PokerParadime is unlike any other poker site on the internet.
We offer the most realistic and challenging virtual money games around, along with
world-class personal tuition from our resident world-class poker player Sonia.
On the Lobby page you will find a list of currently
available tables.
To go to a table just click on the table name link for the desired table
or press the
button table beside the name to take you to the table and automatically take a seat.
The column headings and associated meanings are as follows:
Table
- The name given to the table when the table started. The name stays the same
for the lifetime of the table.
Stakes
- Specifies the small and big bet sizes respectively. For example, $1/$2 indicates
a small bet size of $1 and a big bet size of $2. A minimum buy-in of 25 times the big bet size is required
to sit down (e.g. $500 on a $10/$20 table).
Players
- Icons representing the different player types at the table:
=Sonia,
=Virtual Player,
=Human,
=Friend,
=Virtual Friend
Pot
- The average size of the final pot. This value does not include any uncalled part of any bets or raises.
H/Hr
- The average number of hands played on the table per hour. This value excludes times where the table has not been running.
%F
- The percentage of players at the table seeing the flop.
2. Table Features
Taking a Seat
Pressing the Play Now button will automatically open and sit you down at a 6-max table
with the minimum buy-in of 25 big bets (e.g. $500 at a $10/$20 table).
Alternatively you can click on a vacant seat, or...
Click on any Virtual Player to take their place.
Reserved by PLAYER
The seat will now be reserved for up to 30 seconds to allow you to
choose how much to buy-in for or click on the label to cancel your seat reservation.
Buy-In
Buy-in
Stakes:
$10/$20
Game Type:
Limit Texas Hold'em (6 Max)
Table Name:
Old Hammerwick
Minimum Buy-in:
$500
Account Balance:
$1095.63
Buy-in $
The seat has been reserved for you. You have 30 seconds to act.
Wait for Big Blind to Post
You now have one of the following three options available to you.
Take the default buy-in by clicking the 'Take Buy-in' button.
Click 'Take All' to take all of your available balance to the table.
Type in an amount of your choice, at least equal to the minimum buy-in
and click the 'Take Buy-in' button.
Table Tour
The dealer button indicates which player is the dealer,
and moves clockwise at the end of each hand.
PLAYER$500
A status box by a seat shows both the player's name and the chips
they have at the table. Note: This does not include any they have wagered during the current hand.
PLAYER$375
The status box of a player is highlighted to indicate that it is their turn to act.
PLAYER$375
The timer bar in the highlighted status box indicates how much time a player has left to act.
Raise
A callout appears by a player to indicate which action they have taken.
PLAYER$500$10
Any amounts wagered by a player are shown directly in front of the player.
Old Hammerwick$150
The current pot is displayed in the centre of the table.
Sonia$525Total Pot:$150
The total size of the pot including any wagers during the current round is shown above the table.
Last# 5010195
Click the hand number to open the Hand History for the previous hand.
Sit Out
Use this option if you would like to take a short break.
Unchecking this option indicates you would like to be dealt back into the game.
Wait For Big Blind
If you have just joined or are wishing to rejoin a game
this option indicates that you would like to wait until it is your turn to post the big blind.
When combined with the 'Sit Out' option this indicates that you would like to wait until it is your turn
to post the big blind before being dealt out.
Auto muck hands
When this is checked you will not be given the option
to show losing hands at showdown, or hands that you have won uncontested.
Use these options to change audio and visual settings.
Disable animation and/or sound to improve performance on slower computers.
Use this to get advice from Sonia. The amount in brackets will be deducted at the end of the hand.
Learn more about personal tuition.
Advance Action Betting Options
During the game you may be presented with a number of betting options
to allow you to request an action BEFORE it is your turn.
Toggle a request on and off by clicking on it prior to your turn.
An unselected, and selected option respectively are shown on the left.
Use this option to indicate you would like to fold.
Use this option to fold if the bet increases, or check if it does not.
Use this option to call only the current bet. If the bet increases this option will be deselected.
Use this option to call, even if the bet increases.
Use this option to raise the current bet only by the specified amount.
If the bet increases this option will be deselected.
Use this option to raise, even if the bet increases. If any betting limits are
reached this option will default to the 'Call Any' option.
Table Chat
Dealer:Sonia raises [$20]
Dealer:PLAYER folds
Dealer:Returned [$10] uncalled bets to Sonia
Dealer:Sonia does not show cards
#6835Sonia wins $25
The chat panel displays a record of the action during the game as well as any player chat.
Use the drop down box to change the level of filtering applied to the chat and dealer messages.
Use the text input box to chat to players and observers at the table.
Please refer to the Rules And Etiquette.
You must be logged in to use this feature.
3. Sonia - The Virtual Queen of Online Poker
Our Resident World-Class Poker Player
Sonia provides the ultimate poker challenge for beginners and professionals alike.
Developed over four years by two Trinity College, Cambridge graduates with expertise in Behavioural Modelling,
Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence Sonia's foundations in psychological modelling
enable her to be the toughest mind-bending, manipulative poker player you are ever likely
to play against.
Sonia has not been programmed with or been pre-taught a fixed set of strategies or opponent playing styles.
Sonia's strategies, techniques, strengths, opponent reading capabilities are a self-taught and constantly adapting
emergent property.
4. Virtual Players
Your Own Virtual Self
To create your own Virtual Player and start teaching him or her to play
just like you simply log in and start playing!!!
As you play your Virtual Player will start to mirror the ins and outs of your game, your playing style,
your strengths and of course your weaknesses!
The main features are as follows:
Teach your Virtual Player to play, simply by playing.
Each Virtual Player is given it's own bankroll to play with separate to your main one.
Virtual Players automatically sit down at tables and play.
Watch your Virtual Player play and see its hole cards.
Your Virtual Player learns exactly how YOU play including the intricacies of your playing style including your aggression level,
specific tendencies and your strengths and weaknesses.
Teach your Virtual Player how to play in as little as 25 hands.
Many of our most skilled Virtual Players were taught in as few as 500 hands!
Virtual Players have their own leaderboard separate to the main player leaderboard.
Virtual Players add both diversity and realism to the PokerParadime poker ecosystem.
From the moment you start teaching your own Virtual Player or playing with Virtual Players taught by fellow users you'll soon realise
that every Virtual Player is unique to the individual that taught him.
To view details about your Virtual Player or to see which tables it's currently playing on
go to the 'My Home' page. If your Virtual Player is currently listed as sitting at a table simply
click on the table name to watch your Virtual Player play while seeing its hole cards.
To access configuration options for your Virtual Player go to 'My Home'
and click on 'Edit Player'.
Learn more about My Home.
To check you Virtual Player's current bankroll go to 'My Home'.
Learn more about My Home.
Virtual Player Configuration Options
Autoplay stakes
This option allows you to control the maximum stakes table your Virtual Player will automatically sit down on (bankroll permitting).
You can also disable your Virtual Player completely with this option or specify no maximum stakes (the default).
5. Personal Tuition
World-Class Tuition Tailored To You
In game tuition and advice is provided by our resident world-class poker player, Sonia.
The advice you receive is entirely tailored to you as follows:
Sonia puts herself in your shoes and thinks from your perspective
about what the best course of action is. The advice is NOT "What would Sonia do?" since
your strengths and weakness, your level of aggression, player reading abilities may vary wildly from
Sonia depending on whether you are a beginner or a highly advanced player.
Sonia's advice is highly dependent on the game conditions and what opponents are still left in the hand.
This allows her utilise your strengths to the maximal exploitation of your opponents' specific weaknesses.
Sonia is able to do all this by carefully and continuously studying your game and other players
in order to offer you the very best advice, no matter what difficult situation or context you may
happen to find yourself in.
Not only that, but as you progress in ability at your own pace her advice will grow with you
to ensure that her advice is always relevant to your current playing ability and style.
Sonia will always recommend taking the most profitable action. This will take into account
how you and your opponents are likely to play later on in the game and not just the strength of your hand.
This may often involve the laying of traps for your opponents to step into, like check-raising or slow playing a strong hand.
On most occasions her advice will be decisive, with one action being strongly considered to be the best action by Sonia.
Occasionally decisions can be highly marginal, with two or sometimes even three options being close in profitability.
The relative strength of Sonia's opinion is indicated by use of a bar chart on the advice panel.
A few trivial examples of how her advice might vary depending on your playing style or ability are as follows:
Sonia might advise a passive player to bluff more on average than an aggressive player when a scare card falls.
Sonia might advise a beginner to fold a marginal hand but an advanced player to raise the hand, knowing
that the advanced player is more likely to make a profit by playing the hand better on later streets.
Sonia might advise a passive player to call a very strong hand that she would normally recommend
an aggressive player to raise, in order to not scare the player's opponents into folding.
Sonia might advise a player with a strong hand to check to an aggressive player,
in order to raise the player after they bet (known as a check-raise).
Of course, Sonia's advice is entirely situational and the above examples trivialise the complexity associated
with coming to an accurate estimate of the profitability of any decision. However, as you progress Sonia
will advance your understanding of these complexities as well as help heighten your own senses and intuition.
How to use
Advice from Sonia is available at all 6-max tables where Sonia is actually seated.
It can be requested at any point in the game where you are required to make an action
simply by clicking the 'Ask Sonia' button. Advice is paid for out of the chips you currently
have at the table and deducted at the end of the hand.
The charge for advice is there to ensure players cannot simply climb the rankings
by using the advice on every
action. Your Virtual Player will also ignore any actions for training purposes so that
it is not possible to use the 'Ask Sonia' just to train your Virtual Player.
Advice Panel Tour
Click this to open the advice panel when it's your turn to act. The amount in brackets will be deducted at the end of the hand.
The cost of the advice is 5% of the current pot size limited to a maximum of half the current bet size (e.g. $1 on the turn at a $1/$2 table).
FoldFoldCallRaise
The recommended action is indicated in the callout by Sonia
and by highlighting the associated action button.
The bar chart also shows the relative strength of Sonia's opinion about which action is the
most profitable action to take.
Bet Or Raise Behind If I Check: 53%
Hand: A Pair of Aces
Directly underneath the check/call button the advice panel displays the likelihood
that you will face a bet or raise by any of your opponents should you choose to check or call.
This is useful, for example, if you hold a strong hand and wish to check-raise your opponent(s) when there has been no bet; as it
indicates the likelihood of your trap being successfully executed.
Your current hand rank is displayed at the bottom.
Folds to Raise: 22%
Raise/Reraised Behind: 7%
'Folds to Raise' gives the likelihood that the remaining opponents will all fold should
you raise. This can be useful should you be considering a bluff or steal attempt.
'Raise/Reraised Behind' gives the likelihood
that you will face a reraise by any of your opponents should you choose to raise.
Strength: 42%
Potential: +30%, -10%
Pot Odds: 17%
'Strength' is the current strength of your hand relative to those of your opponents.
'Potential' is made up of both a positive potential and a negative potential indicating the chance
of your hand catching up (for example hitting a flush draw when your opponent holds a straight) or falling behind
(for example your opponent hitting a straight draw, when you hold three of a kind) respectively.
'Pot Odds' is the pot size compared to the amount of money you are required to put into the pot to continue.
6. Leaderboards
Climb The Real And Virtual Rankings
At PokerParadime there are two main types of leaderboard:
Player Rankings - Players are ranked by
their current bankroll, as calculated at the end of each hand.
The ultimate challenge for any PokerParadime
player is to get to the top of both leaderboards! This will require careful training and bankroll
management for both you and your Virtual Player.
7. User Home Page
Drop In And See The Real Or Virtual Me
Each user has their own home page that shows both public personal information and a list of tables
the user and any of their Virtual Players are currently seated on.
In addition, your own home page contains options to edit your personal settings and other configuration options.
To access your own home page simply login and click the 'My Home' link on the side menu.
To go to any other user's home page simply go to the Rankings page and
type the player's username into the search box at the bottom of the page and then click the 'Search' button.
To change your personal details or password just click on the 'Edit Profile' link on the left side menu
or underneath the details on your home page.
To edit your Virtual Player settings, click on 'Edit Virtual Player Preferences'
underneath the Virtual Player you would like to configure.
The following is a brief overview of the main information contained on a user's home page:
Player/Virtual Player Information
Rank: 1st
Both player and Virtual Player rankings are displayed on the user home page.
Bankroll: $91.67 ($46.17 + $45.5 In Play)
Bankrolls are displayed for both players and Virtual Players.
If currently seated, bankrolls are broken up into available balance and balance in play.
PLAYER's Active Tables:
Underneath you will find a list of tables that the player or Virtual Player are currently seated on.
If you are currently logged in you can watch your Virtual Player play and see it's hole cards.
Player Only Information
"The Virtual Queen Of Online Poker"
The quoted text is the user's tagline. You can change your tagline by clicking on the 'Edit Profile' link.
Virtual Player Only Information
Training: 154 Hands
Indicates how many hands have been used to teach the particular Virtual Player.
A minimum of 25 hands is required before the Virtual Player is eligible to play.
Autoplay: Enabled up to $10/$20
Indicates the maximum stakes your Virtual Player
will automatically sit down on.
8. Hand & Session Replayer
Relive The Highs And Lows!
With the Hand & Session Replayer you can replay any hands or sessions you or your Virtual Player have played.
To access the Replayer go to 'My Home' and click on the 'Replay Hands' link.
The Replayer is also accessible via the Player Stats pages.
Loading a previous Session
Load Session
Use the drop down options at the top to select either Real or Virtual Sessions.
To load a session simply select any one of the sessions from the list and click the 'Load' button
at the bottom of the popup box.
Note: The number of sessions that are displayed is limited to the most recent sessions only. If you do
not find the session in the list it may still be accessible via the
appropriate Player Stats page.
Hand & Session Replayer Options
Use this option to change the playback speed.
Use the shuttle buttons to navigate through the hands in the current session or to pause and resume the current hand.
Use this option to select only the hands where the pot reached a specific size.
Won $
Use this option to select only the hands in which you won $.
Flop $
Use this option to select only the hands in which you saw the flop.
Use the drop down list to jump directly to a particular hand in the current session.
9. Player/Virtual Player Stats
Track You And Your Virtual Player's Performance.
A summary of you and your Virtual Player's stats can accessed via the 'View Stats' links
on your home page. The options on your summary page are:
Player Stats over
sessions:
Underneath you will find a summary of the player or Virtual Player's
Player Stats.
Use the drop down to restrict the summary to only recent sessions or select 'All' to display a summary over all sessions played.
Show winnings at Sonia tables after luck has been removed
This option displays winnings after the element of luck has been removed
for sessions that had at least one Sonia seated at the table.
The column headings and associated meanings are as follows:
Stakes
- Specifies the small and big bet sizes respectively. For example, $1/$2 indicates
a small bet size of $1 and a big bet size of $2. A minimum buy-in of 25 times the big bet size is required
to sit down ($500 on a $10/$20 table).
Hands
- The total number of hands included in the calculations.
BBs/100
- Your win rate measured in big bets per 100 hands before taking into account any tuition charges.
A big bet is the larger of the two values specified in the table stakes.
For example, $1/$2 indicates a big bet size of $2.
VPIP
- This value indicates the percentage of the hands that the player voluntarily put money in the pot to see the flop.
Posting blinds do not count as putting money into the pot voluntarily.
PFR
- This value indicates the percentage of the hands that the player made one or more raises during the pre-flop betting round.
AF
- A measure of the aggressiveness of a player called the 'Aggression Factor'. This value is
calculated as the number of raises divided by the number of calls.
A value of one thus indicates that on average the player raised as much as they called.
WTSD
- This value indicates the percentage of the hands that the player went to showdown when they saw the flop.
W$WSF
- This value indicates the percentage of the times that the player won money when they saw the flop.
W$SD
- This value indicates the percentage of the times that the player won money at showdown.
Session by session breakdown
To get a session by session breakdown of a player's stats and to replay individual sessions or hands
using the Hand & Session Replayer click on any stakes
links under the 'Stakes' column heading or click on the table title displaying the game type.
The meanings of the extra columns not defined above are as follows:
Start
- Indicates the time at which the first hand played in the session started.
Hands
- The number of hands played in the session. Click to go to a break down of the individual hands in the session.
Won
- The amount you won during the session before taking into account any tuition charges.
Hand by hand breakdown
To get the detailed stats for a session along with a breakdown of the session hand by hand
click on the link indicating the number of hands under the 'Hands' column.
The meanings of the extra columns not defined above are as follows:
Additional Stats for Session
%F
- The percentage of hands the player saw the flop.
%T
- The percentage of hands the player saw the turn.
%R
- The percentage of hands the player saw the river.
%Won
- The percentage of hands in which the player won money.
Avg Won
- The average size of pot the player won.
Tuition
- The amount of money spent on tuition.
Table Stats for Session
Tbl VPIP
- The average percentage of hands players at the table voluntarily put money in the pot to see the flop.
Tbl PFR
- The average percentage of hands players at the table made one or more raises during the pre-flop betting round.
Tbl AF
- The aggression factor for the table calculated as the total number of raises divided by the total number of calls.
Tbl %F
- The percentage of players at the table seeing the flop.
Hand#
- The hand number. Click to open the Hand History for the hand.
Start
- Indicates the time at which the hand started.
Pot
- The final pot size.
Stage
- The stage at which the hand was decided.
$ Winners
- The number of players who won money in the hand.
Won $
- Indicates whether the player won money in the hand.
10. Hand Histories
Portable Hand Descriptions
Hand Histories provide a textual description of the hand including the player names, player chips, betting actions,
community cards etc.
There are many ways to open the Hand History for a hand that you or your Virtual Player have played:
During the game
- Click the hand number next to 'Last#' to open up the Hand History for the previous hand.
From the replayer
- Click the hand number next to 'This#' to open up the Hand History for current hand.
From the chat window
- Click on any of the hand numbers in the chat window to open up the Hand History for that hand.
Via the hand by hand breakdown
- Go the the hand by hand breakdown of a session by clicking on the hand count from the session stats. Here you can navigate
the individual hands and access the Hand History by clicking on the hand number.
Format Description
Game 22359 starts
#Game No : 22359 - The hand number
***** Hand History for Game 22359 *****
$10/$20 Limit Texas Hold'em - Monday, November 19, 21:05:53 GMT 2007
Table King's Stratwater - Table name
Seat 6 is the button - Button position (1-6 clockwise from top centre right).
Total number of players : 6 - Number of players sat at the table
Seat 1: Sonia ( $1190 )
Seat 2: mark ( $500 ) - Seat position, player name and chips at start of hand
Seat 3: <BaronSilver> ( $195 )
Seat 4: <GeneralGold> ( $835 ) - The <name> indicates this is a Virtual Player
Seat 5: <EarlApple> ( $390 )
Seat 6: <CountDark> ( $990 )
Sonia posts small blind [$5]
mark posts big blind [$10]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to mark [ As 8s ] - The hole cards dealt to the player
<BaronSilver> folds
<GeneralGold> folds
<EarlApple> folds
<CountDark> folds
Sonia raises [$15]
mark raises [$20]
Sonia calls [$10] - The player matches the raise which leads to a flop
** Dealing Flop ** [ 6h, Ah, 5s ] - The flop community cards
Sonia checks
mark bets [$10]
Sonia calls [$10]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Td ] - The turn community card
Sonia checks
mark bets [$20]
Sonia calls [$20]
** Dealing River ** [ 5d ] - The river community card
Sonia checks
mark bets [$20]
Sonia calls [$20] - The player matches the river bet which leads to a showdown
mark shows [ As, 8s ] A Pair of Aces - First hand shown
Sonia doesn't show [ Th, 9h ] A Pair of Tens - The losing mucked hand
mark wins $140 from the main pot with A Pair of Aces - Winner, amount and hand
The time at which the hand ended: Monday, November 19, 21:06:37 GMT 2007
button table beside the name to take you to the table and automatically take a seat.
The column headings and associated meanings are as follows:
=Sonia,
=Virtual Player,
=Friend,
=Virtual Friend
