WPT has an incredibly deep ruleset, likely the second deepest to TSPP. I would not recommend it for less than average players. That sounds a little elitist, but it doesn't have a lot of fun factor unless you really start to open it up with a good game, so I think many would find it boring iff they can't get good games going, which is why I believe it has the negative ratings at times that it does. Shots are long and tight too, it's not an easy game, nor was it made to be.

Look to Maverick as well, if you want a poker themed machine. One of the best rulesets in pinball in my opinion. Mav actually has more drops than WPT too, which seems hard to believe. I have both and love playing each of them.

Go with Alien Poker (I have both AP and WPT)... Alien Poker has that theme you want...plus a cool space/aliens theme....plus is way cheaper than WPT (so you can get another game) plus is really fun and a great layout

Thing is, it might not be THAT much cheaper A good shopped and bulletproofed AP would run around a thousand bucks.. WPTs seem to pop up in good shape for under 2K.

I don't think you can get more game for the buck than WPT. AP is a great game as well, but different so hard to compare... I'd say grab a cheap WPT and see how you like it. It's deep, but plays very different from TSPP. Lots of flow and speed and long shots, almost the opposite of TSPP, but you still get deep rules and thinking is required for good scores.

I think wpt is a good pin to own and can be had at a reasonable price. I always liked the ramps which are unique as well as the ace in the hole. Looks great with leds too. There is bound to be problems with the drop targets if the game is unshopped but they are easy fixes.

alien poker in nice condition would run about the same pricerange as strikes and spares 1200-2000 if you can find one here jardine. if you do you can bet the backglass will be shot..

There is a service bulletin on the drop targets not resetting. A pretty easy fix, but might take a couple of hours to complete. The upper playfield gets pretty cloudy and scuffed up. A good novus scrub helps immensely. You'll want to disable the FLOP/TURN posts in the features adjustments, and consider removing the orbit gate to allow orbits both ways.

This is the best tutorial for learning the rules. He covers a lot.

Once Don fixed my AITH problem (thanks don! ) ………It is one of the best "bang for your buck " pins IMHO. The keifer ruleset is just awesome. there is a thread by steven p??? perhaps , that goes into detail. hard to complete, did it twice, and so much fun getting there. make sure you like drop targets and make sure the Ace in the Hole works properly. A new upper play field is a must and a pain to put in, but if I did it anyone can. People really bash the back glass but made little difference to me. I shopped mine out and put blinding LED's in (contrary to steven P's opinion, it looked great ! lol) to give it a casino feel. I will own another someday and is the only pin I regret selling.

damn you! 2 threads today where i am talking about WPT and now I am thinking what to sell to bring it back!!!!! lol

Also, one last bit of advice...

I had a bad transistor on mine when I bought it. I did a lot of research, and found it to be a (somewhat) common problem with both WPT and LOTR. It affected the right slingshot flasher (would stay on and get hot if bulb was put in). Replacing the transistor was a pretty easy fix for me, a bit nerve wracking soldering on the board, but doable for most people with modest soldering skills.

Just do it. It's an awesome game.

I don't know about that....seems like mid $2k range is the going rate for a decent one and they sell fairly easily. Someone bought one on ePay for 3500 (crazy) . I got my AP for under a grand recently

Maybe they're going up... My buddy Matt got one from Expo a year and a half ago for 1800ish, needed a little work but not bad overall. I paid 1800 for mine; the very bottom .75" of the front of the cab was chewed up and repaired w black metal (not very noticeable), but otherwise shopped, low play and really nice. Completely shopped/nice ones seemed to be going for low 2s last year.

That said, I don't think it'll take much longer before the "AFM effect" hits WPT. This is basically when the machine just seems to dry up on the market, right when a bunch of people decide they want one. AFM went from ~4K to ~7K in the span of 6 months, and we're experiencing similar effects with Metallica and possibly ACDC Premium right now. Gram 'em while you can!

Love this game ! Get it! Swap the upper playfield for a clear one and add super brite pop bumper capsimage.jpg

The price of this machine has been going up fast since people are realizing how great the rules are. Around me, there are people chomping for one, and $3k+ would be gone in a flash for a nice one.

You will like WPT then. It’s different, as Keefer’s games all have a portion of modes, but they differ after this somewhat. WPT has point totals you have to meet, as well as the completions to get to the KI, but there are mini wizard modes, similar to TSPP, for completing the modes, hands, and other things.

The music sucks for the most part, and uninteresting. That’s a major downer for the excitement level of this pin, but again, when you start to get a few things going, it picks up quite a bit.

You can also put Pinballlife's f'ckn bright 4-led 555s under the existing bumper caps for a nice bright effect. I like the idea of the LED caps, but just don't care for the circles for some reason.

I thought the music sucked as well, but it's really more that the main loop kinda sucks, and AITH is unexciting, and unfortunately those are the tunes you hear for 90% of the game. The main multiball tune is a bit goofy as well. OTOH the mode tunes are all really good, and the music for poker wizard multiball (also high score entry) is awesome... good enough to make me want to get to PWMB as often as possible, too bad it's damn hard to get thru all six modes!

I want to replace AITH with Motorhead's Ace of Spades, but the original AITH music is only 20 seconds, so I will have to specially-build an AoS loop to fit properly (there's no 20-second section of that song that'll just drop in)

Pic of mt game. WPT rocks!

wptplayfield.png

Some other good comments here, but to address the rules aspect, yep, it would be OK to have TSPP and WPT. Very different 'depth.' TSPP has a ton of stackable timed modes with no real rhyme or reason. The modes (Poker Corner) and features (holdem ramp hands, drop target draw hands, etc.) are highly strategic and integrate well with the playfield. (Example: the 2 different ways to get to the mini-playfield can be very important for stacking, etc.)

And I think WPT is a good novice game as well. Yes, an expert can get into the subtle strategies. But the wide-open playfield with drop targets to hit and simple ramps/orbits layout makes it very approachable for beginners.

This is incorrect. There is a lot of strategy as to what should be started and when. That's the true beauty of tspp is that the priority shot is always changing depending on everything you have done in the game up until that point. That's discussion for a different thread though

Not just stacking... say you're trapped up and want to cash out a great hand and city with a 3x shot, but the river is lit and either ramp will collect prematurely. So you shoot the mystery hole and not the right ramp, purposefully let the ball drain from the UPF (because if miss a shot up there you could accidentally exit via the hurryup hole), then take the right-inlane feed for 3x and a shot at the left ramp for huge points. IF you don't brick the shot

It's one thing to constantly have to keep the rules and the states various features running in your head, it's another when you have to start planning specific trips around the playfield to start/avoid particular features to maximize scoring...

Introduction for beginners, I tell them to shoot for ace in the hole.

For little kids who don't score many points, I make sure they hit the mystery skill shot on the third ball. Default is all-in multiball if they don't have many points on the board. Always fun to watch a little kid go crazy when balls start flying into the game...

I looked into getting 1 awhile back, still haven't played one, plenty of good info in the archives

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/looking-at-buying-wpt-hit-me

It's used/routed life is indicative by the clear upper PF and how fogged it is. As mentioned by someone else, you can replace them for $70. If you get it, instantly remove the left rear metal one way gate so you can do orbits from both sides. I'm not aware of any areas of wear being common on this machine, even the flipper buttons had factory protectors. Drop targets can be broken or on the verge, but just like with any games with drops.

I'd check for raised inserts, a common prob on all SR games due to his use of large inserts. Mine was HUO, so no issues, but the heat while on route coule raise them, but I can't say I've heard of this being an issue on WPTs.

Yeah, and that's part of why it "seems" to get more exciting. My buddy Aurium here who does the score cards made me a new rom with his music on it for the tracks with that new software. I just remembered this as I read your post... I still need to install this.