improved Play money support?

[mrhobbeys]

Being that I can not play real money poker on the big 3 sites, can we get better play money support?

I would still like to work on my game and because people play so poorly at live games I am hoping that I can play some of my better friends in PS play money home games, or I do hope that play money games on PS and FTP come to a better quality.... That being said, is play money support something I can look forward to?

I would just play some other site but I fear they would be shut down too.

[a.k.a.Also]

I've only played real money home games on PS and HM worked fine.
Not tried play money - shoot me a pm if you want to try it out and I'll give you log-in details

[osumike11379]

I am in a league that is now going to use play money tourneys (to send people to a WSOP event) - How do I get this to work on my HUD? Is it supported?

[netsrak]

Play money is not supported and there are no plans to add it.
It may work on some sites accidentally.

[osumike11379]

Play money is not supported and there are no plans to add it.
It may work on some sites accidentally.

Gee thanks??? :confused:

You do realize that no one in America can play for $$$ right now so if you want your product to keep going I suggest you look into it??

[Sarek]

At this moment Play money are NOT supported.

[mrhobbeys]

Something that could be added?

How are we suggesting things now anyways?

And I understand this is not going to help you because you can not get rakeback percents etc.
I also could see how this might be a problem when switching from real money vs play money as you don't want both of them showing up but that already happens on some sites, play money tourney results are mixed in with my real results, but this is not the case for stars atm.

[fozzy71]

We have no plans to add support for play money, free rolls, or similar. We only support real money games.

[mrhobbeys]

Ok, understandable. Thanks for letting us know.

[Way2Loose]

I am a U.S. player who just cashed out of Stars, due to the DOJ action. And I am a registered HEM owner/user.

My best option so far is Play Money Home Games on Stars, for real money.

Your competitor says they will start alpha testing of play money support soon, in recognition of players in similar situations.

Please reconsider.

[kline99]

Since you aren't explaining why you won't support play money, I guess we can assume that you make far more off of your Rakeback referral deals with the major sites than you do off of the purchase price of the software. We are big kids and we can understand business reasons for not wanting to change 1 f-ing line of code to make this work. Just explain it clearly or it seems like you are up to something shady that you need to be coy about.

[kline99]

...and since your motivation then becomes about maximizing rake...it's interesting how often the perfect cards fall to get two players all-in against each other when the HUDs clearly make the holdings improbable....HMMMMMMMMMMMM

[morny]

Well discuss this internally and see if this is viable, your comments on rakeback make no sense to me :confused: but anyway ill let you know our decision once we discuss what would be involved.

[William340]

I was not sure if I should start a new thread for this, or post in one of the existing, but I will start it in here.
if a mod thinks it's worthwhile, they can move, retitle, sticky or something.

my post pertains only to PokerStars play money "cash game" hand histories.
my HEM /HUD seems to work already for play money tournaments.
(if this is a "bug", I hope this does not encourage them to fix it,
though I am unlikely to be downloading the latest version of the app for a while now.)

after doing some hunting w/ the google, I found a post on the autohotkey.com forum in this thread:
Convert PlayMoney-HH into Real-Money-HH at Pokerstars (http://www.autohotkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=45747)

after I downloaded & installed the AHK program, I copied the script in the first post, and tried it against some of the play money HH I had saved.
it works fine, and HEM will import these modified files.

with that done, I tried to figure out how to make the script convert on the fly so the HUD would work.
w/ some help from the AHK forum people I tried some stuff, and after a comical mistake or two, I now have a working "auto converter" that will feed the HEM HUD.

for those interested in just the conversion for post game analysis, this is the script I am using (direct from thread above).
I did NOT write this script, and take no credit for doing anything but finding it.

#NoEnv ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
SendMode Input ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir% ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.
Loop, *.txt, 0, 0
{
tempContents := "" ;Clear the temp variable for each new file
Loop, Read, %A_LoopFileLongPath% ;Read each line in the file
{
tempContents .= A_LoopReadLine ;Append each line to the variable
tempContents .= "`r`n"
}
;;;;; delete the words Play Money ;;;;;;;;;;
StringReplace, tempContents, tempContents, %A_SPACE%(Play Money)%A_SPACE%,%A_SPACE%, All
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;; Add dollar-signs wherever needed
;; $1 means the saved value in the parathesis
;; $$ means the dollar-sign in the logfile
;; $" means end of line
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "raises ([\d.-]+) to ([\d.-]+)", "raises $$$1 to $$$2")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "calls ([\d.-]+)", "calls $$$1")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "bets ([\d.-]+)", "bets $$$1")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "Hold'em Limit \(([\d.-]+)/([\d.-]+)\)", "Hold'em Limit ($$$1/$$$2)")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "Hold'em No Limit \(([\d.-]+)/([\d.-]+)\)", "Hold'em No Limit ($$$1/$$$2)")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "Hold'em Pot Limit \(([\d.-]+)/([\d.-]+)\)", "Hold'em Pot Limit ($$$1/$$$2)")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "collected ([\d.-]+)", "collected $$$1")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "collected \(([\d.-]+)\)", "collected ($$$1)")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "and won \(([\d.-]+)\) ", "and won ($$$1) ")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "bet \(([\d.-]+)\) returned", "bet ($$$1) returned")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "posts small blind ([\d.-]+)", "posts small blind $$$1")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "posts big blind ([\d.-]+)", "posts big blind $$$1")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "\(([\d.-]+) in chips\)", "($$$1 in chips)")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "Total pot ([\d.-]+) \| Rake ([\d.-]+)", "Total pot $$$1 | Rake $$$2")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "max\s{1,5}Seat #", "max Seat #")

totalfilesdone++
FileAppend, %tempContents%, realmoney%A_LoopFileName% ;Write the data to new file
}


MsgBox, converted %totalfilesdone% files
simply open a new empty text file w/ notepad, paste in the script above, and save it as SomeFileName.ahk
once you install the AHK app, it will recognize it.
if it does not for some reason, set up the file association through Windows.

this script will convert all the scripts in a directory from Play Money to Real Money.
I just leave the script in the directory and drag the HH's in & out as needed.
once the HH are converted, you can import them from folder in HEM.

on to the HUD feeding version.
it gets saved in the directory that Stars is autosaving into (on my machine, of course. modify it as needed for your PC.)
which is C:\Users\Ed\AppData\Local\PokerStars\HandHistory\W illiam340
for me.
I made a subdirectory called "Converted" in that directory, and that is where the script writes the new files.


Loop
{
#NoEnv ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
SendMode Input ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir% ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.
OutputDir := "C:\Users\Ed\AppData\Local\PokerStars\HandHistory\W illiam340\Converted\"
Loop, *.txt, 0, 0
{
FileDelete, %OutputDir%realmoney%A_LoopFileName% ; clear the file before starting the read loop
tempContents := "" ;Clear the temp variable for each new file
Loop, Read, %A_LoopFileLongPath% ;Read each line in the file
{
tempContents .= A_LoopReadLine ;Append each line to the variable
tempContents .= "`r`n"
}
;;;;; delete the words Play Money ;;;;;;;;;;
StringReplace, tempContents, tempContents, %A_SPACE%(Play Money)%A_SPACE%,%A_SPACE%, All
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;; Add dollar-signs wherever needed
;; $1 means the saved value in the parathesis
;; $$ means the dollar-sign in the logfile
;; $" means end of line
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "raises ([\d.-]+) to ([\d.-]+)", "raises $$$1 to $$$2")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "calls ([\d.-]+)", "calls $$$1")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "bets ([\d.-]+)", "bets $$$1")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "Hold'em Limit \(([\d.-]+)/([\d.-]+)\)", "Hold'em Limit ($$$1/$$$2)")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "Hold'em No Limit \(([\d.-]+)/([\d.-]+)\)", "Hold'em No Limit ($$$1/$$$2)")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "Hold'em Pot Limit \(([\d.-]+)/([\d.-]+)\)", "Hold'em Pot Limit ($$$1/$$$2)")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "collected ([\d.-]+)", "collected $$$1")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "collected \(([\d.-]+)\)", "collected ($$$1)")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "and won \(([\d.-]+)\) ", "and won ($$$1) ")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "bet \(([\d.-]+)\) returned", "bet ($$$1) returned")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "posts small blind ([\d.-]+)", "posts small blind $$$1")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "posts big blind ([\d.-]+)", "posts big blind $$$1")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "\(([\d.-]+) in chips\)", "($$$1 in chips)")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "Total pot ([\d.-]+) \| Rake ([\d.-]+)", "Total pot $$$1 | Rake $$$2")
tempContents := RegExReplace(tempContents, "max\s{1,5}Seat #", "max Seat #")

totalfilesdone++
FileAppend, %tempContents%, %OutputDir%realmoney%A_LoopFileName% ;Write the data to new file
}
Sleep, 20000

}

the only real differences between this & the static version are:
1) the outer loop. this makes it run until you manually exit from the script
(find it in your tray, right click, EXIT).
2) the FileDelete command added before the read.
without this, it would just append the HH contents into the converted file over & over, really quickly. turning a 70KB file into a 1GB+ file pretty darn quickly. ask me how I know.
3) the output message line is removed. you don't want a screen message every 10 or 20 seconds.
4) sleep line is added.
this makes it wait 20 seconds before it clears the file & reloads.

I don't know what the best sleep time is.
if you were only playing one table, longer is not a big deal, as the average hand might take a minute or so.
but w/ multiple tables, it will refresh all of them one after another, then wait thru the sleep time and refresh them all again.
so maybe w/ a bunch of tables, a shorter wait would work better.

I've only tried it w/ 2 tables w/ a 30 second wait.
which is what made me think 30 is a too long.
one of the problems was it was displaying the mucked cards and board from the prior hand WELL into the next hand.

anyway, once you cut & paste the script into a text file & save it w/ an .ahk extension, you are ready to go.
I simply started it before I joined any tables at Stars, then exited from it when I quit.
I'm not sure you couldn't just let it run constantly.

if you need to change the sleep, you just edit the script w/ notepad.
probably not while it's running though.
the units are milliseconds, so 5000 = 5, 10000 = 10, etc.

I don't really know much about AHK, as my first exposure was only a few days ago.
so, I can't answer any tricky scripting questions.
I should be able to answer basic set up & install stuff.
maybe.

this is the download page for AHK
AutoHotkey Download (http://www.autohotkey.com/download/)
I used the _L version, as I am running 64 bit Win 7.

if this does not fix play money tournies as well, it may provide a good starting point for working on them.

I guess that's it.

[Way2Loose]

Nice work William. A practical solution.

I enjoyed reading about your trial-and-error programming. That is how I do it too.

[Luffles]

I realize there is a working, workaround for this, but I just purchased this software and would be interested in seeing play-money tracking. Thanks!

[Luffles]

Would it go amiss if I were to bump this every now and then, hoping for play money support?

[William340]

I wouldn't try it *too* often.
I have exchanged PMs w/ some of the HEM folks, and I have a better appreciation of why they are not currently looking into it.
(simply - a lot of other, bigger fish to fry, and unwilling to add whole new chunks of work to a different sort of hand history across a number of sites when the format of any or all of them could change at any time w/o notice).

[mrhobbeys]

I have to be honest guys when I first posted this I knew that the chances were very slim. It is a lot of work, it would be a support headache, and HEM folks would not benefit from rake-back which I am sure is one of the things that keeps their software so reasonably priced. I think we can hope but not expect.

And speaking of hope; lets all hope the legal issues get resolved in the USA fast, I have gone back to one of my previous "jobs" and it sucks compared to poker.

[William340]

mrhobbeys - have you tried the scripts I posted?
it's not "official", nor supported by HEM, but it does work. :D

also - I cannot access this forum during "normal" hours, as my day job does not let it through.
but I do check it in the evenings, and I get email alerts for this thread & new PMs.
don't want anyone to think I am ignoring their posts or PMs.