Howard Stern wrote:
As I indicated earlier, I ran TP+ on VPSM and for now use that. If you do
not have VPSM or Frugal then as I indicated earlier, 9-5 DDB will be the
closest. I do not consider it ethical to transmit a VPSM or Frugal
generated strategy. I know that "vpfree" has the basic strategies for many
games based on VPSM.
snip
I couldn't agree more, Howard, and so I hope you noticed that when Harry Porter said in an earlier post that he _assumed_ that I would be replying with a strategy prepared from either VPSM or FrugalVP, as soon as I read it I posted a reply that doing so would be a violation of the software license agreements. In other words, not only would it be _unethical_, it would probably also be illegal in the sense of violating intellectual property rights, and I am a staunch defender of a developers rights to the fruit of his/her labor. As an attorney and judge, I am acutely aware of such legalities. So, other than posting fragments of a program's data or display for purposes of discussion, it is definitely improper to use either of those programs to generate strategies for public dissemination, either for free or for a fee, without the permission of the program's author. In fact, FrugalVP is rather specific in prohibiting any such distribution of any strategy derived from the program, _EVEN_IF_TWEAKED_ by the user. And I seem to recall a recent announcement that there will soon be 'Frugal Strategy Cards'; I don't know if they are merely the printout from FrugalVP or if they have been tweaked. Obviously, if they are just printouts, then Jean Scott and Jim Wolf surely don't want other people competing against them with their own charts. And then when I see an announcement for a new book (or 'booklet') that was recently announced here (can't recall the fellows name) ... which is supposed to contain 7 strategy charts in a book which is priced at less than $7.00, I have to wonder to myself where those charts came from. ... Because I personally know how much work it takes to produce one, and there's no way I'd be selling them that cheap.
For those reasons, and because I am not entirely satisfied with the accuracy of either VPSM or FrugalVP, my strategy charts are based solely upon my _own_ personal calculations, and I have the files to backup my claim. And the fact is, the strategy produced by both of those programs isn't really much more than a 'list' of hands with little, if any, logical rearrangement to condense data and facilitate their use. This is not criticism of either of those programs; it is simply a fact that they both produce 'optimum' strategy, whereas I am striving for 'perfect' strategy, although I haven't decided for certain if that's the best way to go. I can see pros and cons for each. However, I have succeeded in combining _SIX_ (6) different paytables for JoB (so far it is for short-coin only) onto a _SINGLE_ pocket-sized card, using both sides, which measures about 3" x 5.5" and which is _100%_ accurate; i.e., it contemplates _every_ single penalty situation, no matter how small. Now, I'm going to have to eat one hell of a lot of crow if I'm wrong after posting this, but I'm that confident that I'm going to risk it. And despite that there are six different paytables on one card, I think it's still arranged in a simple and easy to use format. Very readable, too, even without my reading glasses.
Anyway, as soon as possible, I'm going to post a complete chart on a website as a sample, so folks can see what they'll be getting. I will announce when I finally get it posted, and everyone will be free to examine it to see if they can make be eat crow. 
Cheers.
Bill Velek
