BVS Video Poker Excellent Training Software

Learning the best video poker strategy can be daunting when the manufacturers seem to release a new game every other month.  Just when you have a handle on one game, another one comes out that
BVS Video Poker game select screen 
BVS Video Poker playing screen  makes you second-guess your play.  That’s why it's recommend that you try your moves on video poker training software before you play on the live machines.

ReadyBetGo recently tested BVS Video Poker and found it a very good package that can help you learn how to play video poker at a good price.  The software covers 40 video poker games so you can start with the classics like Jacks or Better and Deuces Wild, or hone your skills with the latest variations.  You can even create new games and pay tables if you want to expand the list.

Playing Environment

Let’s start with the playing environment, because that’s the first thing you may want to set up.  You have complete control of many aspects including background color, card backs, sounds, denominations and more.  This allows you to set up the atmosphere in a way that suits your personality or mood.

Game Selection

The demo version of the software comes with two game types unlocked, 9/6 Jacks or Better and Classic Deuces Wild.  Each game shows you the expected payback for that machine. You can practice as much as you want with these to games before having to register.  However, if you want to unlock the other 37 games, you need to register the program.  Here is a list of the games available once the program is unlocked.

The program also gives you the option to change pay tables and add new game types.  However, you won’t be able to add new winning combinations.  You are limited to modifying pay tables on existing game types.

Play modes

BVS Video Poker offers three play modes: Normal, Auto-hold, and Auto-play.  The Normal mode is what you’ll want to use if you’re trying to memorize the best strategy for each game.  You’ll also need to check the Show Warnings option to be reminded when you’ve made a mistake.  If that happens a pop-up message alerts you that you’ve made an error and shows you the ‘error of your ways.’  The error can be minor, moderate, or major.  These categories are determined by how big a percentage difference there is between your play and the optimal play.  The program also allows you to adjust the definition of these errors by changing the percentage range.

I found the Normal mode to be quite instructive in showing me the best play.  The Auto-hold mode is helpful if you want a quick review to test your knowledge.  Using auto-play when you are in auto-hold mode saves you some keystrokes by automatically dealing the second hand.

Statistics and Progress Reports

BVS Video Poker has a number of statistical reports that aid in understanding the best plays and graphs that show you your progress.  You can view statistics either by session on a machine or your total play on that machine.  The types of information include hands played, hands per hour, actual return percentage, number of errors by type (serious, moderate, minor), accuracy percentage and expected return.  If your play deviates from optimal strategy, you will also be shown the cost of those errors based on the amount bet.

These statistics can be reset at any time.

Progress Reports

The software provides a number graphs to help gauge your play.  There’s a win-loss chart that shows actual results over the number hands played.  The view can be switched to Expected Return accuracy, which shows how accurate your play was over the number of hands played.  Also available is the Cost of Errors view, which shows the how many credits were lost due to inaccurate play versus perfect play.  These charts can be viewed using different time periods including session, daily, weekly, last 30 days and all time.

Hand Analysis

If you need to do analysis on how to play a particular hand, BVS Software allows you to manually enter the cards and shows you the expected return for all of hand possibilities.  This feature is especially useful if you are curious about the best play on a particular hand combination and you don’t want to wait for that combination to show up.  The card choices are based on what game (Deuces Wild, Jacks or Better, etc.) you are playing at the time.

Summary

Overall, I found BVS Video Poker to be an excellent video poker training software package.  It has a wide variety of features that should help any player improve his or her game.  Although no strategy tables are provided, using the software over time will imprint the best plays for your favorite games.  The package is also reasonably priced.  Try out the demo to get a feel for what it can do.