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THETA Poker User Guide

Main Screen
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.

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Table of Contents

Quick Tips

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

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:

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[Skip to How to Play]

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:

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[Skip to Settings]

Options Screen

Options Screen
Options Screen

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

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[Skip to Styles]

Settings

Settings
Settings

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

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

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[Skip to Knockout Tournament Payout Schedules]

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 the player's name or cards to see it.

Looseness

LoosenessDescription
TightPreflop: plays fewer opening hands. Postflop: bets only the best hands
AveragePreflop: plays average number of opening hands. Postflop: bets only better hands
LoosePreflop: plays more opening hands. Postflop: bets a wide range of hands

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

Aggressiveness

AggressivenessDescription
PassiveCalls more than raises
NeutralCalls and raises a normal amount
AggressiveRaises 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 LevelDescription
BeginnerKnows the basics of poker and no-limit Texas Hold 'Em, including starting hand groups and some position play
IntermediateKnows 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
AdvancedKnows 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
ExpertKnows how to rate starting hands based on the exact number of players at the table, make more continuation bets and positional steal attempts, play more aggressively with good position, and call less often relative to folding and raising

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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[Skip to Shootout Payout Schedules]

Knockout Tournament Payout Schedules

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 Knockout 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 Knockout 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 Knockout 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 Knockout 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 Knockout 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 Knockout 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/Players2-1112-3536-5960-119120-199200-299300
1st place100.00%50.00%41.67%41.67%33.33%30.00%30.00%
2nd place29.17%25.00%25.00%20.83%20.00%20.00%
3rd place20.83%16.67%13.33%12.50%12.50%12.00%
4th place11.11%10.00%8.33%7.50%7.50%
5th place5.56%6.67%6.67%6.00%6.00%
6th place3.33%5.00%4.50%4.00%
7th place4.17%3.75%3.00%
8th place2.92%3.00%2.00%
9th place2.08%2.25%1.67%
10th place1.67%1.75%1.33%
11th-12th place1.25%1.00%0.83%
13th-15th place1.00%0.83%
16th-20th place0.75%0.67%
21st-30th place0.50%

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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Shootout Payout Schedules

Shootout tournaments always begin with full tables so nobody has the advantage of having fewer opponents at their table or the disadvantage of beginning the following round with fewer chips. The number of players in a shootout is always rounded up to the next even power of the table size, so the maximum number of players in a shootout can exceed 300. Players busting out before the final table each receive the same prize based on the round they reached. Below are the shootout prize structures for larger shootouts, sorted by table size. Shootouts with fewer players pay 100% of the entry fees to first place.

Shootout: 10-Player Tables

Finish/Players1001000
1st place35.00%30.00%
2nd place20.00%17.50%
3rd place12.00%10.00%
4th place8.00%6.00%
5th place7.00%4.00%
6th place6.00%3.00%
7th place4.50%2.50%
8th place3.50%2.00%
9th place2.50%1.50%
10th place1.50%1.00%
11th-100th place0.25%

Shootout: 9-Player Tables

Finish/Players81729
1st place37.50%32.00%
2nd place22.50%18.00%
3rd place12.00%10.00%
4th place8.00%7.00%
5th place6.00%5.00%
6th place5.00%4.00%
7th place4.00%3.00%
8th place3.00%2.00%
9th place2.00%1.00%
10th-81st place0.25%

Shootout: 8-Player Tables

Finish/Players64512
1st place35.00%30.00%
2nd place20.00%15.00%
3rd place13.00%9.00%
4th place10.00%7.00%
5th place7.00%5.00%
6th place6.00%3.00%
7th place5.00%2.00%
8th place4.00%1.00%
9th-64th place0.50%

Shootout: 7-Player Tables

Finish/Players49343
1st place40.00%35.00%
2nd place24.00%20.00%
3rd place12.50%12.00%
4th place9.00%6.00%
5th place6.00%3.00%
6th place5.00%2.00%
7th place3.50%1.00%
8th-49th place0.50%

Shootout: 6-Player Tables

Finish/Players362161296
1st place40.00%35.00%30.00%
2nd place25.00%20.00%15.00%
3rd place13.50%12.00%7.50%
4th place10.00%6.00%4.00%
5th place7.00%3.00%2.00%
6th place4.50%1.50%1.00%
7th-36th place0.75%0.45%
37th-216th place0.15%

Shootout: 5-Player Tables

Finish/Players25125625
1st place40.00%32.00%30.00%
2nd place25.00%18.00%15.00%
3rd place16.00%10.00%8.00%
4th place11.50%6.50%4.50%
5th place7.50%3.50%2.50%
6th-25th place1.50%0.75%
26th-125th place0.25%

Shootout: 4-Player Tables

Finish/Players642561024
1st place45.00%35.00%30.00%
2nd place27.50%20.00%17.50%
3rd place17.50%12.50%10.00%
4th place10.00%8.50%6.50%
5th-16th place2.00%2.00%
17th-64th place0.25%

Shootout: 3-Player Tables

Finish/Players2781243729
1st place50.00%35.00%32.00%30.00%
2nd place29.17%20.00%16.00%15.50%
3rd place20.83%12.00%10.00%8.00%
4th-9th place5.50%4.00%4.00%
10th-27th place1.00%0.50%
28th-81st place0.25%

Shootout: 2-Player Tables

Finish/Players163264128256512
1st place66.67%45.00%40.00%32.00%32.00%30.00%
2nd place33.33%25.00%20.00%16.00%16.00%15.00%
3rd-4th place15.00%10.00%8.00%8.00%7.50%
5th-8th place5.00%4.00%4.00%4.00%
9th-16th place2.50%1.50%1.00%
17th-32nd place0.50%0.50%
33rd-64th place0.25%

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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 PlayedNumber of times played
Winning SessionsNumber and percentage of sessions showing a profit
Net EarningsTotal amount of money won or lost
Net Per SessionAverage amount of money won or lost per session

For Tournaments, the following information is shown:

Events PlayedNumber of tournaments played
CashesNumber and percentage of tournaments in the money
WinsNumber and percentage of tournaments won
Total WinningsTotal amount of money won in tournaments
Winnings Per EventAverage amount of money won per tournament
Net EarningsTotal amount of money won or lost after subtracting entry fees
Net Per EventAverage 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.

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Purchasing THETA Poker

THETA Poker can be purchased for $4.99 through the App Store in iTunes or directly on your iPhone or iPod touch. Just search for "theta" and click on THETA Poker in the Applications results section.

All upgrades are free and downloadable directly on your iPhone or iPod touch! You will automatically be notified of available updates through the Updates tab in the App Store.

Updates and Contact Information

THETA Poker Version 1.7.0, August 25, 2009
THETA Poker is Copyright (C)2008-2009 by Robert Jen (thetapoker.com). THETA Poker is for entertainment purposes only. No real money is ever bet, won, or lost.

Bug reports, enhancement requests, and all comments and questions are always welcome via e-mail at support@thetapoker.com.

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