Master Poker's Misc Features & Info
Still haven't had enough? Here is another
section of information and assorted MP features to help you make a truly
informed decision.
The Main Sign-up Screen
It all begins with the Main Sign-up Screen. This is where you choose your
event type, set your preferences, and start your next session. Click the thumbnail
image below to see a larger graphic.
MP gives you a great deal of control over what your playing screen looks like,
how your chosen event is played out, how records are kept, etc.. By taking
the time to tell it your personal preferences all future game play will be
smoother and tuned to your precise needs and personality.
Event Setup Screen
Each game type has it's own setup screen. This is the Tournament Setup
Screen, the most complicated one you will see, where you can set all of the parameters for your next
event, including the blind structure, and turning Rebuys and Add-ons on/off.
Click the thumbnail graphic below to see a larger image.
Intuitive Interface
The easy to use Graphical User Interface is designed
to be simple to use, even for those folks not familiar with computer games. All
command buttons are clearly labeled, each screen contains only that information
you will need to accomplish your task, and every option present has it's own
Help window to clearly explain its function. Master Poker is
incredibly powerful, but so easy to use that after you complete your first session you won't
ever find yourself blankly staring at the screen wondering what to do next.
Play anywhere from 2-10 players (including yourself)
 This may seem obvious, but not all software allows you to choose precisely
how many players will be seated at your table. MP always allows you to pick the precise number of players
per table for any given event. You can play a purely heads-up format against a single
AI opponent, or seat yourself against 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 or a full table of 9
opposing AI players (10 total seats), and MP will automatically and evenly
spread your chosen number of opponents out around the table. That means if you choose to play a
shorthanded game versus just a couple of players your opponents will be evenly spaced around the table, not sitting
clustered in the next few chairs to your left.
Honorable Artificial Intelligence
The artificial intelligence for most commercial poker applications has many
flaws, but one stands out above all others. They gain an unfair advantage over
the user by
simply looking at your cards. It's just much easier to
look at the human player’s cards and give him/her a 'perceived' playing
experience than to write real-life logic for such a
sophisticated game. Not only
does this make the AI players unskilled and predictable, it also violates the
cardinal rule for good poker software. It prevents your software from teaching you what will and will not work in the real world. This
is why nearly all poker software is so easy to master after a few hours of play.
You're mastering the
software, not the game.
Master Poker's AI player's make decisions based on a full range of dynamic
table conditions, just as you would. They attack, steal and defend, just as you would.
They bluff, they intimidate, and they occasionally run for cover, just like you
would. And they do it all without looking at your cards. While MP players will certainly track your tendencies and use that
tracking data to their advantage on future hands (as if observing you at the table), they will
never make any decision on the current hand by looking at your cards.
Never.
Adjustable AI Action Delay
Master Poker gives you full control over the pace of the game by allowing you
to customize the game's AI playing speed in increments of 1/10 sec (from .1 to 5
full seconds).
The primary speed consideration is how quickly each AI player will either make a play on his hand, or fold. If too fast, novice players will lose track of the action that has occurred before it is suddenly their turn to act. If too slow, over a long session you will find yourself growing bored waiting for your turn from hand to hand. It is recommended that as your experience increases to lower the AI Delay time until you find just the right delay to satisfy your personality. Even then, it's very important never to rush your decision just because it's your turn to act.
Setting a Difficulty Level
Master Poker uses a construct called ‘Dead Money Players’ to set the
difficulty of a given event or session. In the poker world Dead Money players
indicate amateur or novice players who represent easy marks for tough or
professional players. Dead Money players know how to play poker, and they are
not green beginners, but they do not possess the advanced skills of tough
players. In setting up each type of event you will be presented with a slider to
set the DM% for the event between 0-100%.
The percentage of DM players in your
event determines how tough a game will actually be. For example, if you set the
DM% to 70% in a Cash Game, as players come and go each chair has a 70% chance of
being filled with a new DM player. If it does not hold a DM player it will hold some
version of a ‘Tough’ player, each of
whom have their own inner personality, traits and tendencies. If you set the
DM% to 70% in a large
tournament, then approximately 70% of all players in the tournament will
be DM players.
This system allows novices to initially set the DM percentage very high in
order to experience success in games with other novices, then gradually increase
the number of tough players in their event as their skill level increases. It
serves advanced players by giving them a way to simulate real-life conditions,
where the vast majority of opponents will actually be Dead Money players,
particularly in large tournaments. As cash games go, what does every poker book
say makes for a good game? Weak opponents. If you're an advanced player and
don't have the option to play against Dead Money players how will you practice
against them?
Personal History Archives
Each time you play a Tournament event or Cash Game session in MP the results
are recorded to your own personal history archive (for all player profiles). The history screen keeps
track of all of your event sessions and allows you to save and delete individual
records at
your behest. The data collected varies for each event, but includes such values
as the date played, starting chipstacks, the number of event entrants, the
percentile of hands played, prize money won, etc..
The above graphic is an example of a Cash Game history for a player named Brimstone. To
view Brimstone's history for Tournament, Sit and Go, or Survivor play you would
simply click the drop down arrow in the 'Game Type' box at top and choose the
history you wish to view. MP also sorts the data and displays many variables in tracking form at the bottom of the screen.
Preset Blind Structures
To make your playing experience as uncomplicated as possible Master Poker
contains nearly (40) preset blind structures for many of the most popular online
sites, as well as the WPT Championship
Tournament, ALL of the No-limit World Series of Poker events, and several structures unique to
Master Poker.
You
should be able to find the actual structure you are accustomed to during your
live or online sessions, but if not, you have the ability to easily alter
existing structures or to input your own custom structure, setting all data,
including the number of starting chips, the number of blind levels, each blind
level increase amount, the number of hands that pass between levels, etc.. These
custom structures may then be added to your list of permanent structure options
(or deleted, as desired). See below.
Your Own Custom Blind Structures
If your desired structure is not in the list of preset structures or you just
wish to set up your own custom blind structure you may easily do so.
This screen allows you to modify an existing structure (ie. perhaps to
update WSOP data from year to year, or in the case where your favorite website has altered their existing tournament
structure), or create your own customized blind structures from scratch (ie. if
you can't find your favorite Internet site listed, you need a structure similar
to your local casino, or you want a structure matching your Saturday night home game).
In any case, you're going to end up
with precisely the blind structure you desire).
The Dealer Button
Are you one of those people who's always asking, "Who has the
button?" In MP, just move your cursor over the button at any time to find
out who has the dealer button for that hand (and is therefore considered the
acting dealer).
Automated Chip Races and Split Pots
MP handles all chip races automatically (when an odd number of chips exist
in a split-pot), and gives you a preference to automatically handle all split-pots as well (if you desire). You can either watch them split up step by step
among the winning players, or MP can handle it quietly out of view and just
show you the results of the Main Pot. These types of mini-features allow your session
to proceed along smoothly without the need to micro-manage, unless of course you
choose to micro-manage.
In-game Help
Use the in-game HELP system when confused about any option or command button.
Right-click most topics/options/buttons to bring up the blue underlying help
window for that object (as shown below).
There is a 'Help' tip for nearly every aspect of Master Poker.
Conclusion
As you can see Master Poker is essentially a fully functioning simulated online poker
environment. For novice players the primary differences between MP and an Internet poker site are that
instead of sitting down to face a bunch of unknown (and often unruly) human
players you sit down and face always polite AI players, and ... maybe more
importantly, it costs you nothing in real money to build valuable experience and
confidence in your game. For advanced players the most significant difference is
that instead of playing 35-60 hands per hour (brick and mortar/online
respectively) you can literally play up to 1k hands per hour. This allows you to practice
theories, variances and different playing styles in a short period of time and at no risk to your
bankroll. Small stakes players can build valuable experience toward moving up in
game size in a fraction of the time it would take playing against human
opposition, even on the Internet.
And if that weren't enough, there's never a problem
finding just the right game to suit your mood; the perfect event, the perfect
number of opponents, the perfect stakes, the perfect atmosphere, and at any time day or
night in the safety of your own home, office, dorm, hotel room, airplane, truck
cab, park
bench, cyber cafe, wherever.
If you're interested in making Master Poker the newest tool in your
repertoire of poker weapons just click on the 'To Order' link below. You will
not be sorry. If you're still not convinced MP is right for you take a look at
the 'Frequently Asked Questions' (FAQ) sections for additional information, or
just go download the Free Demo and give it a try. And whether or not you decide to purchase my poker software I'd
like to thank you for your valuable time and send you off by borrowing a few words from
the World Poker Tour's Mike Sexton, "May all your cards be live, and your
pots be monsters!"
Click the button below to order your own copy of Master Poker and join the
ever growing community of those who've chosen to become part of the next
generation of poker software.
 
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