Winners challenge

[Webman]

About 4000 different people play each day, but many of those only play a few times a month and wouldn't have a chance in the winner's challenge.The number of people who play all their sessions every day of the month is much smaller.Among those, very very few seem to be implementing a strategy aimed at winning the Winner's Challenge. There are some smart choices you can make (which the leaders appear to be doing) but they will cost you in your chances at winning each Daily Contest. The approaches are a little different.I don't know if they have adjusted their strategy for this purpose, or if their strategy is just more suited to this type of contest. But I'll say that if you're playing Triple Double Bonus every day going for the big win, you probably aren't going to win the most sessions against people who are taking a different approach designed to win the most sessions possible. And if you're just playing without a strategy in mind, you'll still have a chance at it, but someone with a methodical approach will have much better chances.  And of course... there are a number of people who could have had a shot, but weren't able to get all their extra sessions played. That's certainly understandable as you need to play a long time to win more than 100 sessions in a month.

[Webman]

Randy Mcspad, it looks like you played about 250 sessions this month and won 68 of them. That's around 27& and is actually pretty good, depending on what game you were playing (normal strategy on 9/6 TDB for instance yields a winning 100 hand session around 22% of the time).  These are very short sessions, so the low payouts in some games on typical hands make it difficult to come out ahead. Games like TDB require quads to overcome those low payouts, and in only 100 hands they just won't come as much as you need. If you play longer in the casino, say 1000 deals, then your odds of a winning session go up dramatically. This month's winner won around 43% of their sessions. If you want to go for the Winner's Challenge, you can ask yourself what changes you can make to get your winning percentage closer to that amount. 43% would be almost impossible to achieve playing TDB for this many sessions. Obviously there is always an element of luck, but this is an endurance contest and strategy weighs much more heavily than in your typical daily contests where you want a dealt kicker or royal.Because of this, if we don't see a fair number of people adjusting their play for this purpose, I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of the same people at the top for the next several months.So if you:1) Want to go for the top score each day or2) Don't have time to play enough sessionsThen the Winner's Challenge may not be a reasonable goal. Fortunately there are prizes for both approaches so people who only play once in a while can win one format, and those who want to take on the challenge and have the time can go for the other. Of course, you could still get lucky and be dealt a royal along the way and have luck in both.

[cribplayer]

I find it BS it's the people that have nothing better to do than sit on the computer and play this all day!!

[edog743]

Wow , you seem quite an angry person.

[RandyMcspad]

Daily contest almost over for the month. Winners challenge leader as of right now (Aug 23rd, 1:31 pm. EST) is tplan. And not far behind is pockettens. Well, relatively, not far behind for these two "lucky players".

Oh, and they are both from Tampa Florida and both like Hard Rock - Tampa.

Just saying...

[Webman]

There is luck involved, but a surprising amount of skill as well when it comes to the Winner's Challenge. The strategy they are playing is interesting. I won't spoil it entirely, as that is up to them whether they want to share it or not. Needless to say, it is focused on winning sessions.I can't say I blame people for being suspicious. We've seen a lot of the same folks in the Winner's Challenge... more than I'd expected, myself. It's clear that the number of people who have the time, know-how, and desire to play a strategy aimed specifically for the Winner's Challenge is quite small.You have to be able to play all your sessions in a month, you have to play smart and you have to use a strategy that's going to get you the most wins on average. From there, some luck does come into play.  That means changing your strategy throughout a session to give yourself the best chance at a winning session. What you do with 100 hands left will be different than if you have 5 hands to go and still need 200 more points. And if you're playing a game like TDB all the time, which has a very low chance of winning over 100 hands, you might as well forget about the Winner's Challenge and hope for the daily prize.Incidentally, tplan got dealt aces with a kicker with a multiplier today and could have had a top 10 score... but wasn't playing TDB and got a much, much lower payout as a result. He threw away the kicker.... out of spite, I imagine.

[BillyJoe]

Daily contest almost over for the month. Winners challenge leader as of right now (Aug 23rd, 1:31 pm. EST) is tplan. And not far behind is pockettens. Well, relatively, not far behind for these two "lucky players".

Oh, and they are both from Tampa Florida and both like Hard Rock - Tampa.

Just saying...
Hey - I am from Tampa, Florida. Did I miss a memo? How come I am not winning ?
 
Webman - you got that "BJ doesn't win" switch turned on again?

[Webman]

Webman - you got that "BJ doesn't win" switch turned on again? Oh, come on... you know those wires are soldered together until I win a hat back.

[RandyMcspad]

I understand the strategy would be different between the challenge and daily's. I was able to accumulate 94 points this time. Would have been a winner in May by 1 point.

I realize changing up strategy mid-session is sometimes advantageous.

Pocketten did have a top ten "daily" score at least once this month during play ( I think it was later knocked off ) and I believe I understand how that happens even if one is playing for the challenge points. I'm pretty sure it is the same 'change' I make under certain conditions, and then hitting on a nice hand or two.

I'm not casting aspersions here. I'm just a little amazed and left wondering why at least two of the people are not at a land based casino with this kind of "luck".

BTW, I assume tplan's dealt Aces with a kicker would have been during play of a non-kicker variation? I'd toss it also. Or, more accurately stated, I wouldn't hold useless card(s).   

[Videopokerjesus]

This is a great thread:

Webman is posting some EXCELLENT points that anyone with a brain cell should be heeding. Going for the Winner's Challenge requires a different strategy and mindset, and yes it does require some luck as well - which I did not have today (September 1), as I got six out of eight sessions over 50K, but whiffed on ALL of the remaining six sessions.

The problem is that the strategy for racking up these entries requires some sort of "margin-ing." You get six out of eight, them earn another four, another two on that, etc. When I did an 0-for-6, I was hosed.

Game selection, proper strategy with regards to a 100-hand format are key.

Thanks for the cogent dialog.