Friday night player wants
to go BIG TIME
5 May 2003
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
I have been enthralled by watching the World
Poker Tour on the Travel Channel. Talk about a
show that hooks you. I actually have visions of
grandeur and think that I too could play at the
level I have seen on TV. I usually do quite well
in my Friday night game with friends from work.
Anyhow, in the past you have recommended using a
computer to get better at video poker and
blackjack. Do you know of any software programs
that would get my current limited skills up to a
professional level? David D.
In serious training for competition, be it Texas
Hold'em, blackjack for some decent moolah, or
even a Euchre tournament, I get in shape by
playing literally tens of thousands of hands
against a computer. Most computer programs out
there will beat average players, which makes
those programs useful tools for competition
against mere mortals.
But today's software cannot train you to compete
against the best poker players in the world.
Poker involves deceiving, lying, stealing, and a
whole host of other plunger virtues you would
need in order to drive other players off the
pot. You cannot deceive a computer, and
therefore, it cannot distinguish between
inconsistent play (misplaying a hand) and
stealing that huge pot with a deceptive bluff.
Speculating that you may be off your meds,
dreaming that you can play poker against the
pros, I will make one software recommendation.
In fact, I like this program so much that I own
a Windows laptop for this sole purpose: to play
countless hands of Texas Hold'em. Otherwise, I
am in the Macintosh world where no such Texas
Hold'em program exists, discounting Casino by
Sierra Software, which is amusing but not
qualified for gamesmanship upgrading.
So, David, my recommended software would be
Turbo Texas Hold'em by Wilson Software. The
current version has some pretty tough opponents
to read, decent graphics, warnings if your bet
disagrees with your personal advisor's, 3D
charts and graphs, adjustable blinds and limits,
and opponents who check, raise, and adjust their
play to yours, based on the number of opponents
and the action on the prior streets [see note]
and hands. It retails for $89.95. Granted,
that's a whistling price, but a lot cheaper than
losing hundreds, if not thousands, at those
Friday-night kitchen-table jousts against the
scalawags you call friends. B-u-u-u-t against
the teeth of the pros on the World poker Tour,
you are still a red meat moment.
You can purchase Turbo Texas Hold'em from the
Gambler's Book Shop. Give them a shout at
800-522-1777. Tell 'em I sent you, but don't
dare tell 'em I promised to turn you into a pro.
Dear Mark,
Does the number of coins put in the machine ever
affect the randomness of the outcome? Jenny S.
All pulls are random, Jenny, and the number of
coins played has absolutely no effect on
determining when, or what type of, winning
symbols will appear on the machine.
Actually, Jenny, indulge my getting a trifle
more specific. Government-controlled Gaming
Regulations require that electronic gambling
devices produce random gaming results. In order
to comply with this requirement, electronic
games of all types use a random number generator
(RNG) software algorithm to determine game
outcome. While the gaming machine looks idle to
you and me, just waiting for someone like Jenny
to deposit one or more coins or push a play
credit button, the RNG algorithm is called into
play hundreds of times per second. The RNG has
approximately 16,000,000,000,000,000,000
possible outcomes and, depending of course on
the type of game, there will be billions and
billions of outcomes that map into any set of
cards, or slot machine symbols. This, Jenny,
ensures that all game outcomes are completely
random.
Gambling quote of the week: "In order to learn
any game, you have to find the best players and
play with them."- Poker legend, Johnny Moss
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