Tournament Texas Hold'em - Version 3.0

Poker Digest Magazine - Art Santella - 5/18/01

Attention troops, here is the order of the day. You're going to get a reprieve from my regular Q & A format. Instead, I'm going to introduce you to a great, new poker software program from Wilson Software. Bob Wilson is a software developer who actually listens to what the player wants in a poker program and then utilizes these requests to design his software. I have been using Tournament Texas Hold'em since version 1.0 was introduced. When there was a demand for the addition of no-limit hold'em, Wilson added it in version 2.0.

Now he has introduced Tournament Texas Hold'em - Version 3.0. After working with it for two weeks and putting it through the paces, I can say that he has come up with another winner. I can't think of anything that might make this program a more effective way to improve your tournament play. Let's take a look at the major upgrade to an already fantastic program; it expands no-limit play and adds pot-limit play. Here is a rundown of the improve- ments in Version 3.0:

1) Difficulty level for all types of tournaments was increased.

2) The number of tournament structures was raised from 10 to 25, and pot-limit was added. There are 14 limit structures, 7 no-limit structures and 4 pot-limit structures.

3) Five of the limit structures can make the transition to no-limit if you choose. No-limit play usually involves antes. As an option, these can be suppressed for five of the structures.

4) Limit structures 11 and 13 have a special feature that reduces the number of minutes between levels after rebuys end. For structure 11, the time is reduced from 20 to 15 minutes. For structure 13, the time is reduced from 25 to 20 minutes. This option is available only if minutes equal the default setting of 25 (and number of rebuys is greater than zero).

5) No-limit structures four and five have a special feature that increases the number of minutes between levels from 15 minutes to 20 minutes after rebuys end. This option is available only if minutes equal the default setting of 15 (and the number of rebuys is greater than zero).

6) Version 3.0 utilizes the Tex's TEARS tournament format in several structures. TEARS (Tournament Evaluation and Rating System) was created by Tex Morgan. The goal of the system is to have average increases in blinds and antes of about 50 percent and sufficient starting chips to enable a fair tournament. Many structures double the blinds at each level and start with too few chips, making luck a big factor.

7) No-limit structure six is the format for the 2001 World Series of Poker. It is also used in Tex's TEARS format.

8) The maximum number of tables for a tournament was increased from 32 to 100.

The following are some of the excellent features found in Tournament Texas Hold'em: - Choice of limit, no-limit or pot-limit play.

- Control of tournament size. Play in a single-table satellite tournament with 10 players up to a 100-table tournament with more than 900 players. - 2001 WSOP final format is included.

- Tex's TEARS formats are included.

- Play a complete tournament or jump to the final table.

- New, tougher computer opponents.

- Track results for completed tournaments.

- Control of limits and blind structures.

- Choice of freezeout or number of rebuys.

- Choice of competition level (average, tough, toughest).

- Control maximum number of raises allowed.

- Optional ability to quickly finish a hand and go on to the next hand.

- Handles all-in players and side pots automatically.

- Handles "chip races."

- Status versus the competition.

- Ability to save a tournament in progress.

A comprehensive 12-page manual is included; it explains the software's features and how to utilize the available research tools. The program is just under four megs and can be used with the following operating systems: Win 2000, Win ME, Win 98, Win95, Win 3.1 and Win NT. I, personally, can tell you that Wilson has great support for all its software programs. You will never be left scratching your head trying to figure out how an option works, or how to fix any problem you might encounter. You can contact Wilson for information and support by visiting his website wilsonsoftware.com.

Arty's Opinion At $59.95 for the full version, and $17.95 for the upgrade, you're getting a lot of bang for your buck.

Feedback to arti@optonline.net