MONTHLY CONTEST: Variety of Games

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Webman
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Posts: 5125
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2017 3:11 pm

Re: MONTHLY CONTEST: Variety of Games

Post by Webman »

roke wrote:
Wed Feb 24, 2021 3:11 am
About that members rule contest..... I'm the "member ruling" this week 😂,and am not seeing any comments in the peanut gallery. It's shaded out as if it's not activated?
Try refreshing your browser window and see if that gets it loading again.

I'marenogirl
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Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2019 3:36 am

Post by I'marenogirl »

Allow me to clarify, for you, Webman, what Pokerinopokey was writing. That handle was specifically discussing the monthly game. None of your other kinds or types of games. The handle was saying that the 12 games in the monthly contest should have AT LEAST one change of game each month, for variety purposes. Game King has these different games. Give it a try!!

I'marenogirl
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Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2019 3:36 am

Post by I'marenogirl »

Until Webman becomes markedly less obstinate, the four accounts in this Household WILL NOT pay any
monthly fees, nor will they participate for free, to play the monthly game. Go ahead and dig in your heels.

onemoretry
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Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:00 pm

Post by onemoretry »

Twelve games are offered in the monthly contest, all with the best pay tables normally available, and you're not happy?

What, exactly are you looking for?

Webman
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Posts: 5125
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2017 3:11 pm

Post by Webman »

Variety is a good thing and I understand the sentiment, so I'll explain a little further how we ended up where we are and why I am indeed a bit resistant to switching it up too much. Things may change in the future and we are always open to suggestions. However this contest has been through a lot of iterations over the years so there are some good reasons why it is the way it is currently. I know we can't please everyone, but we do hope to please the most people who want to participate in this particular contest.

While always sticking to Game King for the reasons mentioned previously, we have tried a number of things to mix it up since it was first added.

Most obviously was what has been suggested, switching out the available options from month to month to "keep things interesting." We had fewer options available, but they changed for the sake of variety.
The problem with this approach was always that many people have particular favorite games they are either most comfortable with or know the strategy on and they simply wouldn't play on months that it wasn't offered. This led to many more irritable messages than the current format as it left a pretty big gap in their participation throughout the year and I'm guessing many stopped even looking at some point.

Another thing we tried in contests was featuring one game type that changes every day - requiring people to play a variety of games throughout the month, such a DDB on the 1st, Jacks or Better on the 2nd, etc. I liked this from an intellectual perspective and so did some of the strategy-inclined folks who had an edge through broader experience, but in the end it was a terrible idea. Mainly for the reason listed above - it excluded even more people who have a favorite game and simply don't want to play others.

There were two other notable changes that for the most part were very well received.

The first was making it so you didn't have to play every single day. In the original version, you had to play 5 sessions per day, every day, all month - meaning that if you missed a day for some reason, you would be out of luck and have fewer sessions for the month. Now, if you miss a day you can make it up any time later in the month as 5 new sessions become available each day but you can play any missed ones later in the month to catch back up. Everyone still has the same total sessions, it progresses throughout the month, but there is personal flexibility.

The second successful change (based on feedback and participation) was the removal of Triple Double Bonus from the game options. This WAS a bit more controversial at first and I'll go out on a limb and guess that most requests to try more games still involve people wanting to play TDB. This is understandable, as the desire is naturally to have more chances to try to catch the leader and it would seem that more opportunities for a 4,000 win would do so. In fact though, it has just the opposite problem which really comes down to volatility. Yes, more people would have hands of 4,000 points in a month. But the problem is that the leaders have a disproportionately higher number of them - imagine trying to catch someone with 3 royals PLUS another 7 or 8 kicker wins. Suddenly the 2 or so kickers that you got for 8,000 points don't seem so great when the leader now has 28,000 points more. Luck became an even greater factor and worse, no other game (deuces, jacks etc) could possibly compete with a lucky player doing well in Triple Double Bonus. And if you didn't even get an average number of kickers, your score was REALLY in the dumps. So including TDB meant there was variety, but many people were largely wasting their time if they wanted to win and were playing any other game.

Along with the removal of TDB, we recalibrated the game options a couple times and tried to offer the best selection of other games for people to play. Because variety is a good thing, we tried to give people a lot of options. You might choose to play Deuces one month, DDB another, Bonus Poker another. Or switch up it throughout the month however you'd like.

So all those things in mind, that's why we are where we are today.

Rather than changing out game options each month (see above), I believe more options is simply better. There are a few more obscure game options that we could try if people were looking for them. For example we added Loose Deuces not too long ago as a nice way to mix things up. Nobody has asked for White Hot Aces or USA Poker but I wouldn't be opposed to it if requested. However, games with an additional payout of 4000 like TDB or TTB likely won't happen.

That turned into a lengthy response that hopefully offered some insight and can be referenced in the future. I know it might not please everyone, but hopefully there is at least an understanding of the rationale behind the current format of the contest.

onemoretry
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Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:00 pm

Post by onemoretry »

Webman wrote:
Mon Mar 01, 2021 10:34 am
Nobody has asked for White Hot Aces or USA Poker but I wouldn't be opposed to it if requested.
If all it would take to have the opportunity to play full pay (100.72%) USA Poker, aka All American Poker in the monthly contest is someone requesting it, this is that request. I absolutely loved that game when it was around.

Allowing players the chance to make up for missed days by removing the requirement that each days sessions must be played on that very day was, in my opinion, the most positive change you did make. Prior to that change, I, for one, would look at my schedule for the month, and if I was going to find it difficult to play every day, I would skip the month.

Webman
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Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2017 3:11 pm

Post by Webman »

The pay table would be 99.598% and looks like the following.

Does that alter your request? :)
Attachments
Screenshot 2021-03-01 124204.jpg

onemoretry
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Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:00 pm

Post by onemoretry »

I would probably play it, but why not give us the full pay version?

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