Pros:

1. Joins Simpsons and Lord of the Rings as the Deepest Pinball Games Ever Created genre
2. Love all the drop targets for both aesthetic reasons and game rule purpose
3. Playfield artwork is nice and bright
4. Rules for the Poker Corner modes are very innovative and refreshing.  With disappearing shots and integrating the dot matrix display with specific modes, definitely paves the way for future game modes.
5. The multiballs also have a unique personality to differentiate themselves.
6. The upper playfield offers the novice player a lot more action compared to other games.  Also the Ace-in-the-Hole makes great sounds while trying to lock, re-lock, release, repeat…oh wait, that will be for the cons J

Cons:

• Joins Simpsons and Lord of the Rings as the Deepest Pinball Games Ever Created genre.  While we see this as a pro, the execution is terrible in terms of informing a player of what they need to do!!  It would be nice to have clear objectives in front of you similar to even Sopranos instead of having to scroll through the status report.
• Also, if and when you reach the summit, the Keefer Invitational, there is absolutely no explanation of how to start the damn thing!
• While Ace-in-the-Hole is a neat little toy on the game, it is all you do.  It really feels like going to work when playing this.  Similar to Simpsons, you always go for a multiball (couch/AITH) and then you complete other objectives during that time.
• A big complaint is the flipper strength and how dependent the playfield is on nice strong shots.  If a game does not have strong enough flippers to get to the upper playfield, then forget it, it’s not even worth playing.




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While WPT has it's share of tells and hands out some bad beats, Steve Ritchie and Keith Johnson have teamed to create a poker themed pinball machine that will have players on location reaching for their stacks of quarters and going "all in".    With  new "O.S." in tow, (Thanks for the years of  hard work Lyman Sheats Jr.) Stern games are able to handle -even more- code from some of our favorite keyboard ninjas as well as other impressive improvements.

Sterns WPT reminds me of a modern day Centaur from Bally in 1981. You have many options on ways to add balls. Not only can you add balls in many ways, but holding balls and having absolute control of the balls on the playfield can separate the amateurs from the pros. WPT is a total *control* game. Holding balls on flippers is the best way to achieve monster scores.

Regardless of what I say here, I will own a WPT. I love the game. I find it very fun and challenging with great longevity. I think Steve Ritchie and Keith Johnson should be commended for their awesome work on the game. If this game had better artwork, I feel it would have been close to perfect. When it first hit locations local to me, there were people waiting 10 deep to play it for weeks. I put well over 100 hours of play on the machine in the first month it was out and I never got  tired of playing it. Congratulations to Stern, the KING, and Keefer on a job well done and I look forward to Steve and Keefer working together again.
                               
PLUSES:
Up-post design on the ramps. Thank goodness these were put into the design. The KING was really thinking when he did this considering poker, as well as pinball, take considerable thought, skill, and strategy. Keefer made excellent use of them with just enough time to gather your thoughts and composure. A player who takes the time to learn the strategies, skills, and potential of  WPT (when played correctly) will certainly be grateful. While I have played poker for years, it is nice to have a few seconds to consider the hand you are developing, what hands are achievable, if you want to build side-pots or end the hand, start a mode, or choose to light a 3X lens in the return lane to get maximum points on a shot or save it for a shot down the road that may prove to be even more valuable. There are so many things to consider and the ball stopping really turns the game into a chess match of  "man vs machine". If you are a checkers person, Keefer added a "disable" option that will let you turn the posts off so the ball won't stop and you can slap away feely without a care in the world. Now who says Stern isn't compassionate for the "slappys" of our great sport?

16 drop targets. Whoa momma! Thank you Steve Ritchie for bringing back the drop target in all of it's glory. With the mix of rules during regular game play, modes, and multiballs, Keefer really uses the drops every way humanly possible. It is possible to sweep 4 drops in one shot and hit all three banks of drops from either flipper.

Ace-In-The-Hole. How cool is it to have a chance to lock a ball before you even have a chance of losing it? Can you say "ace up your sleeve"? With a SWASS design and great code, this feature is the center point of WPT. It is too bad we couldn't first see this in Elvis as it was first meant to appear in that game as the "jailhouse".

Extra touches. Stickers on drop targets and metal scoops really help pull the appearance of WPT together. Also, the text on the back panel plastic is a welcomed addition. While Stern still needs to get rulesets written and near completion *BEFORE* final artwork is finished to help explain rules to the players a little better, they are doing a better job with every effort.

Speech calls on hole cards. Excellent job on the speech calls of Mike Sexton calling out what your hole cards are. I feel like I am sitting at the final table.


MINUSES:
Outlanes are too forgiving from the factory. Marathon games become the norm.

Shot to the upper playfield (saucer hole) will not stick at times.

Sometimes when trying to collect a hurry-up from the upper playfield a made shot will not register. Annoying, considering you need that shot for some extra ball love.

NIT-PICKING:
A better design of the center plastic behind the 4-bank of drop targets (in the center of the pf) would have been nice for an easier swap of the center rubber, which takes an absolute beating.

PET-PEEVE:
Flashers on slingshots. While it not only looks like crap, it is annoying to anyone trying to have a decent outing and could be better used to make the machine beautiful instead of a cheap dog and pony trick to hinder the player.

BEST SHOT: *tie* hitting drop targets on all 3 drop target banks witha single flip from either flipper and raping the left loop while holding ball(s) on the left flipper for sidepots!

BEST BACKHAND: Backhanding from the right flipper the "start mode" shot.

BIGGEST GRIPE:
The entire art package. While artwork was never a major concern of mine personally, I still realize it is very important  to other people and it is the first thing that people see when approaching a game on location. The backglass is "the billboard" that is trying to sell the game. Unfortunately WPT has a backglass that looks hideous at best. I never thought I would root with such passion for a florescent bulb to burn out. I just feel there is no excuse for bad art. I know there are times when Stern has no control over what art gets put on their machines, and I can accept that, but I am amazed WPT would allow such a vomit-inducing likeness of Courtney Friel. Needless to say I am bitter as H E double hockey sticks that www.shanahiatt.org got jobbed and was basically kicked off the show during development of the game. I guess all I am trying to say here is that I hope Stern really takes the bull by the horns and does whatever they can to improve their final art on machines. LOTR still remains Sterns best translite art ever.

??????????:
When asked on how to start WPT's wizard mode ("The Keefer Invitational") once you have it qualified,  Keith Johnson simply replied, "I'll let that remain a mystery".



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Pluses: Lot's of drop targets, stackable MB's, good dot animations & modes round out a pretty solid pin. New L.F.S. operating system is running problem free on the route other than a minor sound issue that was resolved by swapping the CPU.  1/10th the service calls on WPT compared to Nascar.
 
Minuses:  The rules, MB's and modes are all there but something seems to be lacking and seem less fun to play them out than say LOTR or TSPP. Backglass is uuuuugly!

 

 

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Pluses: The Ruleset is very well done on this game. It's extremely enjoyable to get the 3x return lane lit and then
hitting the 3x hurry-up to finish off a high ranking hand after you've built up the pot with the spinners
and it's the last hand to win the tournament -- I mean it's dead-on for this theme. Nice tight shots such
as left ramp (think Tales from the Crypt) and right-side lock shot are also terrific.

Minuses: Since the game is designed to be appealing for the masses, this is a minor gripe: Experienced players can go
for Ace in the Hole multiball over and over again which is a boring but somewhat effective strategy. Hopefully there
will be a revision for tournament mode which either disables Ace in the Hole MB or makes the player have to hit the
captive ball 100 times to start it.




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Pluses:
 Lot's of these....if you like drop targets(who doesn't?) then you'll probably like this game. Drop targets galore! And they sweep well too! Lots of DTs' with good rules associated with them!
Upper playfield is nice too. Simple, but fun to play. Locking mech is really cool, when it works(hopefully Stern will help us here). Nice skill shot up here too!
Great rules all around, stack anything on anything...,multiballs are fun, modes are fun and quite valuable when stacked on a multiball!
But my favorite feature is the 3x inlanes!! What a nice feature.....so much strategy involved here! Very satisfying when you 'pop' a nice 3x award...especially multible 3x awards on the same shot!!
The new system is a nice improvement over the old one, especially when they get all the bugs out of it.
 
Minuses:
Artwork could of been a lot better.....especially the backglass. I also wish the first WPT babe(SH) was still around, she would of looked better up there! ;)
Buggy software, with no updates in sight. Hopefully Stern will be able to master their 'new system' soon!
 
Overall I like WPT quite a bit. I suppose it's a plus that I like poker too, but it's a fun game nonetheless. Good rules, good layout and lots of drop targets, hard not to like!