ViPoker 1.1
Copyright Donald Graham 2003

License
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You must read and agree to all the terms of the license agreement contained in the License.txt file before you using this program. Use of the program constitutes acceptance of all terms listed in that agreement.


Introduction
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Thank you for downloading ViPoker. ViPoker is a free video poker game that plays like a casino 5 card draw video poker game. I wanted to create a "clean" game that wasn't cluttered up with eye candy like many of the commercial games. Just a basic interface with all the features that I like and use. ViPoker doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles like sound and animations, but it does have many of the useful features that you will find in a commercial game, including the following:

- Best best play based on expected value for each hand, pay table, and bet amount
- 19 pre-defined games including Jacks or Better, 6 Bonuus 4 of a Kind games, 6 Joker games, 4 wild card games, a Pick 'Em game, and Sneak Peak game that shows your first draw card.
- 10 user-defined games
- Double-or-Nothing on winning hands
- Game files that store and track any number of games
- An error log of up to 100 errors for each game
- 5 different play modes
- Fixed hand deals
- Keyboard shortcuts to play without using a mouse
- Pay table editor

The ViPoker home page will always contain the most current version of the program. You can go to http://home.comcast.net/~g2000 to download the most current version.


Minimum Requirements
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- Pentium 400Mhz or faster
- 32Mb memory
- PCI video board at 800x600 16-bit color
- 6Mb disk space
- Windows 95 or higher


Recommended Requirements
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- Pentium 500Mhz or higher
- 128Mb memory
- PCI or AGP video board at 1024x768 16-bit color
- Windows 98 or higher


Performance Tips
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If you have a computer with a processor speed less than 400Mhz, you can play in Casino mode. This mode does not do the EV calculations so you can avoid doing all the number crunching associated with calculating EV. If you play in Warning or Autohold mode on a processor less than 400Mhz, the number cruching will noticably slow down game play.

Play the game maximized at 1024x768 resolution with 16-bit color. The graphics are optimized for this resolution and color depth. At different resolutions and color depths, your computer has to dither colors and shrink/expand bitmaps which will rob you of a little speed and image quality.

If possible, upgrade your video board to an AGP board. AGP video boards are faster than PCI boards. This will improve the performance of your entire system, not just ViPoker.

If possible, add more memory. Memory is so cheap today that it's worth your while. This will improve the performance for all your programs.


Installation
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Installing ViPoker requires a program to unzip the zip file. Since most people that download programs from the internet already have an unzip program, one is not provided with ViPoker. However, you can download a free evaluation version of WinZip, my favorite unzip program, at http://www.winzip.com/ddchomea.htm. If you'd rather use another program, there are lots of unzip programs to choose from.

The installation steps are:

1. Create a folder anywhere on your hard drive (usually C:). I would recommend C:\Program Files\ViPoker.

2. Unzip the contents of the zip file to the folder you created in step one.

3. Optional. Create a short cut to the program and put it on your desktop. Right click the ViPoker.exe file and select Send To->Desktop (Create Shortcut).


UnInstalling
------------

Uninstalling ViPoker is as easy as installing it. The uninstall steps are:

1. Delete the folder containing the ViPoker.exe file.

2. Optional. Delete any shortcuts you may have created on your desktop.

ViPoker does not alter or write to the Windows registry, so there are no registry entries to worry about.


The ViPoker Screen
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The ViPoker screen looks very much like all other video poker games.

Pay Table - This yellow-and-black table dominates the top part of the screen and lists each winning hand and the payoff for each bet amount. Each column represents a bet of 1 to 5 left-to-right. If you are dealt a pat winning hand (a winning hand on the first deal before you discard) or have a final winning hand, the hand and payout will be highlighted.

Coin Value - This is displayed in the top right corner in large letters. The coin values supported by ViPoker are nickel, quarter, 50 cent, and dollar. These are the most commonly played values by most video poker players.

Cards - The cards dominate the bottom half of the screen. Initially, the standard card back is displayed. After the first deal, the cards are turned over revealing your first 5 card hand. You can hold cards by clicking the HOLD/CANCEL button immediately under each card. Cards that you select to hold will display "HELD" in the yellow-and-black box immediately above the card. When you press deal a second time, the cards you discard (the ones not held) are discarded and new cards are dealt.

Bet - This is a black-and-yelllow box in the bottom part of the screen under the first card.

Status - This another black-and-yellow box centered under the 3rd card. This box displays different messages reflecting the current status of the game as follows:

PRESS DEAL - Displayed when you initially run the program before the first deal.
GOOD LUCK! - Displayed while the program is dealing the first 5 cards.
HOLD/DRAW - Displayed after the first hand is dealt but before the second deal. This is when you select cards to hold and discard.
GAME OVER - This is displayed after the second deal and you did not get a winning hand.
WON XXXX - This is displayed after the second deal if the hand was a winner. XXXX is the number of credits you won.

Credits - This is yet another black-and-yellow box under the fifth card. This box always displays the number of credits you currently have. When you reach zero credits or have fewer credits than your bet amount and you attempt to deal, the program will prompt you to enter more money. The program converts the dollar amount you entered to credits. This conversion is a very simple calculation: dollars entered / coin value. If you enter $50 and are playing quarters, 50/.25 = 200 credits. To convert credits to dollars, simply multiply the number of credits by the coin value. For example, if you have 80 credits and are playing quarters, the dollar amount is 80 x .25 = $20. If you are playing dollars, then the number of credits = dollar amount.


Video Poker Basic Play
----------------------

ViPoker looks and plays like most other video poker games, so if you're familiar with video poker in general, you will have no problem playing ViPoker. Like life itself, the goal of video poker is to make the best possible hand given the hand you're dealt.

There are 3 basic steps to playing most any video poker game:

1. Deal your first 5 cards
2. Select which cards to hold and discard
3. Deal a second time to replace your discarded cards

The result after the second deal is your final hand and you are paid according to the pay table for your bet amount or nothing if you lost.

If you select a card to hold and change your mind, select it again and it will become un-held. Pressing the HOLD/CANCEL button simply toggles the card between held and not held.

That's basically how to play the game itself. Of course, having a basic play strategy based on Expected Value (EV) will help greatly, along with an understanding of poker hand ranks.

HAND RANKS

Royal Flush - Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten of the same suit. This is the highest hand in poker and the most rare. The odds of getting a royal flush in video poker are about 1 in 40,000!

Straight Flush - 5 consecutive cards of the same suit other than a royal flush. Odds are 1 in 9,200.

4 of a Kind - Four cards of the same face value. Odds are 1 in 424.

Full House - 3 cards of one face value and 2 of another face value. Odds are 1 in 86.

Flush - 5 cards of the same suit that aren't a straight. Odds are 1 in 90.

Straight - 5 consectivue cards of different suits. Odds are 1 in 88.

3 Of a Kind - 3 cards of the same face value and 2 cards of different values. Odds are 1 in 13.

2 Pair - One pair of one face value, a pair of another value, and a card of any other value. Odds are 1 in 7.

Pair of Jacks - A pair of jacks or better and 3 other cards of different values. This is usually the lowest winning hand in most non-wild video poker games. Odds are 1 in 4.

In general, you should get a winning hand about 40-45% of the time. Of course the vast majority of these are going to be pairs and 2 pairs. You need to hit higher hands to stay in the game without pumping money into the machine.

You will greatly extend your playing time by following a basic play strategy. These strategies are usually derived from the highest expected value of a hand. Play strategies and expected values can get pretty complex so I won't go into too much detail with them here, but it's usually not necessary to memorize the best play for every single hand. Playing a solid basic strategy is usually more than sufficient for recreational players. These strategies are guidelines on how to play most hands. They way they work is to examine the first 5 cards you're dealt, and starting at the top of list, work down until you find the first entry that matches your hand and play accordingly. The following is a good basic play strategy for non-wild Jacks or better games:

1. Hold any royal flush, straight flush, 4 of a kind, full house or straight (pat hand).
2. Hold 4 cards to a royal flush
3. Hold 4 cards to a straight flush
4. Hold a pat 3 of a kind, 2 pair, or high pair (usually a pair of jacks or better)
5. Hold 3 cards to a royal flush
6. Hold 4 cards to a flush
7. Hold 4 cards to an open straight that include 3 high cards (ex Ten,Jack,Queen,King)
8. Hold a low pair (a pair less than the minimum pair) (ex a pair of 5's)
9. Hold 4 cards to an open straight that don't include 3 high cards (ex 5,6,7,8)
10. Hold 3 cards to a straight flush with 1 inside draw (ex 5,6,8 of the same suit, the 7 being the inside draw)
11. Hold 2 cards to a royal flush (ex a queen and ten of the same suit)
12. Hold 3 cards to a straight flush with 2 inside draws (ex 5,6,9 of the same suit, the 7 and 8 being the inside draws)
13. Hold 4 cards to an inside straight that include 3 high cards (ex 9,Jack,Queen,King, the 10 being the inside draw)
14. Hold 1, 2, or 3 single high cards (ex ace, queen, jack)
15. Discard all 5 cards and get 5 new ones.

This play strategy will result in the best long term payout, the key words being "long term". In the short term, say for the time that you're actually playing in a casino, you may sometimes sacrifice a lower, higher probability hand for a higher, lower probability hand. This can be tough to do for recreational players that are only playing for a short time and with limited money. Of course you don't HAVE to play every hand exactly according to this strategy. To be honest, I don't always play the statistically best play either and will sometimes play for the better probability hand rather than the higher hand. Again this a recommended basic strategy, but it is not cast in stone.

For example, say you're dealt the following hand: 10H, JH, KH, 5H, 6C. (For the sake of brevity, this way of representing a hand is the face value: 2-10, J(ack), Q(ueen), K(ing), A(ce). followed by the suit: H(earts), C(lubs), D(iamonds), S(pades).) Starting from the top of the above list of plays, you would work down until you got to entry 4. In this hand you have 3 cards to a royal flush, the 10,J,K of hearts, so the best play would be to hold these 3 cards and discard the other 2. Your first reaction to this might be to hold the 4 cards to the flush, but statistically speaking in the long run, it's worth your while to sacrifice the flush for the royal flush. Again if you're short on money, you can play for the flush because getting a royal flush is such a long shot. You can also base your decision on how the game is playing. If the machine is "hot" you might try for the royal, if it's "cold" you might play for the flush. Again, best play strategies are recommended ways of playing, not required ways of playing.

EXPECTED VALUE

Expected value is a term you will see a lot in literature about video poker. Expected value calculates the average payout of all possible winning hands given any initial hand. The formula is: total payout of all possible winning hands / all possible hands. When the expected value (EV) is greater than 1, on average you will make money on the hand, if it equals 1, on average you will break even, if less than 1, on average you will lose money.

Expected value is an important concept in video poker: most play strategies are based on EV calculations, casinos use EV to set pay tables , and the pay table determines the overall payout percentage of the machine. While it is not necessary for  recreational players to calculate EV on their own, just knowing what it is will help you understand other literature you might read on the subject of video poker.

Basically, Ev attempts to balance 2 factors: odds and payout. Higher hands are less probable but have bigger payouts. Lower hands are more probable but have smaller payouts. EV averages these factors given the hand you're dealt, possible winning hands that can result from your initial hand, and payout. The scale will tip in in favor of higher hands or lower hands depending on these factors. If the potential payout on high hands is big enough, it tips the scale in favor of higher hands. If not, the scale tips in favor of lower hands.

ViPoker calculates the EV for every possible way to play a hand for every hand you're dealt. There are 32 possible ways to play any given hand: you can hold all 5 cards, discard all 5 cards, hold only the 3rd card, hold the 1st and 3rd card, etc. ViPoker calculates the EV for every possible way to play a hand and determines the best play to be the play with the highest EV.

BEST PLAY

Best play, as the name implies, is the statistically best way to play every hand. Best play is based on EV calculations. Factors that effect EV are the hand you're dealt, the payout table, and the bet. This means that the best play can change for different payout tables even if you're playing the same game. For example, in double bonus and double double bonus games, you will usually hold only an ace as opposed to, say, an ace and king. This is because of the high payout on 4 aces. Effectively what the best play is saying is that it is worth your while to sacrifice a low pair for the higher payout of 4 aces.

Another factor that effects EV is your bet. The best play can change if you bet max or less than max. When betting max, you can potentially get the jackpot payout on a royal flush (or possibly other hands, such as 5 of a Kind in Joker Poker). When not betting max, you can't get the jackpot so this will occassionally effect the best play.

Contrary to popular opinion, coin value does not effect best play. EV is calculated on credits won, not the dollar value of the payout, so the best play for any given hand will be the same whether playing a nickel machine or a $5 machine with all other factors being the same.


VIDEO POKER MISCONCEPTIONS
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One of the reasons video poker is so popular is because the payout percentages are much better than most slot machines. A typical slot machine in Vegas will payout only 75-80% over the life of the machine. A typical video poker machine will usually payout better than 90%. This means that you get more game play for your dollar and more chances to win a jackpot.

In the good old days when video poker was not widely played, you could actually find a few machines that payed better than 100%. Those days are pretty much gone now. Casinos are not in the habit of putting machines on the floor that give the player the edge. But video poker machines still have a much higher payout percentage than most slot machines so are still a better value.

One of the most common misconceptions about video poker is that if you find a 100% payback machine, will you never lose money. The 100% payout is over the LIFE OF THE MACHINE, not the few hours or days you might be playing it. The payout for the time you're playing a machine can be significantly less than 100%.

Another common misconception about all gaming machines is that jackpots are not considered to be part of the payout percentage. In fact, they are. A 98% payout slot machine will payout 98% INCLUDING the jackpot. That's why machines with large jackpots rarely pay anything. Another common misconception is that the casinos pay the big progressive jackpots. They don't; the manufacturers of the machines do! Slot and video poker machines are virtually all profit for the casinos!

One popular misconception is that the high paying hands account for most of the machine's payout. False. The lion's share of the payout comes from the small hands, particularly the lowest 2 hands in the pay table. In a typical Jacks or better poker game, the pair of Jacks or better and 2 pair account for nearly 60% of the total payout of the machine. In fact, it is entirely possible to get 100% payback and never get a hand higher than 2 pair! It will not seem like a 100% payout machine to the player, but if the credits won = credits played, then the machine paid out 100%. It's like being paid a jackpot a few dollars at a time.

Probably the biggest misconception about video poker is that the Royal Flush is the most important hand. In fact, 2 Pair is usually the most important hand. That is because in non-bonus games the 2 pair pays to 2:1 and is the lowest hand that pays better than 1:1. Compare the pay tables of a bonus game with an ordinary Jacks+ game. The bonus games all have nice payouts for 4 of a Kind's but pay only even money on a 2 pair, yet the overall payout percentage of the 2 games is nearly the same. How can a bonus game pay such large amounts for bonus 4 of a kind's and still have the same payout percentage as a non-bonus game? Easy. The payout on 2 pair is dropped from 2:1 to even money. In other words, the machine can afford to give jackpot payouts on bonus 4 of a kinds by stealing from the from the 2:1 payout on 2 pair and dropping it to even money! What this effectively does is shift the payout from small dribbles (the 2:1 payout on 2 Pair) to a larger one-time payout for a bonus 4 of a Kind. This means that  you're usually going to pump a lot more money into a bonus game in the hopes of getting 4 Aces to make it back. And if you don't get 4 Aces, you're probably going to lose a lot of money pretty quickly. For the person most interested in playing longest, a non-bonus game is usually better because of the 2:1 payout on the 2 Pair. You won't win big, but you usually don't lose big either and you can play longer.

Odds. Odds are that you'll get a royal flush every 40,000 hands played. That does not mean that you will get a royal flush on exactly the 40,000th hand played. You could go a hundred thousand or a million hands without getting a royal flush. Let's say you play 79,998 hands and get no royal flushes. On your 79,999th and 80,000th hands you get 2 royal flushes in a row. The average is still 1 royal flush in 40,000 hands (2/80,000). Odds are essentially long-term averages, but like any average, the actual numbers that make up the average can be much higher or lower than the average itself.

And lastly, luck. Gaming pros don't like to talk about luck; they only consider math and statistics and probabilities. But let's face it, if you hit a royal flush on your first hand on the first machine you play, you were lucky! Frankly, I don't know why professional poker players discount luck in gambling. I guess they think it makes them look or sound unprofessional. To me, denying a reality that everyone who's ever gambled knows is true is unprofessional. Not everything in the universe can be reduced to a math equation or a statistic. There is a synergy to life that surpasses just the physical elements that can be quantified. Don't just limit yourself to math and numbers and take all the fun out it. If you feel lucky, go with it! Just don't confuse wishful thinking with a lucky feeling or you'll go broke fast.

The point of this entire section is to play the game realistically. If you play video poker with false perceptions about it, you'll be greatly disappointed. Know what you're up against, play for the fun of it, and ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS play with your head, not over it!



Playing ViPoker
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Now that you have a basic understanding of video poker, you're ready to play ViPoker.

Once the game files have been unzipped to a folder, all you need to do is double-click the game file to run the program. The first time you run the program you will have 0 credits and the program will automatically load the Jacks or Better game. Jacks or Better is a good game to start with if you've never played video poker or are a beginner.

To start the game, you need to deal the cards. If you have no credits or not enough credits for your bet amount, you will be prompted to enter a dollar amount. Just as in real-life, you can't play the game until you put in some money! The program will turn over each card. ViPoker uses 1 deck of cards.

At this point you can select which cards you want to hold. Any cards that are not held, are discarded and you will be dealt new cards. If you select a card to hold and change your mind, you can un-hold it simply by selecting it again. Successively selecting a card simply toggles the card to hold and don't hold (discard).

Once you've selected the cards you want to hold, deal again to draw new cards to replace the cards you discarded. The cards you discarded are removed from the deck so you can not be re-dealt a card you discarded.

After your discarded cards are re-dealt, the resulting hand is your final hand and you are paid or not on that hand. If you win, credits are added to your total credits.

If your final hand is a winner, you have the option to double your winnings. This is a double-or-nothing bonus. If you choose to try and double up, click the DBL UP button just below the MAX BET button. If you beat the dealer, you double your winnings. You can double up as many times as you'd like until you stop or lose. If you lose at any point, you lose all the credits you've won from doubling up as well as your original winning credits.

That's basically it. The follwing sections detail with how to interact with ViPoker.


KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

D or Enter - Deal. Same as clicking the Deal button
1,2,3,4,5 - Use these keys to Hold/Cancel cards. These keys correspond to the card positions on the screen left-to-right. Same as clicking the Hold/Cancel button under each card.
B - Bet 1. Same as clicking the Bet 1 button
M - Max Bet. Same as clicking the Max Bet button
T - Edit the current pay table. Same as double clicking the current pay table
E - Edit any pay table. Same as selecting Options->Edit Pay Table
S - Stats. Same as selecting Options->Stats
A - Alert on Winning Hand. Same as selecting Options->Alert on Winning Hands
U - Double up. Same as pressing the DBL UP button

For all other menu options, Press Alt and the letter underlined for the menu option. Then use the arrow keys to move to the desired option and press Enter. For example, to change the coin value to $1, press Alt-C, then use the arrow keys to select Dollar and press Enter.


DEALING

You can deal in of three ways:

1. Click the Deal button
2. Click the right mouse button anywhere on the screen except the Bet box
3. Press the D key  or Enter on the keyboard

These actions work the same for either the first or second deal.


HOLDING CARDS

Once your first 5 cards are dealt, you have the opportunity to select the cards you want to hold. Any cards that are not held are discarded and replaced from the remaining deck on the second deal. Discarded cards are removed the deck and can not be re-dealt on that hand.

If you are dealt a pat winning hand such as a straight or a flush, simply hold all 5 cards and press Deal. Since you held all 5 cards, none are replaced and that hand becomes your final hand. If you have a total garbage hand, don't hold any cards and you will be dealt 5 new cards. The second set of 5 cards becomes your final hand and you are paid or not on those cards.

You can select/unselect cards to hold in 3 ways:

1. Click the HOLD/CANCEL button under the card
2. Click the card itself
3. Press the 1,2,3,4, or 5 key on the keyboard. These keys correspond to the card position where 1 is the first card on the left and 5 is the last card on the right.


DOUBLING UP

If your final hand is a winner, you have the option to double your winnings. This is a double or nothing bonus. The DBL UP button only appears when you have a winning hand and the Options->Double Up menu item is checked. If you choose to try and double up, click the DBL UP button just below the MAX BET button. The game will change into to double-or-nothing mode. Once you enter double up mode, you MUST try to double up at least once. You will not have the option to go back to the game until you've either beaten or tied the dealer, so only click the DBL UP button if you're absolutely sure you want to double up. Once in double up mode, the dealer is dealt one card face up. You are dealt 4 cards face down. You then select one of your 4 cards and if your card beats the dealer's card, you double your credits. If you tie the dealer, you have the option to try again. If your card is lower than the dealer's, you lose all the credits you won, including the credits you started with, and are taken back to game.

You can double up as many times as you'd like or until you lose.

**NOTE
It is possible that none of your cards can beat the dealer. The program simply shuffles a new deck and the fifth card in the deck is the dealer's card. All of your cards might be lower than the dealer's.

Whenever you beat or tie the dealer, you're asked if you want to try again. Simply click "Yes" to try again or "No" to go back to the game with the extra credits you've won.

**NOTE
The game automatically adds your initial winning credits to your credits total before doubling up. If you successfully double up, the program adds only the additional credits you won on doubling up because your original credits have already been added. If you lose, the original credits you won are subtracted from your total credits.

You can double up in 2 ways:

1. Click the DBL UP button
2. Press the U key on the keyboard

You can cancel the double up option by selecting the Options->Double Up item. You might want to cancel double up mode so that you don't accidentally click the DBL UP button.


CHANGING BET

You can bet from 1 to 5 credits on each hand. You can not change your bet in the middle of playing a hand. The program will wrap from 5 to 1 if the bet is 5.

You can change your bet in 3 ways:

1. Click the BET 1 button. This increments your bet by one.
2. Left click anywhere in bet box.
3. Press the B key on the keyboard.


BETTING MAX

The maximum bet in ViPoker is 5 for all games. You can not change to max bet in the middle of playing a hand.

You can change to max bet in 3 ways:

1. Click the MAX BET button.
2. Right click anywhere in the bet box
3. Press the M key on the keyboard


CHANGING GAMES

You can change games in 2 ways:

1. Click the Games menu option and select the game you want to play
2. Press Alt-G and use the arrow keys to move to the correct game and press Enter

Once you've selected a game, the new game is loaded and you can begin playing that game immediately.

You can not change games in the middle of playing a hand.


CHANGING COIN VALUE

You can change the coin value in 2 ways:

1. Click the Coin menu option and select the correct value
2. Press Alt-C, use the arrow keys to move to the correct coin, and press Enter

You can not change coin value in the middle of playing a hand.

Be careful when changing coin value, especially when going from a lower value to a higher value. The program will calculate the current dollar amount of your credits using your current coin value and then convert that to the number of credtis for the new coin value. Since the number of credits is always a whole integer number, partial credits are dropped. If you then convert back to a lower coin value, you might  be missing a few credits. The rule of thumb is to change coin value only when your number of credits is equal to a dollar value that is an even increment of the coin value to which you are changing. In other words, if you change from quarters to half dolloars, only do so when the dollar value of your credits is an even increment of $.50. That way you will not lose any credits.

TURNING WINNING HAND ALERTS ON/OFF

You can turn the alert on winning hands on or off in 3 ways:

1. Press the A key on the keyboard
2. Click the Options menu option and select Alert on Winning Hands
3. Press Alt-O, use the arrow keys to move to the Alert on Winning Hands, and press Enter

You can not change the alert in the middle of playing a hand.


SPECIAL GAMES

ViPoker contains 2 special games, Pick 'Em Poker and Sneak Peak Poker. These games play a little differently than the other games.


Pick 'Em Poker

This game is a fairly popular game. In this game, you are dealt your first 2 cards. You are then dealt 2 stacks of 3 cards where the first card is face up and the other 2 cards face down. You then select which stack of 3 cards you want to complete your hand. When you select a stack, the face up card becomes your 3rd card and the 2 down cards are turned over as the 4th and 5th cards. This is your final hand. In Pick 'Em poker, you can not hold and discard any cards after you select a stack. For this reason, the pay table is higher because the odds of drawing winning hands without discarding are higher.

When playing in Autohold mode, the correct stack to play will be indicated by the word "PLAY" on the face up card of the correct stack. If it makes no difference which stack to play, both face up cards will show "EITHER".


Sneak Peak Poker

This is a rare game; I've only seen it in Atlantic City. The unique thing about this game is that the program shows you your first draw card. This is a little like being able to see the dealer's down card in blackjack. Obviously, this gives you a significant advantage, therefore, the payouts are lower. But it is a fun and interesting game to play. So if you're ever in Atlantic City, look for this one. They're hard to find, but there are (or at least were the last time I vacationed there) a few here and there.

This game plays much like a regular game except that after your initial deal, the first draw card is displayed right above the 5th card. You can then select the cards you want to hold knowing what your first draw card is going to be. When you do the second deal, the first draw card is moved to the first discarded card and the rest of the discarded cards are replaced with cards from the deck.

Knowing the first draw card can dramatically alter your game play. For example if you are dealt four cards to a flush, your normal play would probably be to hold the 4 flush cards. But if your first draw card is not the same suit, then it would  be foolish to hold the 4 flush cards if you don't already have a pat winning hand.

It's an interesting game to play even if you might never see it in a casino.


SUMMARY

That's covers most of the different game options. The next section will detail the more advanced features.



Advaced Features
----------------

In addition to the basic options described above, ViPoker contains a number of advanced features as well. The advanced features are aimed primarily at practicing best play. Using these features, you can fine tune your play once you've got the basics of a game down.


PLAY MODE

There are 5 different play modes supported by ViPoker. They are:

1. Casino - As the name implies, this mode plays the same as a casino game. The game does not only not warn you if you don't play the best play, it doesn't even bother to calculate the best play. The game simply plays the hand you specify just as a casino game does. You can play this mode once you've mastered a game.

2. Warning - This mode warns you if you make a bad play only after you've selected your hold cards and attempt the final deal. A dialog box will pop up telling you the correct play and asks whether you want to continue. You have the option of continuing to play your hand as you selected by selecting Yes or going back to change your play if you press No. This is the default play mode. The best play is calculated automatically by the program and is the play that results in the highest EV for that hand.

3. Autohold - This mode is similar to the warning mode except that it will automatically select the cards to hold for you. In this mode you never have to select the correct cards yourself. You can, however, change the selected cards and you will get the same Best Play Error dialog box you do in Warning mode.

4. Error Log - This mode is a special playing mode that re-plays the hands on which you made a play error. When playing in Warning or Autohold mode, each error is logged in the game file and the error log contains the last 100 play errors. The purpose of the error log mode is to practice the hands on which you made an error. In this mode you are dealt the first 5 cards of the hand and have the opportunity to select the correct cards. If you select the correct cards, the game moves on to the next hand. In this mode, the game does not deal the final hand. It also does not change game statistics or credits.

5. Fixed Hand - This mode is similar to the Error Log mode except that you get the opportunity to select the hand yourself in a dialog box. The fixed hand dialog box allows you to specify the first 5 deal cards and the 5 draw cards. You can simply press the Tab key to move to the next card in the box. The easiest way to select the correct card is to press the key that corresponds to the first character of the card and keep pressing that key until the correct one comes up. For example, if you want to select the 3 of Clubs, press the 3 key until 3 of Clubs is displayed and then move to the next card.

Unless you're playing Pick 'Em poker or Sneak Peak poker, you don't need to select any draw cards. When playing Pick 'Em, the first draw card becomes the face up card on the second stack of 3 cards. When playing Sneak Peak, the first draw card is displayed after the initial deal. So you never need to select any draw card but the first one.

Once you've set the cards, click OK or press Enter and the game will deal you that exact hand. You then have an opportunity to select the correct cards and press Deal again. If you are playing in Warning mode, you will be told if you make a mistake. If not, it will simply deal you the same hand again. To deal a different hand, you have to manually change the hand again or it will just keep dealing you the same hand.

To go back to regular play mode, select either Casino, Warning, or Autohold and the game will revert back to playing normally.

The program automatically sets the best play dialog box to the cards you were dealt in your last hand.

To be honest, this option is a left-over from when I was writing and testing pay tables. It was much easier to force the game to deal a specific hand so that I could test whether the program was paying out correctly. But I left the option in the game so that you might practice certain types of hands to fine tune your game play.

You can change the play mode in 2 ways:

1. Click the Play Mode menu option and select the correct play mode.
2. Press Alt-P, use the arrow keys to select the correct mode, and press Enter.

You can not change play modes in the middle of playing a hand.


EDITING PAY TABLES

You can edit any pay table in a number of ways. If you edit a pre-defined game, you can only change the payout and max payout fields. If you edit a user-defined game, you can change any game attribute.

You can edit the current pay table in 3 ways:

1. Double click anywhere in the pay table
2. Click the Options menu and select Edit Pay Table
3. Press the T key on the keyboard

The program will display a rather large and unwieldy looking dialog box. Simply click on the field or press the Tab key until you reach the desired field and make the change. If you enter something invalid, the program will let you know and return you to the dialog box with the field in error selected. If you wish to cancel without saving changes, simply click Cancel or Tab to the Cancel button and press Enter. To save the changes, click OK or Tab to the OK button and press Enter. The program will then reload the pay table with the changes and they will be in effect immediately.

You can edit any other pay table in 2 ways:

1. Click the Options menu and select Edit Pay Table
2. Press the E key on the keyboard

A dialog box willl appear with a list of all the games. The game you're currently playing is automatically selected. You can then either scroll through the list or press the first character of the game's name successively until the correct game is highlighted and then press Enter or click OK.

You can not edit pay tables in the middle of playing a hand.


CREATING YOUR OWN GAMES

There are 10 user-defined games in ViPoker. The first time you select a user game, the game will open the Create Pay Table dialog box. You can then enter all game criteria and save it. While the dialog box is rather large and a bit confusing at first, it's actually pretty easy to use.

There are a couple of things to remember when creating a game:

1. Create a realistic game that follows the basic rules of poker. In other words, don't create a game where a 3 of a Kind is a higher hand than 4 of a Kind.
2. Enter the hand ranks in order from highest to lowest.

If you follow these 2 simple rules, you will not have problems. If you create a totally off-the-wall game, the results will be unpredictable.

To create your own game, follow these steps:

1. Game Name - Enter a game name in the first field. Keep this short to around 20-25 characters. This is what is displayed in the Games menu. This field can not be blank.

2. Uses Wilds - For games with wild cards only: if you want the game to have wild cards, you must check the Uses Wilds box to unlock the fields pertaining to wild cards. If you check this box, the program automatically checks the Wilds OK box for each payline.

3. Jokers - For games with wild cards only: enter the number of Jokers you want to use (up to 5) or leave blank if you don't want Jokers but be sure to enter a face value in the Wild Cards field.

4. Wild Cards - For games with wild cards only: enter the face values of wild cards. Leave this field blank if you only want to use Jokers as wild cards but remember to enter the number of Jokers in the Jokers field. You can specify up to 5 face values that will be wild. Obviously, a game with 20 wild cards isn't very realistic, but it should still work (I've only tested the game using up to 10 wild cards). Each value is a single character and must be seperated with a comma. The correct values to enter are: 2-9, T(en), J(ack), Q(ueen), K(ing), or A(ce). For eample, if you want 2's and 3's wild, enter "2,3" (without the quotes).

**Note
Your game can use Jokers AND other wild cards simultaneously. An example would be the Joker and Deuces Wild game. If you only want to use one or the other, you must enter either the number of Jokers and/or wild cards. If both the Jokers and Wild Cards fields are blank, the program will prompt you to enter something in at least one of these fields.

5. Minimum Pair - This field defines the lowest pair that constitutes a winning hand if you select the 1 Pair hand rank on any of the pay lines. This field can contain only 1 character, 2-9, T(en), J(ack), Q(ueen), K(ing), or A(ce). The program will consider all face values greater than or equal the one entered up to Aces to be a winning pair. You must enter a value in this field if the 1 Pair hand rank is selected on any pay line.

6. The max bet can not be changed and is always 5.

At this point you begin entering your pay lines. Start with the highest and work down to the lowest. You can enter up to 15 pay lines. For each pay line, do the following:

7. Hand Rank - Successively Press the key corresponding to the first letter of the hand or scroll through the list until you reach the correct hand rank. For example, if a pay line is for a straight, press the S key until Straight appears. The selected rank is then automatically put into the Description field next to it. The hand ranks supported by ViPoker are:

Royal Flush
5 Of a Kind
4 Wilds
5 Wilds
Bonus 4 of a Kind
Royal Flush With Wild
Straight Flush
4 of a Kind
Full House
Flush
Straight
3 of a Kind
2 Pair
1 Pair

**Note 
The program does not check the hand rank to make sure it is consistent with the game. In other words, the program will not warn you if you select the 4 Wilds hand rank and the game doesn't use wilds or there are less than 4 wild cards in the game.

8. Description - Change the description for that pay line or simply accept the pre-defined description. This field can not be blank and this description is what's used in the Pay Table on the game screen.

9. Payout - This is the payout for a bet of 1. Bets less than max are always this payout * bet. This field can not be blank and must be a whole integer (no decimal points). This field is also the payout in credits, not dollars.

10. Max Payout - This is the payout for a bet of 5. This field can not be blank and must be a whole integer (no decimal points). This field is also the payout in credits, not dollars.

11. Bonus Quads - This field is used only if you select the Bonus 4 of a Kind hand rank. This field can contain up to 5 face values seperated by a comma. Each face value is a single character: 2-9, T(en), J(ack), Q(ueen), K(ing), or A(ce). For example, if you want to create a pay line for 4 2's, 3's, or 4's, enter "2,3,4" (without the quotes).

12. Kicker - This field is used only if you select the Bonus 4 of a Kind hand rank. This field can contain up to 5 face values seperated by a comma and represents the fifth card in the hand. Each face value is a single character: 2-9, T(en), J(ack), Q(ueen), K(ing), or A(ce). For example, if you want the kicker to be an Ace, 2, 3, or 4, enter "A,2,3,4" (without the quotes).

**Note
The game assumes the following hierarchy pertaining to 4 of a Kinds:

Bonus 4 of a Kind with Kicker
Bouns 4 of a Kind without Kicker
Non-bonus 4 of a Kind

So enter pay lines regarding 4 of a Kinds in that order.

13. Wilds OK - This field is used only for games with wild cards. This tells the program whether this pay line must be a natural hand (box unchecked) or can contain wild cards (box checked). Some games pay different for natural hands as opposed to hands with wild cards.

Repeat steps 7 - 13 for each pay line. When you're finished, click OK or press Enter. If there are any errors, the program will display a dialog box telling you what the error is and will automatically select the field in error. You can not close this box until everything is correct. Of course you can cancel it and no changes will be saved.

**Note
The first blank Hand Rank signifies the end of the pay table. Anything in the table that follows a blank hand rank is ignored.

If you want to see how an actual game is defined, edit one of the pre-defined games. All the pre-defined games were created using this dialog box and you can view how the game is defined.


GAME STATS

The program tracks game statistics for all games and stores them in special game files (*.vpg files). The stats maintained by the program are:

Creits Enetred (the total amount of "money" you've put in the game. In a casino, this would be the out-of-pocket money you've put into the machine.)
Hands Won
Hands Played
Pct Hands Won
Credits Played
Credits Won
Net Gain
Pct Payout
Number of winning hands for each pay line for each game

These stats are recorded for each game you play by session and overall game. The current session is the time since you started the program, opened the game file, or changed games. The overall game stats are for all sessions, including the current session.

Personally, the stats I care most about are Hands Played, Net Gain, and Payout Percentage. As a recreational player I am primarily concerned with playing for as long as possible with as little money as possible. So I am most interested in the game that keeps me playing the longest and not so much in the one with biggest jackpots.

I also inspect the number of hands won for each pay line to make sure that my playing strategy isn't skewed too much to certain hands. For example, I would always expect the lowest hand rank to have the highest number and the highest hand rank to have the lowest number. For example, if a game showed 20 full houses and only 3 straights, I would conclude that the best play strategy for that game emphasizes playing pairs over possible straights. This will probably be the case for bonus 4 of a kind and wild card games because of the high payouts on some 4 of a kinds. In a non-bonus game, these stats should be more evenly distributed.

You can display game stats in 3 ways:

1. Click the Options->Stats menu
2. Press the S key on the keyboard
3. Press Alt-O, use the arrow keys to select stats, and press Enter

All statistics are stored in game files which I'll discuss in the next section.


GAME FILES

Game files are another feature created primarily as a practice tool. Game files allow you to track game statistics and payouts independently. Don't confuse game files with specific games. A game file is simply a file the program uses to store the statistics for each game you play; a single game file can contain stats for any number of games. The purpose of the game files is to allow you to keep seperate sets of game stats.

When you first run the program, all game stats are stored in a file called default.vpg. Until you save a game with the File-Save or File->Save As menu options, the program uses the default file. Once you've created a new game file, you can open it at any time and the program will load the game you last played along with all other game attributes.

You don't need to save a game before loading another or closing the program; the program does that automatically.
When you have any game file open other than the default, the file name is displayed in parentheses in the game's title bar.
You can not change game files in the middle of playing a hand.

A use for game files might be to track a seperate set of stats for different playing strategies. For example, you could create one game file for a conservative play strategy and another for a more aggressive game strategy and compare the results.


Saving A Game

All you need to do is select the File->Save option. The standard File Save As dialog box appears. Select the folder you want to save them in (I would recommend the same folder as the program). The program will set the file name to the game you're currently playing. You can override this name and give it any name you want. If the file name you enter already exists, you will be asked to overwrite it. You obviously have the option to overwrite it or give it a different name. At that point the game file is created with all the game statistics as they exist at that moment. The next time you open that file, the game picks up where it left off.


Saving A Game To A Different Name

Select the File->Save As option. The rest of the process is the same as described in the above section.


Opening A Game

Select the File->Open option. You will be presented with the standard File Open dialog box. Select the correct game and press Enter or click OK. The program will load the last game you were playing when that file was open and pick up where it left off.


Starting A New Game

Select the File->New option. This option saves the state of the current game, creates a new default file, and wipes all statistics. You can then use the Save As option to save it to a different name.


SUMMARY
-------

While ViPoker is not the glitziest video poker game out there, I think it has a lot of good features that make it a worthwhile game to play. And you can't beat the price!

I welcome any comments, suggestions, or bug reports you might have. You can email me at drdon03869@yahoo.com. I can not guarentee that I will respond to emails, but I will read them and possibly respond as time and schedule permit.

Enjoy!


CHANGES IN VERSION 1.1
----------------------

1. Fixed a minor error in winning hand alerts where the alert is not sounded if the first deal of a new hand results in the same hand rank as the final deal of the previous hand.

2. Fixed a minor error in winning hand alerts where the alert is sounded from redrawing the screen, such as when the program is minimized then maximized.

3. Fixed a minor error in the keyboard shortcuts so that the numeric keypad will work with NumLock on.

4. Added the Double-or-Nothing option.

5. Added the pre-defined Triple Bonus game.

6. Changed the Flush Max Payout on the pre-defined Bonus Poker game from 35 to 25.