THETA Poker User Guide

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THETA Poker User Guide

Main Poker Screen

Introduction

THETA Poker is a native Texas Hold 'Em game for the iPhone and iPod touch that leverages many of the iPhone's strongest features to provide the smoothest possible user experience, while a strong artificial intelligence poker engine challenges the best Hold 'Em players and teaches new skills to all levels of players. THETA Poker is for entertainment purposes only. No real money is ever bet, won, or lost.

Quick Tips

THETA Poker mimics a real-world poker experience by implementing the following touch actions:

To fold, push your cards to the center of the table (or tap the deck).
To check or call, tap your cards.
To bet or raise, tap your chips.
To move all-in, push your chips to the center of the table.
To quit the current game and start a new one, shake your device.
To set preferences or view help tap the THETA Options button (tools). Note: to cancel a drag, move back to where you started; to cancel a tap, drag a little until chips or cards move. Impending actions are always indicated in the middle of the screen.

Status messages in the middle of the screen will keep you informed about blind increases, other players' bets, new players, and so on. The background color behind the white text indicates the general category of each message:

Black: Status only. No action on your part is required as the message will disappear after the time specified in the Message Duration Play Preference.
Dark Red: Your turn to act. If an amount is given, you can fold, call, or raise. If no amount is displayed, you can check or bet.
Dark Blue: Tap to continue. See the Pause After Hand Play Preference.

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THETA Overview

Improve the soul of your No Limit Texas Hold 'Em game with THETA, the Texas Hold 'Em Turbo Action Poker game that will provide you countless hours of risk-free entertainment while preparing you for your next online game, home game, or trip to the casino. THETA Poker lets you play a quick hand or two whenever you have a free moment or an entire tournament in a single sitting or as many sessions as needed. Game play is highly customizable, from the size of the blinds and the strength of the computer opponents to the speed of play and design on the backs of the playing cards. The skills of the computer opponents start with just the basics and add position play, check-raises, slow-plays, continuation bets, bluffs, semi-bluffs, blind stealing, short-stack strategy, and adjustments for the relative sizes of the blinds, the number of players at the table, and the opponents' betting habits. Playing styles vary from very tight and passive to very loose and aggressive.

THETA Poker makes playing poker as efficient as possible so you can focus on the quality of your play. Most common actions (folding, checking, and calling) require only a single tap, while all other frequent actions (such as betting or raising to any of six standard relative amounts) require just two taps or a swipe (moving all-in).

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[Skip to Options Screen]

How to Play

You control THETA Poker's streamlined interface with the following simple actions:

To fold, push your cards to the center of the table. The middle of the table will turn dark green and "FOLD" will display in large letters. Before you release your finger, you can cancel this action by dragging back out of the center. The middle of the table will revert to its original color and the word "FOLD" will disappear. Alternatively, you can tap on the deck to fold.
Helpful hint: to minimize movement, tap the top of your cards drag to the bottom of the middle of the table.

Push Cards to Middle to Fold
To check or call, tap on your cards. As soon as you press down, you will see the action you are about to take. If no previous bet has been made, the middle of the table will turn gray and "CHECK" will display in large letters. If a previous bet has been made, the middle of the table will turn violet-red and "CALL" will display in large letters. Before you release your finger, you can cancel this action by dragging slightly in any direction. The word "CHECK" or "CALL" will disappear.

Tap Cards to Check or Call
To bet or raise, tap on your chips. As soon as you press down, you will see the action you are about to take. If no previous bet has been made, the middle of the table will turn medium light blue and "BET" will display in large letters. If a previous bet has been made, the middle of the table will turn very light blue and "RAISE" will display in large letters. Before you release your finger, you can cancel this action by dragging slightly in any direction. The word "BET" or "RAISE" will disappear. Bets and raises are defined in multiples of the big blind (BB) before the flop and before the first raise. Bets and raises are defined in fractions of the pot size afterward, rounded to a multiple of the smallest chip size. On the Raise pop-up, you can tap on the "Other Raise..." or "Other Bet..." button if you want to specify any other chip amount. Note: blank buttons on the Raise screen indicate where a bet is below the minimum allowed, matches another bet, or is above the maximum possible. The minimum opening bet is the big blind preflop and on the flop and twice the big blind on the turn and river. The minimum raise is to twice the previous raise.

Tap Chips to Bet

Bet Window
To move all-in, push your chips to the center of the table. The middle of the table will turn bright green and "ALL-IN" will display in large letters. Before you release your finger, you can cancel this action by dragging back out of the center. The middle of the table will revert to its original color and the word "ALL-IN" will disappear.

Push Chips to Middle to Go All-In
To quit the current game and start a new one, shake your device. You will be asked to confirm your decision before the current game is ended.
To view details about other players, tap on their cards. This will show their chip count, M (size of stack relative to the blinds and antes at the start of the hand), Q (size of stack relative to other players at the start of the hand), and playing style.
To view details about the tournament, tap on the Blind Info in the upper left corner. This will display the current time; players left (in the tournament or ring game); your chips; your rank (a "-T" suffix indicates a tie), M, and Q at the start of the current hand; the deal number, blind level, blinds, ante size, and smallest chip. In Landscape mode, scroll down to see all of the information.

Tap Blind Info for Details
To set other preferences, view help, or get statistics, tap on the THETA Options button (tools icon). Alternatively, you can go directly to some of the main options:
- Settings: Swipe the middle of the table LEFT.
- Statistics: Swipe the middle of the table RIGHT.
- Help: Swipe the middle of the table DOWN.

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Options Screen

Options Screen

The THETA Poker options screen allows you to do the following:

Settings: Configure a wide variety of settings for THETA Poker.
Statistics: Display your THETA Poker results.
Help: Display Quick Start, Mini-Help, Full Help (Safari), Payout Schedule, Blind Schedule, Poker Glossary, or Hand Nicknames. In the Full Help, you can view the THETA Poker User Guide, Frequently Asked Questions, or E-mail Support. Return to the THETA Poker application from Safari by tapping any Return to THETA Poker link.
About THETA Poker: Display version and other information about THETA Poker.

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Settings

Settings

From the main screen, swipe the table left to reach the Settings screen. Alternatively, from the Options screen, tap on the Settings choice.

Game Type: Select a type of game to play.
- Practice Ring: Single-table game with fixed blinds and antes. No statistics are kept.
- Practice Tourney: Multi-table game with escalating blinds and antes. No statistics are kept.
- Ring Game: Single-table game with fixed blinds and antes. Players who bust out are replaced to keep the table full. Also known as a Cash Game, but no real money is involved here.
- Tournament: Multi-table game with escalating blinds and antes. In Normal Tournaments, tables are consolidated as players bust out; you can see how many players are left in the tournament by tapping on the Blind Info.
Game Options: Specify various options that require ending the current game and starting a new one. When you quit a non-practice ring game or tournament, your statistics are automatically updated except if you leave before the flop on the first deal.

Game Options
- Computer Skill: Set the skill level of the computer opponents to Beginner, Intermediate, or Expert. Beginner players understand basic preflop strategy and position play. Intermediate players know how to check-raise, slow play, continuation bet, and some specialized heads-up strategy. Expert players adjust for their opponents' styles, bet more aggressively when short-stacked, and implement a strong heads-up strategy.
  Note: playing styles are attached to player names only for the duration of each tournament or ring game to help you learn to read your opponents' playing styles.
- Tournament Size: Set the size of the tournament to 12, 36, 60, 120, or 300 Players or any Custom amount from 2 to 299 Players. You will always start at a full table, but the number of players at your table will fluctuate during the tournament as players bust out at your table and other tables. See the Tournament Payout Schedule for the prize structure.
- Players Per Table: Set the maximum number of players at each table from 2 to 10. During Ring Games, the table will always have the maximum numbers of players. During Tournaments, the number may occasionally drop as players bust out and increase as players join the table.
- Starting Stack: Set the starting stack for each player to $1,000, $10,000, $100,000, or any Custom amount in between. If you want to emulate smaller amounts, you can treat each dollar as a penny (e.g., $1,000 stands for $10.00).
- Ante Size: Set the ante size to None, one twentieth the big blind, or one tenth the big blind.
- Ante Start Level: Set the lowest blind level at which antes are used from 2 to 9 if Ante Size is not set to None. The first blind level will never include an ante.
- Blind Size: Set the starting blind size relative to the starting stack size. Small sets the starting big blind to 1/100th of the stack, Medium 1/50th, and Large 1/25th. The small blind is always half of the large blind.
- Blind Increases: Set the speed at which the blinds and antes will grow during Tournament play. Options are Slow (blinds and antes increase every eighteen hands), Moderate (blinds and antes increase every twelve hands), and Fast (blinds and antes increase every six hands). The big blind will never exceed ten percent of the total amount of chips in play. Note: as blinds increase, players will be chipped up occasionally. This is accomplished by a random weighted rounding of the smallest chips (e.g., if chipping up from $10 chips to $100 chips with a $2,340 stack, the player will have a 40% chance of ending up with $2,400 and a 60% chance of getting $2,300). A player will never be chipped out of a tournament.
- Maximum Reraises: Set the maximum of reraises allowed per betting round to 3, 4, 5, or Unlimited.
Play Preferences: Set game-play preferences that can be changed at any time without ending the current game.

Play Preferences
- Message Duration: Set the amount of time on-screen messages will be displayed in the middle of the screen from Very Short to Very Long.
- Animation Speed: Set the speed at which card animations will occur from Very Slow to Very Fast to Off or Instant Dealing. Both Off and Instant Dealing turn off all card animations; the latter deals all hole cards instantly instead of one at a time.
- Confirm All-In: Control if and when a confirmation dialog box should be displayed when you move all-in. Options are Never (never ask), More Than Call (don't ask if all-in is just a call), Over Min Raise (don't ask if all-in is a minimum raise or less), and Always (always confirm).
- Faster After Fold: Set whether play (actions and messages) in a hand will run quickly after you have folded. This option is not recommended for serious play as the action will move too quickly to follow carefully.
- Pause After Hand: Set whether action will be paused at the end of each hand. If set to Off, the next hand will automatically be dealt. If set to On, action continues only after you tap on the screen, with the exceptions of the Blind Info (pops up game information), Deck (pops up your information), and Options button (goes to the Options screen). You can also pause the action at any time by tapping on the Dealer button (D)
- Announce Blinds: Sets whether or not blind bets are announced as they are put into the pot on each hand.
- Game Sounds: Sets whether sounds are played or not. To control the volume, use the dedicated volume buttons or double-tap the home button on older iPod touches. Note: any music you already have playing will continue to play in THETA Poker, so you can play with both game sounds and music, game sounds alone, or music alone.
Customization: Set other THETA options.
- Return Screen: Sets the screen that THETA Poker will return to after exiting and returning. The options are the Options Screen and the Main Screen (card table).
- Bet Window: Sets the location of the Bet and Raise popup windows to any combination of High/Low and Left/Middle/Right.
- Card Designs: Sets the design used for the backs of the playing cards. Nineteen different designs are currently available.
- Drag Rectangle: Sets whether the target area for dragging your cards and chips is visible.
- Dim on Fold: Sets whether your hole cards are dimmed instead of hidden after you fold.
- Allow Table Swipes: Sets whether you can swipe across the poker table to jump directly to the Settings, Statistics, and Help screens.
- Confirm Tap to Call: Sets whether confirmation is requested when you tap your hole cards to call a bet as opposed to checking. To call, you can either tap your hole cards and then tap "OK", or you can tap your chips and then tap the "Call" button in the bottom left of the pop-up window.

From any Settings screen, tap on the New Game button at the bottom left to start a new game.

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Player Styles and Skills

The computer players in THETA Poker differ in looseness, aggressiveness, skill level, and other more subtle ways. To help you learn to read how opponents play, playing styles are assigned to players at the beginning of each new game. If you want to know an opponent's current playing style for sure, tap on the player's name or cards to see it.

Looseness

Looseness	Description
Tight	Preflop: plays fewer opening hands. Postflop: bets only the best hands
Average	Preflop: plays average number of opening hands. Postflop: bets only better hands
Loose	Preflop: plays more opening hands. Postflop: bets a wide range of hands

Players range from Very Tight to Very Loose. All players will get looser as the blinds increase relative to their chip stacks.

Aggressiveness

Aggressiveness	Description
Passive	Calls more than raises
Neutral	Calls and raises a normal amount
Aggressive	Raises often

Players range from Very Passive to Very Aggressive, with weaker players tending toward the passive side and stronger players toward the aggressive side.

Skill Level

Skill Level	Description
Beginner	Knows the basics of poker and no-limit Texas Hold 'Em, including starting hand groups and some position play
Intermediate	Knows how to check-raise, slow play, continuation bet, steal blinds, defend steal attempts, adjust for being short-stacked, react somewhat to opponents' playing styles, and implement some heads-up strategy
Advanced	Knows more advanced position play strategy, defends blinds more strongly, adjusts to opponents' playing styles, and implements special heads-up strategy including a different hand group chart

Within each skill level, differences in playing style will also contribute to how difficult each opponent is to beat, depending on your own playing style.

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Tournament Payout Schedule

THETA Poker uses the following prize structures for keeping score based on the size of the tournament. All entry fees are returned as prizes. Note: THETA Poker is for entertainment purposes only. No real money is ever bet, won, or lost.

12-Player Tournament Prizes (Top 3 Cash)

Finish	$100,000 Buy-In	$10,000 Buy-In	$1,000 Buy-In
1st place	$600,000	$60,000	$6,000
2nd place	$350,000	$35,000	$3,500
3rd place	$250,000	$25,000	$2,500

36-Player Tournament Prizes (Top 5 Cash)

Finish	$100,000 Buy-In	$10,000 Buy-In	$1,000 Buy-In
1st place	$1,500,000	$150,000	$15,000
2nd place	$900,000	$90,000	$9,000
3rd place	$600,000	$60,000	$6,000
4th place	$400,000	$40,000	$4,000
5th place	$200,000	$20,000	$2,000

60-Player Tournament Prizes (Top 6 Cash)

Finish	$100,000 Buy-In	$10,000 Buy-In	$1,000 Buy-In
1st place	$2,500,000	$250,000	$25,000
2nd place	$1,500,000	$150,000	$15,000
3rd place	$800,000	$80,000	$8,000
4th place	$600,000	$60,000	$6,000
5th place	$400,000	$40,000	$4,000
6th place	$200,000	$20,000	$2,000

120-Player Tournament Prizes (Top 12 Cash)

Finish	$100,000 Buy-In	$10,000 Buy-In	$1,000 Buy-In
1st place	$4,000,000	$400,000	$40,000
2nd place	$2,500,000	$250,000	$25,000
3rd place	$1,500,000	$150,000	$15,000
4th place	$1,000,000	$100,000	$10,000
5th place	$800,000	$80,000	$8,000
6th place	$600,000	$60,000	$6,000
7th place	$500,000	$50,000	$5,000
8th place	$350,000	$35,000	$3,500
9th place	$250,000	$25,000	$2,500
10th place	$200,000	$20,000	$2,000
11th-12th place	$150,000	$15,000	$1,500

300-Player Tournament Prizes (Top 30 Cash)

Finish	$100,000 Buy-In	$10,000 Buy-In	$1,000 Buy-In
1st place	$9,000,000	$900,000	$90,000
2nd place	$6,000,000	$600,000	$60,000
3rd place	$3,600,000	$360,000	$36,000
4th place	$2,250,000	$225,000	$22,500
5th place	$1,800,000	$180,000	$18,000
6th place	$1,200,000	$120,000	$12,000
7th place	$900,000	$90,000	$9,000
8th place	$600,000	$60,000	$6,000
9th place	$500,000	$50,000	$5,000
10th place	$400,000	$40,000	$4,000
11th-15th place	$250,000	$25,000	$2,500
16th-20th place	$200,000	$20,000	$2,000
21st-30th place	$150,000	$15,000	$1,500

Custom Tournament Sizes and Starting Stacks

If you select a custom tournament size or custom starting stack, prizes are calculated dynamically as percentages of the total entry fees based on the number of players in the tournament using the following table:

Finish/Players	2-11	12-35	36-59	60-119	120-199	200-299	300
1st place	100.00%	50.00%	41.67%	41.67%	33.33%	30.00%	30.00%
2nd place		29.17%	25.00%	25.00%	20.83%	20.00%	20.00%
3rd place		20.83%	16.67%	13.33%	12.50%	12.50%	12.00%
4th place			11.11%	10.00%	8.33%	7.50%	7.50%
5th place			5.56%	6.67%	6.67%	6.00%	6.00%
6th place				3.33%	5.00%	4.50%	4.00%
7th place					4.17%	3.75%	3.00%
8th place					2.92%	3.00%	2.00%
9th place					2.08%	2.25%	1.67%
10th place					1.67%	1.75%	1.33%
11th-12th place					1.25%	1.00%	0.83%
13th-15th place						1.00%	0.83%
16th-20th place						0.75%	0.67%
21st-30th place							0.50%

All prizes are rounded to the nearest dollar.

Note: when multiple players bust out on the same hand, the player who started the hand with the larger chip stack wins the bigger prize.

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Statistics

The Statistics screen displays your results in all Ring Games and Tournaments, not including the current game and practice games. The Skill Level displayed can be Current matching the current game you are playing, or can be specifically set to Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced.

For Ring Games, the following information is shown:

Sessions Played	Number of times played
Winning Sessions	Number and percentage of sessions showing a profit
Net Earnings	Total amount of money won or lost
Net Per Session	Average amount of money won or lost per session

For Tournaments, the following information is shown:

Events Played	Number of tournaments played
Cashes	Number and percentage of tournaments in the money
Wins	Number and percentage of tournaments won
Total Winnings	Total amount of money won in tournaments
Winnings Per Event	Average amount of money won per tournament
Net Earnings	Total amount of money won or lost after subtracting entry fees
Net Per Event	Average amount of money won or lost after subtracting entry fees

Negative money values are displayed inside parentheses. Tapping on the Clear Statistics button will clear all of your statistics after confirming your selection.