Played my 2nd and 3rd games ever on a POTC (on route) today and it was very nice.

One thing I LOVE about JJP LE+ games is that they come with a friggin' headphone jack. Plugged my earbuds in and ... WAH LAH! ... I could actually hear the game in an otherwise noisy pinball bar!!! SO NICE! The game looked beautiful and the audio was fantastic. Excellent volume adjustment switch too!

The jury's still out for me on POTC's gameplay, but it appears to be promising indeed. In the meantime, I still love my Houdini.

I own a Houdini, and kinda want a POTC (I call it Princesses of the Caribbean because they sugar-coat the portrayal of pirates big time. Pirates were the terrorist thieves of their time.)
I refuse to say which 'is better' because that is difficult and likely inaccurate. However, I like Houdini because it is a fun, difficult shooter with a boat-ton of code goodness. It's like they took a nice B/W game and gave it a decent, non-trival ruleset. Score!

Now POTC, on the other hand, is a bit more expensive...but you get a beauty of a machine for your money. It also looks like it has some serious deep rules, likely more than Houdini. Kind of a longer player, like LOTR. Soooo many shots. To summarize, this looks like an adventure pin.
I like both, and side by side, they would be great in my collection. A buyer should consider what kind of experience they want out of a pin rather than which is better. These games are far too different for that simple comparison (IMHO). These aren't System-11s.

Go Pinball!!

Love the Houdini theme, not so much the POTC theme...
but it looks like JJ knocked it out of the park on PTOC
great looking game that looks like a blast to play

I had a Houdini, sold it. Don't miss it either.
I am an average player, and still found the shots too tight.

Bought a JJP POTCLE and love the game.
It is great plundering the other players stuff
Tons to do, great fun all around.

Cannon shot never gets old for me, harder during Multi balls to.

IMO this isn't really a fair comparison. POTC costs WAY more, but it also includes a hell of a lot more. AP is pricing in between Pro and LE Stern models, and you get quite a bit in there. Both games are incredibly fun. I would say POTC is more "immersive" than Houdini, which I would say about all JJP games. You won't go wrong with either -

JJP POTC by a mile