WinPoker Poker Mar 4, 2001, 07:59 By Steve "Eagle Eye" Walker http://www.gamblingonlinemagazine.com

Whether you are looking for good video poker training software, or simply want to play a variety of video poker games at home, WinPoker is tons of fun and can help you win when you go to the real casino.

Overview

WinPoker is now in its 6th version and includes 23 games in the standard menu, plus an additional 10 slots for games that you can define yourself.  Those 10 slots come with 5 predefined games for a total of 28 video poker variations.  WinPoker also has Triple Play, Quadruple Play, 5 Play and 10 Play (licensed from Action Gaming) on every game, even on games that don't have it in the casinos.

But most importantly, WinPoker has a variety of training modes that you can use to improve the quality of your play. 
These range from "autohold", which automatically plays the hand for you, to "test" which you can use to evaluate how well you play.  There are modes in between which will warn you of errors and allow you to explore the differece between making the correct and incorrect plays.  There is also an advanced mode that will only deal "tough" hands.

Lastly, WinPoker has an analysis engine that can evaluate the house edge for any of its games, or for any that you define.  This is a great feature in helping you determine which online casinos to try.  The only drawback here is that WinPoker does not include support for Sequential Royal Flushes, which are now appearing as large bonuses in some online casinos.

Game Play

WinPoker delivers as a nearly complete video poker analysis tool.  The game play is quick and the games are implemented accurately.  The ability to enter your own payout tables for new games is an excellent feature, and the user interface for editing is fairly easy to use.  The only drawback is that the games do not support Sequential Royal Flushes.  WinPoker's list of games is very good, but some of the common paytable variants found both in brick and mortar casinos and in online casins do not appear on the list.  Of course you can override the paytables for the standard games, or manually enter the paytables in the user-defined games.  There are 10 slots to enter your own games, and for most people, this should be adequate.

The Video Poker games play faithfully to their casino couterparts, including multiple denominations, cash in/cash out, and even a hard counter to see how much you have played.  The multiple play and double-up options are a nice addition for when you are "playing for fun", rather than "playing to learn".  The games operate like the touch screen versions of real video poker machines in that you may click on either the hold/cancel button, or you may click the cards themselves to make your hold or draw selections.  Unfortunately, the bet and deal buttons are in inconvenient locations, and not in their traditional places, which adds a lot of "mousing around" to your play.  However, if you learn the keystroke equivalents for the cards, and use the right button to deal, you can minimize the mileage you put on your mouse.

Game and Play Analysis

WinPoker's strongest asset is its ability to analyze a game, hand, or a player's play.  In this area, WinPoker excels.  When you are in training mode, feedback is instant, and when you make errors, the correct decisions are shown along with your incorrect ones, to facilitate learning.  The game analysis tool is the fastest that I have seen, and of course, accurate.

Graphics

Although the cards themselves are faithfully drawn to resemble those found in traditional video poker machines, the controls and case design are not.  For a training tool, this should not detract much, if anything, from it's value.  For purely aesthetic reasons, I would recommend to the authors of the game to improve the quality of the other game graphics.

Sound

WinPoker has little sound, but the few sounds that it does have are faithful to their in-casino counterparts.  The ability to turn the sound on or off on the menu is a nice convenience for those late night sessions.

Everything Else

WinPoker is available at www.zamzone.com, and a limited-feature shareware version is available if you want to "try before you buy".  The software can be purchased on the web site and downloaded immediately.  The download size is about 840k.

Conclusion

All in all, WinPoker is a great software package that will easily pay for its self by improving your play.