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Webman, I wanted to give you plaudits for one innovation that you put in for the contest portion of this game: the carryover of unfinished puzzles from one game until the next.
Almost immediately after this game's introduction, I thought it would be a poor contest game, particularly for the 50-hand daily contests, due to the length of time between puzzle solutions. It is difficult to gauge the precise average number of hands per wheel spin due to the varying lengths of puzzles and the unknowns of guessing the letters and the probability of immediately solving the puzzle, but my current guess is around 53 hands (with considerable variance around that guess) for the versions that I have played (TDB and TTB). Regardless of the exact number, this would suggest that a reasonable proportion of contests would end before a single puzzle is solved, and that many contests would end with only a partially solved puzzle and no accompanying wheel spin.
I continue to be a believer that the averages of wheel spins in video poker should be a known quantity, because many people are drawn to video poker rather than other casino games due to its known expected values. And there really isn't an obvious downside to the casino for some patrons having that knowledge.
So far, my experience suggests an average of about 260 credits per spin of the Wheel of Fortune; however, my sample does not include hitting two of the three highest-paying wheel sections.
My 95% confidence range prediction for the average wheel spin is between 235 and 285 credits; however, the highly skewed nature of the distribution of wheel credits and presumably very low probability of hitting the top score of 20000 make using a normal approximation for the distribution of the mean value and estimation of confidence intervals somewhat suspect.
Many years ago, we discussed why Build a Wheel poker was not suited for contests due to the average number of hands that it took to get to a single wheel spin. Using the same carryover innovation that you included for Wheel of Fortune would be one way of allowing contests on Build a Wheel as well.
Wheel of Fortune Poker
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New2vp
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CuddlyLion
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Thank you, New2vp, for explaining to me about the "fine print" bonus for dealt RFs. I never knew that. And yes, I did understand what you meant about "skill." Out of curiosity, which games do you think are the most fun?
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New2vp
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I enjoy the games with non-standard strategies, which seems against the grain. I have seen that some people dislike games for which they need to learn a new strategy.
An old favorite that isn't around much is Quick Quads with Wheel. In the daily Members Rule, my favorite is Super Draw 6 Card Poker. I have won a contest or two with Magic Deal, so I am prejudiced towards it. Among the newer ones, Major Multipliers is gaining traction requiring some unique plays.
My favorite Ultimate X game is Ultimate X Wheel (UXW); although, I would like to know the wheel section probabilities to see how close my current estimates are to the actual percentages. That reminds me that I enjoy Full House Plus Wheel poker (FHPW). Both UXW and FHPW award bonuses on full houses, so you get way more frequent spins than the games that require quads.
A popular game that I don't care much for is Stack 'Em High Poker. Waiting for quad aces from a dealt pair of aces just seems a little like waiting for the grass to grow. Power Stacks Poker, allowing bonuses on any dealt high pair or dealt trips with more frequent stacking is a little more appealing.
An old favorite that isn't around much is Quick Quads with Wheel. In the daily Members Rule, my favorite is Super Draw 6 Card Poker. I have won a contest or two with Magic Deal, so I am prejudiced towards it. Among the newer ones, Major Multipliers is gaining traction requiring some unique plays.
My favorite Ultimate X game is Ultimate X Wheel (UXW); although, I would like to know the wheel section probabilities to see how close my current estimates are to the actual percentages. That reminds me that I enjoy Full House Plus Wheel poker (FHPW). Both UXW and FHPW award bonuses on full houses, so you get way more frequent spins than the games that require quads.
A popular game that I don't care much for is Stack 'Em High Poker. Waiting for quad aces from a dealt pair of aces just seems a little like waiting for the grass to grow. Power Stacks Poker, allowing bonuses on any dealt high pair or dealt trips with more frequent stacking is a little more appealing.
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CuddlyLion
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Super Draw 6 Card is my favorite, too, with Split Card Poker next, followed by Magic Deal. Major Multipliers ranks up there, too, but I always get a bit miffed when the machines posts good (5x or better) multipliers on hands that you wouldn't try for (or can't even get) unless you threw your trips 6's away, say, or your whole hand in.
The games I cannot stand are the Super Times Pay ones. Having kept track for a lo-o-o-o-ng time, there are too many enormous gaps--67, 88, and even 136 hands in a row, just for three examples--where a player never sees a multiplier come up at all, and even when you do get one to come up, the 2x and 3x come up a bit shy of 90% of the time combined. (In the recent Super X Pay Wheel contest sessions, though the multiplier bonus come up far more often than in other STP games, I was awarded the 3x multiplier 82% of the time, with the 2x multiplier accounting for an additional 6+%.) This type of behavior also appears in many wheel games, where the lowest values come up nearly every time--the Bronze/Silver/Gold wheel game being the worst offender. No gaming site, be it online or brick-and-mortar, needs to do this to make money. Too many players don't pay any attention to the machine's behavior and will just keep on hitting the deal button until all their credits are gone.
The games I cannot stand are the Super Times Pay ones. Having kept track for a lo-o-o-o-ng time, there are too many enormous gaps--67, 88, and even 136 hands in a row, just for three examples--where a player never sees a multiplier come up at all, and even when you do get one to come up, the 2x and 3x come up a bit shy of 90% of the time combined. (In the recent Super X Pay Wheel contest sessions, though the multiplier bonus come up far more often than in other STP games, I was awarded the 3x multiplier 82% of the time, with the 2x multiplier accounting for an additional 6+%.) This type of behavior also appears in many wheel games, where the lowest values come up nearly every time--the Bronze/Silver/Gold wheel game being the worst offender. No gaming site, be it online or brick-and-mortar, needs to do this to make money. Too many players don't pay any attention to the machine's behavior and will just keep on hitting the deal button until all their credits are gone.
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Tedlark
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Did someone mention Quick Quads and Magic Deal? Two games I am fond of...
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New2vp
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Yes, Ted, I agree. QQ was introduced some 17(?) years ago, and we had a lot of fun and discussion analyzing it here on the Forum before some of the experts published information elsewhere. The original psy schedules were also quite generous.
I did mention QQ w/Wheel and also Magic Deal.
Cuddly Lion, I also like Split Card but I've never analyzed anything other than TDB, and only sparingly played it other than for contests on this site.
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New2vp
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Cuddly Lion, It looks like Double Super Times Pay has become your new favorite based on your performance in today's Daily Contest.
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CuddlyLion
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Well, New, that was the only time I have hit a 40000 credit hand---and how frustrating to find out I came in 2nd! But at least it has held up. As you probably guessed, it came as a mighty shock to me. Just getting the 10x for once seemed a miracle, and then the lightning hit again. My favorites remain as stated beforehand, but it was nice to see that 40000 pop up. Hopefully, more will happen.
BTW, on WOF, though the puzzle does carry over if still unsolved, the letter board gets cleared (except for the revealed ones). I had a carry-over puzzle and before the end of the first session the computer had called the S and then the V. Well, guess which letters were the first two to be called on the continuation. Irritating, to say the least.
BTW, on WOF, though the puzzle does carry over if still unsolved, the letter board gets cleared (except for the revealed ones). I had a carry-over puzzle and before the end of the first session the computer had called the S and then the V. Well, guess which letters were the first two to be called on the continuation. Irritating, to say the least.
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CuddlyLion
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As an added thought, it would be nice if us players could beta-test a new game before they release the final version. Certainly we could provide some insightful feedback.
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New2vp
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I also have seen some puzzles that took more than 26 guesses. I don't think that they all were carryovers either since I played the game in non-contest mode as well. It looks like after all the incorrect letters have been guessed, sometimes the computer guesser starts over. Maybe that's one way to allow a bigger average payout on the wheel.
If on average the puzzle took fewer turns to solve, the average wheel value awarded would have to be smaller.
Over the years, there have been a few bugs in some of the games. My experience has been that the webmaster (Webman) has been exceptionally responsive and quick to pass on player input to whomever is necessary to get such issues resolved. (You can email him directly, I think at forum@videopoker.com; I think he reads a lot of these forum posts as well)
If on average the puzzle took fewer turns to solve, the average wheel value awarded would have to be smaller.
Over the years, there have been a few bugs in some of the games. My experience has been that the webmaster (Webman) has been exceptionally responsive and quick to pass on player input to whomever is necessary to get such issues resolved. (You can email him directly, I think at forum@videopoker.com; I think he reads a lot of these forum posts as well)
