No sound
Excellent and fun
It would be great in the future to have the ability to track accuracy to the different strategies (e.g. basic, intermediate and advanced wizardofodds) instead of to perfect play. And/or to have minor errors not affect the streak.
Great fast video poker trainer
Excellent Site Top Notch
Focus
New issues 12/2021
Previously, a player could get game credit (“$30”) every 2-3 hrs, although it was not clear whether is was real time or playing time… since the timer was inconsistent. Now that feature does not work at all. Still, as best I can tell (I have very high video poker expertise.) this I may be the best analyst and trainer app with regards to discard strategy.
This App has some nice features. This is my response to the developer’s post... below. The 800 lb gorilla in the room is whether the card dealing algorithms in this and other poker apps are “pure” and identical in outcome probabilities as the casino (certified) random card generators. App developers do not make “real money” off their free Apps, unlike the casinos (that profit because they have better odds than the players) unless developers induce you to buy add on “coins” or use inserted advertising. The training environment of this app is very good, possibly the most detailed and useful among the poker apps. With such training, and practice, one can reasonably be within 1% of perfect discard decisions. And, it appears to me that the training advice and associated statistics are accurate and applicable to casino play. I am fine with paying for the App that charges for their “training environment". It has can save/make you money in the casino,; and therefore has value. But, most Apple App/game customers want free Apps. So, the developers often try to “encourage “ cash outlays for game features. The developer has kindly responded to my questions concerning the integrity of the deal and draw; and states (below) that those are indeed random. But, random is not necessarily the same as an App yielding the EXACT deal/draw probabilities as the casino certified code does. A number of poker Apps manipulate (via "cheat code") the deal and/or draw to yield hand outcomes that are intended to increase the likelihood of you buying more "coins"... to the profit of the developer (and Apple, I suppose). Given Apple's generally high ethical standards, I am surprised that Apple does not require the developers to divulge and describe (or deny) "cheat code" (that has outcome probabilities that are DIFFERENT than that of "certified" casino dealing algorithms). Managing your money in a real casino is important, and experiencing realistic deal/draw probabilities are important in training... not just the discard strategy. In this game, it appears that the developer is true to the discard strategy, but the deal and draw codes may be “cheating/ corrupt”... designed to encourage you to buy “coins” or accept wasteful advertising.
Response from developer
Thank you for your observations. The purpose of the game is to help you practice video poker, inform you of the optimal choices in each situation, and provide feedback for your choices. I developed it to help train myself in video poker (I still personally use it all the time) and share that training with others. I have no desire to exploit anyone through rigged algorithms that would defeat the training value. To answer your question, cards are shuffled randomly for every hand regardless of whether the user has made a purchase or not. But there is no Gaming Commission certification for this software, as it is for practice only.
Excellent trainer app
Great learning tool
It gives you instant feedback about the play you are making.
I use it to practice for going to the “real casino”
Good to get this.
Response from developer
Thanks for the comments. Just to explain, this app always recommends the optimal play based on expected value, which may be different from some written strategies. But if you see something that looks incorrect please send a screenshot and I will check it!
Helps
Nice program
My favorite video poker
Good but ....
Response from developer
Very sorry for this! This was a temporary issue with the database and has been resolved if you decide to try again.
Still Ned to buy money...
Nope. Now I’m outta money and have to watch 30 sec adds when needed.
Kind of sad that I have to purchase more credits when I thought I purchased the game. Sigh.
Fix pay tables
Response from developer
Thank you for reporting this! I confirmed the error with the Bonus Poker 6/5 paytable and it will be fixed in the next update.
Great way to learn
Very likely the best trainer you can get
Compared to other trainers:
* Collects session/lifetime statistics!
* You may get a hint of which cards to hold. One tap, and the best cards to hold are highlighted.
* If you prefer no hints, after you draw, it shows whether your move was optimal or not. And not only that - it shows what is the expected value for your move. And, in case your decision was not optimal, it shows numerical difference compared to the optimal move.
* It visualizes the expected values for holding any cards, so you can compare strategies / reassure that you've made the right move. You have to tap to see it, which is great for training purposes.
* I found no bugs in the strategy. Unlike the other app with $5/mo subscription with an obvious and annoying bug that breaks your streaks (holding one of two pairs in deuces wild - that other app always tell you that you should've kept that other pair; and they don't bother to fix it soon).
Other great things:
* Hourly bonus is good enough in most cases to keep you afloat, plus you can watch a video to get extra coins.
* for $2, you can get 4K coins, which is plenty. Interestingly, the purchase is advertised as 1K coins (which is also pretty good amount to play for many hours). I'm not sure whether it's a bug (I had max bet selected at a time of purchase, maybe that's why). I rather made that purchase to say thanks to the developer!
Things I'd love to see improved:
1. Disable ads (I'm fine to pay up to $50, just no monthly subscription please!)
2. Graphics to mimic the real machines
3. Easy mode (good to memorize strategy for beginners like me): Auto-highlight the best cards to hold, don't make me to press 'Hint'.
