal Poker as well.  There may be others just as good as these three.
 
I think it is a good reference tool (VPW) for analyzing specific hands and I think it is a good tool for learning Strategy for most any VP game with any pay table that you can come up with.  It generates the correct strategy based on the probabilities of ending up with either less money lost (on negative expection pay tables) or more money won (on positive expectation pay tables). 
 
However, if you are looking for a piece of software that will most closely resemble the results that you will likely experience in a casino, look elsewhere.  Dancer's software is first and foremost a TRAINING TOOL!  The goal set when developing this software was obviously that of training prospective VP Players to make the best "mathmatically derived" plays.
 
It does have settings that weigh the generated hands based on difficulty (Mixed, Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced).  The "Mixed" setting will most closely resemble the hands you would likely be dealt in a casino game by this software, but I underscore "most closely resembles".
 
It's TRAINING software!  It is designed to teach by repetition.  Even when not in training mode, it is still Training the player.  It notes hands that you are having trouble with and if you make mistakes with them, you'll begin to notice that they come up more and more frequently.
 
I discovered this quite by accident.  I got tired of being warned about errors less than $.01 in amount so I kicked the parameter so that it would only warn me of those errors greater than a nickel.  After playing a practice session that lasted several hundred hands, I noticed that I was getting AQJxx (unsuited) (or a similarly low error hand) dealt almost every hand!  I was always holding the ACE and was not being warned about any mistakes.  But, there is a slight advantage to holding the QJ (.066635 coins to be exact) but that came out less than a nickel error ($.016) on a quarter denomination so it didn't warn me about it.  But the program took note of it and since that was about the only "error" I was making, it kept throwing that hand at me until I started playing it correctly.
 
This is not typical of the way machines in the casinos operate...or at least it better NOT be! 
 
The point is, while VPW us a good training simulator, it is NOT especially good for setting your expectations realistically for what you are likely to encounter when you take your skills into the casino!  For that, you could do worse than play the games on videopoker.com (here!) except that not all the games on this site are full pay and these games, like casino games, do not notify of errors in strategy!
 

[bigboy]

I have advocated in other posts that new players use Simulators to get proficient in accuracy on VP machines.  I stand by that.  The simulator that I use is Dancer's VPW.  I do not push it over the others out there, it's just that Dancer's software is the product that I happen to have.  Others here on the forum push the Winpoker software
 
However, if you are looking for a piece of software that will most closely resemble the results that you will likely experience in a casino, look elsewhere.  Dancer's software is first and foremost a TRAINING TOOL! It does have settings that weigh the generated hands based on difficulty (Mixed, Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced).  The "Mixed" setting will most closely resemble the hands you would likely be dealt in a casino game by this software, but I underscore "most closely resembles".
 
It's TRAINING software!  It is designed to teach by repetition.  Even when not in training mode, it is still Training the player.  It notes hands that you are having trouble with and if you make mistakes with them, you'll begin to notice that they come up more and more frequently.
 
 
This is not typical of the way machines in the casinos operate...or at least it better NOT be! 
 
The point is, while VPW us a good training simulator, it is NOT especially good for setting your expectations realistically for what you are likely to encounter when you take your skills into the casino!  For that, you could do worse than play the games on videopoker.com (here!) except that not all the games on this site are full pay and these games, like casino games, do not notify of errors in strategy!
 
 
 
 Looks like you are about 12hrs. late with your assesment. My desktop(WinPoker6.0 equipped) crapped out so i purchased VPFW and downloaded it to my laptop this morning. I thought that the difficulty setting could be disabled in the purchased version- WRONG! I also thought that all paytables could be customized-WRONG AGAIN! I think Mr. Dancer(or more accurately, the programmers) needs to revise these areas. I wish that i had'nt purchased VPFW. Time to pay a visit to http://www.zamzone.com to get WP6.0.       
BTW- This site does have a simulator that is adjustable, but it is a bit cumbersome to navigate. 

[MikeA]

Bigboy, the difficulty can be disabled by selecting "Mixed."  I've not found games that you couldn't change the pay tables on, but then, I do not practice games that I'm not planning on playing in the casinos.  The ones I play are pretty much DB, DDB and JOB.  I had heard that there were some that you couldn't change.
 
Also, I've heard a lot of folks promote Winpoker over VPW and have also heard others promote Jean Scott's offering.
 
Dancer's product is a memory hog.  No way around that.  But it is hard for me to be objective about any comparrisons since I do not have any of the other products available.
 
BTW, thanks for correcting me on the alterable paytables here on our site.  I didn't know you could change them.
 
If you are practicing for a run on a casino, then you really do need to practice with the correct strategy based on the game and paytables used on the machines in that casino.  There is enough difference in strategy with different paytables to make a significant difference.

[bigboy]

Bigboy, the difficulty can be disabled by selecting "Mixed." 
 
 
 
But as you stated before, it IS NOT disabled. When i say disabled i mean i want hands dealt RANDOMLY, i don't want the same hands that i make a one cent error on to come up repeatedly because the software wants to "train me". " Mixed" is a compilation of beginner,intermediate, and advanced hands. I want a "none" option.

[MikeA]

In that case Bigboy, I'm pretty sure there is no way in VPW to accomplish that.  It really isn't a "game" in that respect.  I do not know if the other simulators that are popular have a true "game" setting on them.
 
There is a topic somewhere on the forum here for suggestions and error reporting.  Possibly in the second release of the product they would consider such an enhancement.  I've already asked for a couple of changes.

[kbrouill]

VPW will only replay the error hands if you are in Test mode.  Otherwise, it does not replay the error hands.
I am not sure why you are seeing the error hands replay.  What training mode are you running in?  I cannot duplicate this problem with the latest version of VPW (the one from the download site).  If I can duplicate it, I can fix the bug right away.
 
And if you select difficulty level of Mixed, then you are getting random hands, as you do in the Casino.  And it should not replay error hands, unless your Training Mode is set to Test.
 
The only paytables that you cannot change are the Jokers Wild paytables,  and the Sequential Royal paytables.  All others, you can change and get a schedule and a strategy.  Which paytables did you want to change that you cannot? 
 
The MultiStrike and Super Times Pay paytables are also not editable, but we implemented every paytable that was released in those games, so you should not have to edit them to match the ones in the casinos.

[Webman]

MikeA, kbrouill is the primary programmer for VPW so she is well qualified to respond to any questions you have here.
 


Let us know if this explains the situation sufficiently.

[MikeA]

Kbrouill,
 
It was not replaying the exact hands if I recall correctly.  I was not in "TEST" mode....at least I don't think I was (it would  be one hell of a note if in fact I was in TEST mode and didn't realize it!)  This happened very shortly after the program was made available for download so I don't remember all the details.  I was definitely in "Mixed difficulty" mode and going against "Strategy" rather than "Perfect Play." 
 
I had set the error threshold to something like a nickel and was playing at nickel denomination.  I do not remember whether it was DB or DDB that I was playing at the time.  I had been making errors that were less than a nickel in severity and noticed after a long session that I was getting a repetition of basically the same hands though they were not necessarily the same cards. 
 
I mean, I would get maybe hands that were Jack high with a ten of the same suit and other cards that were insignificant (low cards unapired).  I was consistantly selecting the Jack only to hold.  I assumed that it was drilling me over and over becasue I had made so many of those mistaken holds.  It wasn't giving me the same hand every time, but I was getting it 3 out of 4 times until I stopped the session and started over.  Then things returned to "normal." 
 
I could try and repeate this process if you like.  As a programmer myself, I will not reject your explanation.  It is certainly possible that I just do not recall all of the circumstances.
 
I have not experienced this since that episode.  Once I thought I'd discovered that it was repeating the hands that I was having problems with, I set the error threshold back to .01 so that I would be notified of errors and correct my play.
 
I was not the one complaining about the inability to edit paytables.  I've been able to edit all of the ones that I've been concerned with.
 
 

[bigboy]

VPW will only replay the error hands if you are in Test mode.  Otherwise, it does not replay the error hands. 
And if you select difficulty level of Mixed, then you are getting random hands, as you do in the Casino.  And it should not replay error hands, unless your Training Mode is set to Test.
The only paytables that you cannot change are the Jokers Wild paytables,  and the Sequential Royal paytables.  All others, you can change and get a schedule and a strategy.  
The MultiStrike and Super Times Pay paytables are also not editable, but we implemented every paytable that was released in those games, so you should not have to edit them to match the ones in the casinos.
 
 
To clarify: I did'nt mean that the same exact hand reappears, what does occur is within the subsequent hands after your error you will be dealt a very similiar hand that approximates the original error hand. This is not in Test mode. Multi-Strike and especially Super Times Pay are the products that most compel people to buy the software. To not be able to edit the paytables is a glaring omission as the pre-loaded paytables do not encompass every paytable that is out in the field. One other technical issue is that when playing 10-play Super Times Pay and the multiplier appears, the game freezes after the draw button is hit. This problem is especially pronounced when the 10X multiplier appears.

[faygo]

kbrouill
Referring to Bigboy's post about Super times pay locking up when the 10x multiplier is in play: I was playing 3 line DW when the same thing occured, all the payouts changed to unreal payouts, like (if I remember correctly) 300,000 for a Royal(no wild). The game locked up and I had to log out of it . I am using the purchased CD not the downloaded version. Did not occur again, but then I haven't hit the 10x multiplier since.