blonde poker forum

"We will have a new client update over the next few days which will introduce many exciting and new features detailed below. Do keep in mind those features will only be shown after the clients have been updated, which should happen by the end of the week.

Session Options – We are introducing with this release an integrated platform that easily allows you to manage your state during a session. When you are playing you will notice a small additional icon on each of your tables that gives you easy access to the Session Options. From there you can Sit out on all tables, Sit out next Big Blind on all tables, Resume play on all tables that you are sitting out on, and end your session gracefully – Sit out next Big Blind on all tables and close them. For immediate feedback about the state of your session, the table icon will change from a green play sign when you are sitting in on all tables, to a yellow play/pause icon when you are sitting in on some and sitting out on other tables, to a red pause icon when you are sitting out on all tables.

Auto buy-in – Auto buy-in allows you to instantly buy in after left-clicking Seat Open without any intermediate steps. Simply set up your buy in preferences once, and the next time you sit at a table you will automatically buy in. Auto Buy-in can be set up through “Options” > “Auto-Buy-In (Ring Games)...” or by clicking on the link in the traditional buy-in dialog. Want to buy in as an exception for a different amount? Simply right-click on Seat Open and the traditional buy-in dialog will show up.

"Seat me" – When you select a table that has empty seats in the ring game lobby, you will notice a Seat Me button below the Go to Table button. Clicking Seat Me automatically opens the table for you and sits you in one of the empty seats on the table. If you have Auto Buy-in enabled, you will be automatically bought in for the desired amount; if not – the usual buy-in dialog will appear. In this way taking a seat can be a single-click process from the main lobby.

Sit out next big blind – We have changed the existing Sit out next blind check box on fast tables to Sit out next big blind, and have added the new check box to regular-speed tables as well.

Stack tables layout – We have added the ability to Stack all your tables in addition to the already existing Cascade and Tile. This feature can be accessed either from “View” in the main lobby, or through the Table Layout menu on the table. Shortcut key is Ctrl+8.

Average Stack column – This is a new column in the ring game lobby which shows the average stack of the sitting in players on the table.

No Chat in table tooltip – when you have lost your chat you now have the ability to display No Chat in your table tooltip by activating “Options” > “Show No Chat in tooltip”. This option is only available if you have lost your chat privileges – if you are able to chat at the tables this option would not show.

Notes reliability – We have changed the way notes are saved so that you do not lose your notes when the client is closed in a non-conventional way.

Remove from all waiting lists button – The waiting list dialog (“Requests” > “Waiting on Tables...”) now has a “Remove me from All Waiting Lists” button.

Link to last hand when dealing stops – You will now be able to access the last hand when dealing stops. The Previous link will remain active on the table instead of disappearing. Do note that usually the last hand is the cancelled hand, and the red Replay button will not open a hand that has been cancelled. To look at the last complete hand, click on the Previous [Hand ID Number] link and use the Instant Hand History.

Display Bet Amounts defaults to on – This option is now enabled by default on new installs and activated for players who have not explicitly disabled it.

Advanced action Check moved – To avoid mis-clicks when selecting the Check advanced action we have re-positioned Check slightly higher so that it does not overlap with the Call [Amount] check box which appears when someone bets before you.

Tournament Tickets dialog improvements – The window accessed through “Requests” > “Tournament Tickets” has been improved. Among other things, it will now list all tournaments that accept a specific ticket typed.

Once again, those updates will only be in effect after the client programs are updated, which should happen by the end of the week. Thanks a lot for the great feedback in this thread and we hope that you will enjoy the new features and changes!"

TableNinja is temporarily a bit screwed up because of the new update which came into effect today.

Using Classic theme seems to be the way forward to reduce problems...

PokerStars will be releasing a new client update over the next few days. This release will have a number of new features and changes that might interest you. These features will be visible once your client has been updated, which should happen by the start of next week.

So, what’s in this release?

Changes to Normal speed ring game tables
We have reduced the time it takes for the card dealing animation, pushing the pot to the winner, and the pause between hands. These timings will now be exactly the same as on fast tables. The behavior for posting blinds/antes on Normal speed tables will also be made the same as on fast tables.
The remaining differences between normal speed and fast tables will stay the same.

Filter Improvements
We will be making several changes to the filters:
 A “Cap” checkbox has been added to the “Buy-In” section of Ring Game Filters; Cap checkboxes no longer appear in the “Stakes” section.
A “Limit” group has been added to the Hold’em Ring Game Filter.
A “Speed” section has been added to all Tournament Filters, including the Sit & Go Filter. The “Turbo” checkbox has been moved there as a result.
Several checkboxes have been added to the “Format / Variant” section: “Shooutout”, “Satellite” and “Sit & Go” checkboxes have been added to the Tournament/Event Filter. “Double or Nothing”, “Satellite”, “Steps” and “Shootout” checkboxes have been added to the Sit & Go filter.

Several other minor changes have been made.

Change of Default Table Theme
The people have spoken, and PokerStars’ default table theme has been switched from ‘Classic’ to ‘Black’. Players who currently use the Classic theme will be asked if they wish to switch themes. The Classic Theme will still be available under ‘View’ > ‘Table Themes...’.

Triple Stud Improvements
We’ve made Triple Stud more visible by mirroring the lobby tab in Mixed Games under the Stud heading. The same games appear in both lobbies. Also, if you have the rights, it’s now possible to create Triple Stud tournaments through the Private Tournaments request.

No more Average Stack column for Fixed Limit ring games
We have removed the Average Stack column for game tabs that only offer fixed limit ring games.

Multi-Currency Options Available in Cashier
You will now be able to access the Multi-Currency Options directly from a link in the Cashier rather than going through the Options menu.

Fixed Highlight Bet Amount bug
In the past, when “Highlight bet amount” was enabled in the Advanced Multi-Table Options menu, and a table re-gained focus, any previously manually-entered amount got deleted. This issue has been resolved.

Fixed Cashier bug
The Cashier will no longer open in random locations, the last used position is remembered instead.

And many other changes...

Once again, these changes will only be in effect after the client programs are updated, which should happen by the start of next week. Thanks to everyone who has suggested changes or features, your voice is being heard!

http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/2010/more-updates-to-pokerstars-software-074445.html

Anyone notice some tables not popping up at the start?

Was regged in some $90 hypers and they didnt pop up, was down to dust when I realised

LOL I actually qualified for sunday mill in one I was sat out in

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii @ no more having to get Tournament Summaries e-mailed through!!! Also auto-close SNG is a great addition!


Over the next few days we will be releasing a new client update that will introduce features we hope will enhance your PokerStars experience.

Find Seat

Building on top of “Seat Me”, we are introducing “Find Seat”. When you select a full ring game table or a table at which you are already seated, with the click of a button (called “Find Seat”) you will be able to take a seat at another table of the exact same type as the currently selected one. The “Find Seat” functionality has also been added to the “Session Options” menu, hence with two mouse clicks, or by pressing Ctrl+S, you can be seated at another identical table without even having to open the main lobby.

This feature will be slowly rolled out – only a few players will see it initially but over the course of a week it should be visible to everyone, provided everything goes smoothly. We cannot open this feature to individuals on request, so please don’t ask!

Sit & Go’s have a related change – the Session Options menu will have a new entry – “Register to Similar Tournament (Ctrl+S)” – this has the same effect as “Register to Any” from the lobby.

Bet Slider Options and Bet Sizing Buttons

Several changes and new options to the bet slider:

• The mouse wheel can now be used to move the bet slider without having to select the table first. Simply hover the mouse pointer over the bet slider and any scrolls will affect the bet slider beneath the pointer, regardless of which PokerStars table currently has focus.
• There are several options, located in “Options” > “Bet Slider Options...” that adjust the bet slider behaviour – option to increment in small blinds, to invert the mouse wheel behaviour, and to jump the slider to the clicked position instead of incrementing by a Small or a Big Blind.
• Last, and probably best, we have given you the ability to customize your own bet sizing shortcut buttons. Those are small buttons above the bet slider which have pre-set bet amounts, e.g. Bet Pot button. Those buttons are off by default since we do not believe that every player would like to have this feature, but you can enable them by going to “Options” > “Bet Slider Options”. You can configure different buttons for pre- and for post-flop action. Pre-flop you can specify number of Big Blinds, and post-flop you can specify a % of the pot, among other options. You can have anything that will fit your playing style – it’s up to you.

Visual Representation of Time to Act  

We have added a visual representation of the remaining time to act. At the moment of the first “time warning”, a running-down bar will be displayed next to the Time Bank button. Additionally, the Time Bank button will be visually different depending on whether the time bank will activate or not. If the time bank will activate, the button will be depressed. When you have no time bank left, “Time 0” will be displayed. This new feature can be turned off from "Options" > "Table Display Options" > "Show 'Time Left to Act' Indicator"

Detached Chat (previously Detached Controls)

Moving this out of Beta, we have improved the design and also added several additional features. There is an option now to automatically detach the window for newly opened tables. We have also implemented Merged mode (default) when you are playing at more than one table. In Merged mode there is only one detached chat window shared among all the tables currently open. We strongly recommend to try this out while multi-tabling.

Tournament Summaries Saved to Hard Drive

You can now enable saving of tournament summaries to your hard drive. To do so, go to “Options” > “Tournament Summary Options...”

Sit & Go Auto-Close Option

Based on popular demand we have added an option that will close a Sit & Go tourney without any notification when it ends. Once the tourney ends the table will silently close in the background. The option is “Options” > “Advanced Multi-Table Options...” > “Auto-close SNG without notification” and is off by default.

Filter Improvements

• The Sit & Go filter now allows you to filter by players currently registered and by number of total entrants in a Sit & Go.
• The keywords “AND” and “OR” act as Boolean operators to allow you to construct more complex keyword searches in the text box.
• A button which will reset to default settings has been added.

“Apply Layout to Active Monitor”

This new option allows players who use multiple monitors to tile/cascade/stack the tables only on the currently active monitor. Once enabled from the “View” lobby menu, the layouts will only be applied to the tables on the active monitor. This can be very useful to logically split your tables across multiple monitors.

Options Menu Re-grouping  

The Options menu in the lobby has been slightly rearranged. We feel the new way is more structured and easier to navigate – all the changes should be intuitive and all previous options should be easy to find.

Miscellaneous Changes:

• Tournament registration dialog will have the tournament name, to minimize the chance of mis-registering for tourneys.

We hope you will enjoy the changes. Keep your comments and ideas coming – rest assured we read and consider every single post in this thread or email with suggestions for improvements. Thank you for playing on PokerStars!

source: 2+2 (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=22752819&postcount=8481)

You could just choose not to get the emails.Hope the update doesn't cause any TN problems.

Sigh, you misunderstand. You think I don't have congratulations emails turned off lol. Congratulations you have come 18th in a $12 18-man tournament. You have won $fuck all.

Before, you would have to get tournament summaries e-mailed to you, and only the last 200. You had to copy and paste them into notepad and then import them. This would give you accurate payout information in HEM. Obv you never bothered to do this.

Now you can just get HEM to import them like it does hand histories. Get it sorted Ray :P.

(TN have already fixed update bugs afaik)

Is there any benefit to doing it ? Also do you know what the benefits of being a Stars online pro are ?

So I don't have to change any settings to get HEM to do this, should just happen automatically?

Mon - yes, your finish distribution stats will be accurate, also the number of entrants will be accurate. Dunno about PS pro, I doubt Dale will be able to tell you tbh I reckon it's kept secret. I would speculate it might be similar to red pro deal, perhaps not quite as good as that though, who knows.

Alex - on PokerStars you have to set it to save your tournament histories, and then add this folder to your auto-import-folders in HEM

got it tytyty

Options - Bet slider options - Adjust bet size with small blind.

Why do I have to re-set this every time I open the software?

Yeah, this is a bug, they said they'd fix it soon...

Ah, thanks.

Happy about the bolding coming in for SNGs, volume slider might be handy as well as I have all sounds muted whereas I probs should have a time-out noise of some description.

-----------

We are having another planned client update coming up over the next few days and early next week. As usual, following is the list of new features and changes, which we hope you will enjoy:

Font Changes for Games

We have changed the fonts for games that you are part of to be more distinguishable and more friendly to people with various types of color blindness. Changes:

• Ring games you are waitlisted for will be blue, bold and italics.
  
• Ring games you are seated at will be red, bold and italics.
  
• Tournaments you are part of will show the "State" column in red, bold and italics.
  

We hope this will address the reports about difficulty to distinguish such games.

Find Seat

“Find Seat” has been opened as a feature to all real money players after making some back-end adjustments. We strongly suggest you try the feature, since it can make joining 24 tables or swapping tables a no-brainer!

To recap, when you select a full table in the lobby you will see a “Find Seat” button where “Seat Me” usually is. Click the button and the system will look for an empty seat at the exact same type of table.

Alternatively, once you are seated at a table, press Ctrl+S or go to “Session Options” menu and you will be seated at another table of the exact same type as the one you are already playing. If you have “Auto-Buy-In (Ring Games)” enabled you won’t even have to click any additional buttons! Click Ctrl+S again and you will be seated at a third table of the same type. You get the idea.

Sit & Go’s already had this feature enabled – Ctrl+S from a S&G tourney or accessing the “Session Options” menu allow you to join another S&G of the exact same type.

Volume Sliders

We have added a master volume slider for all PokerStars sounds and also individual volume sliders for each sound. You can find them under “Options” > “Sound Settings...” This can allow you to have certain sounds that you believe are more important louder than others.

Bracket for Heads Up Tournaments

We have developed the ability to display a bracket for Heads Up tournaments from the Tourney Lobby which will show the pairings of opponents and how the tournament has progressed. This is very similar to playoff brackets that exist in many other sports. The feature is in Beta stage and will be slowly added to selected Heads Up tournaments. For now the bracket will only be available after the tournament is down to 64 players.

Register to Any

There was an issue where “Register To Any” would open the S&G tournament lobby even if you had “Options” > “Advanced Multi-table options” > “Auto-open Sit & Go tournament lobby” unchecked. This is now fixed so Register To Any won’t open the Tournament Lobby with the Auto-open option disabled, reducing the number of clicks needed to join S&Gs through Register to Any or Ctrl+S from the table. “Requests” > “Registered in Tournaments” (or Ctrl+R) can be used to show you the tournaments you are registered for.

Saving Tournament Summaries

The reliability of saved summaries has been improved, so please do let us know if you miss any summaries. Regarding the difference between saved and requested summaries – this will be addressed in a future update.

Other updates

• Font for the text within dialogs was changed to a font that is easier to read in the Windows client.
• Detached Chat minor updates – the window now can be detached on some themes directly from the table by using a button. Other themes will be updated with the January release.
• Bet sizing buttons have changed behavior for draw games – the first draw will show the pre-flop shortcuts, while subsequent draws will show the post-flop buttons.
• When Seat Me fails to find a seat for you at the selected table (if it had filled), there will now be a “Find Seat” button in the pop-up alert. Clicking Find Seat will take you to another table identical to the one where Seat Me couldn’t seat you.
• We have a new mixed game combining two of the most popular game types – No Limit Hold’em/Pot Limit Omaha. No games are available yet, but they will slowly start appearing over the course of December.

That’s it for this update. From the development team I would like to wish you all a successful end of 2010!


source: PokerStars Blog (http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/2010/pokerstars-set-to-release-new-software-f-073178.html)

u gonna be the next DaleRoxxu James?

Yes please!

You  must be Isuldur1

It’s that time of the month again – updates to the PokerStars software will be released over the next week and here are the highlights:

Lobby Column Customization
You will be able to choose what lobby columns are displayed in the list of games and be able to resize the columns. The new ‘Column Settings’ dialog is accessible via a small icon to the right of the last column. So if you have never cared about the “H/hr” column or the “ID” tournament column, now you can remove them and make your lobby simpler. Another part of this feature is the ability to lock the sort of the columns – this way you would not be able to mis-click on a header and have your advanced sort accidentally change.

(http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/8290/columnsettings.jpg)

Chat Bubbles
We want to make it more obvious when players are talking, and who is talking. You’ll see how these work the next time you play after updating. If you don’t like this feature, you will be able to turn it off at the table by mousing over a Chat Bubble and using the drop-down menu that will show in the right of the bubble. Alternatively, you can also disable Chat Bubbles in 'Options' > 'Table Display Options'.

(http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/9430/chatbubbles.jpg)

Easier Note Taking for Detached Chat  
If you are using Detached Chat and are in “Merge All Detached Chat Windows” mode (we strongly advise you try it, especially if you stack your tables), tables stealing focus will not interrupt your chat and note taking. If you are taking a note on one table and another requires action, the table will come to the front but the detached chat window will still retain the information about the previous table so you can finish your chat or note.

Show List of Registered Players in Lobby
You will now be able to see the list of players that have already registered for Heads-up and Single Table Tournaments directly from the main lobby.

Add Recipient’s Avatar when Confirming a Transfer
After the City to Country change, players expressed concerns that country is not enough in order to be sure that you are transferring to the right person. We have now added the recipient’s avatar in the confirmation screen as well. There were many ideas suggested, but the ultimate goal is not to show more information than is available on the tables and also not to complicate the transfer process. We are monitoring the issue and will consider further changes as needed.

Recurring Home Games Tournaments
If you run a game every Tuesday night (or whenever, the feature isn’t limited to Tuesdays) at 9:00, this feature will make it much easier to run your club.  Options will be available to run daily, weekly and monthly tournaments and are clearly accessible from the dialog to create a tournament.

Hide Hole Cards (Ctrl+H)
If you want to only peek at your cards and see them face down otherwise, now you can. This feature is mostly aimed at players in Home Games playing in the same room as their opponents, but you can use it outside of Home Games as well. If this feature is enabled, simply move your mouse cursor over your hand to see your cards.

Other
•   We have been tracking down the issues related to not being able to play your hands after disconnecting and another set of fixes have been implemented. Please do let us know if the problems persist after the client update.
•   Minor change to the custom bet-sizing buttons available at “Options” > “Bet Slider Options”. If a button does not apply, it will just be greyed out as opposed to not show; if the button bets more than your stack, then the bet size would be set to put you all in. If you are not using bet slider buttons, we recommend you give them a try.
•   Other small improvements throughout the client.

That’s it for this client update. Just to tease you, we’ve got a couple of exciting projects that are almost ready for release. Both are aimed at making multi-tabling a better experience and both (in my biased opinion) are going to be pretty sweet. We may be looking for beta testers later this month, so stay tuned.

Note: As usual, the above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to ensure you get the update delivered.

(http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/room/features/software-news/#sfn8)

lol. Tableninja usually fix these kinda things within a day.

Let's just hope they sort out the huge problems with SNGs ASAP!

---

Over the next few days we will release another update that will bring improvements to the PokerStars software. Here are the highlights of player-facing features:

Sit & Go Lobby Revamp

As posted in another thread (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=26452816&postcount=1") by Steve, PokerStars has made changes to the Sit & Go lobby to make it easier to navigate and find the games you want. We have added two new columns -- "Speed" and "Type" and structured everything a lot more.


Hyper Turbo Cash Sit & Go's

By popular demand, we have added hyper turbos for cash as a trial at one limit. Please see Steve's (http://"http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=26452816&postcount=1") post for more information.

Sit Out Next Big blind and Close Table

We have added the functionality to be able to sit out next big blind and close an individual table. “Options” > “Advanced Multi-Table Options” > “’Sit out next big blind’ checkbox: Close table on big blind” enables this feature.

Activating this checkbox changes the behavior when manually selecting “Sit out next big blind” checkbox to also close the table once sitting out. Note that Session Options can still be used to sit out next big blind on all tables without closing tables. We are interested to hear if this implementation meets the needs of the players.

Apply Active Layout

You will now be able to reapply a currently saved layout without having to switch it off and on again. The shortcut for this will be CTRL+3, or you can use “Apply Active Layout” from the “View” menu, also accessible directly from every table.

Rearrangement of Title bar for Tournament Tables

The title bar of tournament table windows will now have the most important information (Tournament name and blind information) appearing at the front.

Gx.ini Encryption

As promised, the encryption for gx.ini will revert to pre-April state so that custom mods will work again after this update.

Option not to Steal Focus when Typing in Chat or taking a Note

Following up on the update for detached chat last build, we have added an option in “Options” > “Advanced Multi-Table Options” called “Don’t steal focus from chat and notes”. When this checkbox is enabled and a new table pops to the front, the focus will remain on the table where you were typing. Note that enabling this option might affect third party tools such as hotkeys, since the table which has keyboard focus is not the table that needs action, but the table where you are taking a note.

Other changes:

• The Filter buttons have changed slightly – now the “light” is independent of the menu button so you can turn the filters on or off without having to close the settings dialog as well.
• Various minor improvements and fixes throughout the client, including a set of improvements that deal with disconnections.

Note: The above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to ensure you get the update delivered.

Hide Hole Cards (Ctrl+H)
If you want to only peek at your cards and see them face down otherwise, now you can. This feature is mostly aimed at players in Home Games playing in the same room as their opponents, but you can use it outside of Home Games as well. If this feature is enabled, simply move your mouse cursor over your hand to see your cards.

would love to see this switch itself on whilst you are playing 32 tables

After listening to player feedback, we have enacted changes in the PokerStars software to speed up dealing in certain situations.  A few other related changes have been made as well, though in most cases the time a player has to act on their hand has not been affected.

Read below for more details.  


Non-Satellite Sit & Go Tournaments

Hyper Turbo Sit & Go Tournaments are most affected by the changes.  Players in these tournaments will have 12 seconds to act on their hand instead of 16.  Several other dealing speed improvements including time taken between hands and speed of dealing cards once players are all-in have also been made.

All other Sit & Go tournaments have had dealing speed reduced, but not quite as much. Cards dealt after all action is complete due to players being all-in are now dealt twice as fast. The time between all hands being shown or mucked and the next hand being dealt has also been reduced by one second per hand.

Players in regular speed Sit & Go’s will now have 16 seconds to act on their hand, reduced from 18 seconds.

The time taken to start dealing after all players have registered and been seated has been reduced for many popular Sit & Go tournaments.  Many Heads-up and Hyper speed  tournaments now start after only a 10 second delay. Other popular tournaments start after 20 seconds.


Scheduled Tournaments, Satellites, and Step Tournaments

Dealing speed has been increased in these tournaments similar to the changes made in Sit & Go’s. Cards dealt after all action is complete due to players being all-in are now dealt twice as fast. The time between all hands being shown or mucked and the next hand being dealt has also been reduced by one second per hand.

Players in some tournaments will experience slightly different amounts of time to act on their hand. This is as a result of standardizing this setting across all tournaments.

Hyper-turbo satellites have been sped up drastically. These satellites will run at the same speed as hyper-turbo cash S&Gs.

These changes will not take place for all future tournaments, but will instead filter their way into the tournament schedule over the next few weeks.


Ring Games

As with all tournaments, cards dealt after all action is complete due to players being all-in are now dealt twice as fast. The time between all hands being shown or mucked and the next hand being dealt has also been reduced by one second per hand.

The delay prior to dealing the first hand of a session at a table has been reduced from 15 seconds to 10 seconds.

The changes to ring games will not have a significant impact on the number of hands played per hour at this point in time. PokerStars is considering further changes that may include changes to the amount of time players have to act on their hand.  

Comments about playing experience at ring game tables are appreciated. In particular, if there is anything about the ring game experience other than players’ time to act that seems too slow or too fast we’d love to know.


Request for Comments

While PokerStars never stops considering player feedback, in this case we are particularly interested in response to these changes. Additional tweaks are possible if desired by players as a whole. Thanks in advance for any constructive suggestions.

Thanks to all players who have already provided input that helped us make this round of changes. Special thanks to all of those who helped test these settings on PokerStars.test and provided helpful input.

Love the new dealing speed.

Will be nice to not have the software slowroll me any more :p

Yeah you run terrible

We will be releasing a client update over the next few days (some players might have already received an update). This update continues to focus significantly on Italian ring games which were launched very recently. Some exciting things coming up with this update and over the month of August for all players:

New Table Themes
We are collecting final feedback about a new family of themes that will deliver a lot of requested table features from this thread – North-South seating, full face cards, bigger opponent cards, more readable fonts at table min-size and others. To this end, we will initially be releasing the themes to a small group of players. If you would like to be part of this pre-launch group send me a PM and I will send you instructions once everything is ready for player testing. We are working on this theme with BarNuthin and he already posted a sneak peek of one of the themes!

Home Games Social Features
Home Games clubs will be more social in the future. We are adding a wall feature to allow players to post and reply to messages in the club lobby. We are also adding an announcement / whiteboard feature for club admins so they can share important messages with the members.

Deal Making Improvements
Over the last month we have added to all guaranteed MTTs a feature that allows players to pause a tournament manually when on the final table. If you want to pause a tournament for deal discussions, simply go to “Info” tab on the table and select “Discuss a deal”. If all players on the final table select this, then the tournament will auto-pause and a Support representative will be called to the table to facilitate the deal. We will be expanding this option to more MTTs over August.

As always we have made a number of minor fixes / improvements to the client and server. These include adding a timestamp for when a note was last modified.

Note: The above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.

So I'm playing my tourney tonight and checking out some footie stuff in another window having folded.

The stars thingy in the taskbar flashes, I click it, get taken to the table and suddenly and totally unintentionally I've min-raised the next hand from the SB for half my chips with q8o.

Grrrrr that is all.

We will be releasing a client update over the next few days. This update contains some very exciting features!

Easy Seat (Beta)
Easy Seat transforms the experience of starting your multi-tabling session. Once you set up your Easy Seat preferences you will be able to launch your sessions with just a single click from the main lobby! Taking seats has never been this easy.

Once started, Easy Seat will automatically look for free seats at tables that match your criteria. If there aren’t enough free seats Easy Seat will add you to suitable waiting lists. For example, if you specify that you want to play 18 tables of $1/$2 No Limit Hold’em at fast tables, the Easy Seat system will seat you at 18 tables as fast as possible. Here is a screenshot of the lobby control which is located in the bottom right of the list of ring games.


Easy Seat can also help maintain your desired number of tables. If you enable “Session Mode”, when tables close Easy Seat will open new ones to keep you at your desired number.

Easy Seat will initially be in a Beta stage and not shown by default in the main ring game lobby. To test out Easy Seat, please go to ‘Options’ > ‘Lobby Display Options’ and select ‘Show Easy Seat (Beta)’. For best results you should enable Auto-Buyin to make the process as seamless as possible.

If you have any feedback about this new feature, please email us at beta@pokerstars.com.

Timed Tournaments
Timed tournaments are perfect when you want to play a tournament but only have a limited amount of time. Timed tournaments end after a pre-defined period. Once the time limit is reached, surviving players are paid out based wholly or partially on chip counts. Currently we are testing various configuration options at low stakes but we will be rolling out more timed tournaments after WCOOP.

New “PokerStars Nova” Table Themes
The new table themes that some players have already tested will be released to all players with this update. These themes include a new table design, and features that many players asked for, such as North/South seating, bigger fonts, more distinguishable cards of opponents etc. To use one of the new themes simply go to ‘View’ > ‘Table Themes’ and pick one of the Nova themes. These new themes are still in Beta stage, so please email feedback to beta@pokerstars.com. Below is a screenshot with slight modifications from what the testing players experienced:



4-Max Final Table
4-Max tournaments will now go to the final table at 5 players. This means that you will be playing 5-handed in a ‘4-Max’ tournament but this avoids the uneven situation of one table having to play heads-up while the other is 3-handed.

Show Full Hole Cards
If you enable this option (under 'Options' > 'Table Display Options') you will see the whole of both hole cards. Many players suggest that this makes it easier to read your hand.

Show Large Opponent Cards
If you enable this option (under 'Options' > 'Table Display Options') the size of your opponents’ hole cards is increased. Many players suggest that this makes it easier to quickly see who is left in a hand.

Fold and Show/Show One Card
Players will now be given the ability to Fold and Show (rather than just fold) when last to act. Players will also be able to only show some of their cards rather than having to choose between showing all or none. You choose which card(s) you want to show by clicking on them.

Fold and Show does not work in draw games. As before, general preferences for whether to ever show are controlled in the ‘Showing / Mucking Hands’ section of the Options menu.

Ring Game Lobby Improvements
We have made improvements to the ring game lobby. There will be a new ‘Type’ column that will show game speed and buy-in structure, and an icon for table size. The table column will now only have the table name.

Animation Improvements
We have made improvements to some of the table animations in the client so they are smoother. This is part of a large project that will gradually improve animations in the client even more.

As always we have also made a number of other minor fixes / improvements to the client and server. These include changing tournament filters to reflect total buyin including knockouts and rake (rather than just buyin as previously).

A big thanks to all players from the community who were involved in the testing of the new table themes or Easy Seat over the last month. Your feedback has been very valuable!

Note: The above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.

Fold and show 1. zomg


STARS  Ahrt

showing one card ftmfw

(http://i31.twenga.com/toys-games/card-tricks/two-card-monte-magic-tp_3455142221020215271b.png)

We will be releasing a client update over the next few days. Here is the list of the most important features added:

Hotkeys (Beta)

We will be releasing a Beta version of hotkeys in this build (Windows clients only). This feature has been tested by a small group of players on TestPokerStars over the past month and we are opening the feature to a wider audience for testing and more feedback.

In a nutshell, the feature allows you to configure keyboard/mouse shortcuts for various game actions. You can configure your PokerStars hotkeys by going to "Options" > "Hotkey Settings".

Hotkey actions include: Fold, Check, Bet / Raise, Set Bet amount to X% / BB / All in (with the option whether to bet or just set the bet amount), Activate next / previous table and some others.

You can also control which table would receive the hotkey -- the one that is active or the one that is under the mouse pointer. You can even specify a custom color for a table border that highlights the table to receive the hotkey!

We are very much interested in feedback about this new feature, so please email us yours at beta@pokerstars.com.

Easy Seat (Beta)

We have made a number of minor improvements to Easy Seat based on the results of the wider testing. The two most noticeable bugs we fixed were Easy Seat attempting to seat players despite them being at table cap and  adding players to over-long waitlists.

Easy Seat will remain in Beta for this month to be sure that we have worked all the issues out.  If you would like to test out Easy Seat, please go to "Options" > "Lobby Display Options" and select "Show Easy Seat (Beta)". For best results you should enable Auto-Buyin to make the process as seamless as possible.

If you have any feedback about this new feature, please email us at beta@pokerstars.com. You can find more information about Easy Seat here (http://"http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/room/features/software-news/#sfni9").

Time Tournaments

We are making some final adjustments to the messaging associated with Time Tournaments and are planning to deploy a wider offering this month. Stay tuned for more updates!

Improved Table Animation (Beta)

We continue to work on improvements to the table animation to make the playing experience as nice as possible for our players. This build we are tweaking the “Full (Beta)” animation settings. We have made the animation smoother and have slowed it down a bit. Players on the default "Simplified" animation setting will not experience any changes.

If you want to try out the new animation simply go to “Options” > “Table Display Options” > “Animation” and select “Full (Beta)”. Any feedback on the Beta animation can be sent to beta@pokerstars.com.


As always, we have also made a number of other minor fixes / improvements to the client and server. These include highlighting the Notes tab after assigning a label, fixing a bug with the always apply labels option when detached chat is active, and a bug in the Hand Replayer where the flop was disappearing for Nova Theme Users.

Note: The above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.

Hi,

Over the last few hours, PokerStars has deployed new functionality to improve the security of your PokerStars account if you have a PokerStars PIN or RSA Security Token active on your account for many players.  

In many countries you can now register a mobile telephone to receive SMS/text messages as follows:

1) Log into PokerStars client

2) Click on 'Account' menu

3) Click on Enter SMS Validation code

4) Provide your telephone numbers as described in the dialog box

5) Input the validation code that is sent to your mobile telephone

After you have validated a mobile telephone to receive SMS/text messages, if you request a reset of your PokerStars PIN, it will be delivered to you via text messaging.  We believe that this will be a valuable upgrade to account security of the PokerStars PIN as a hacker with access to your email account will not be able to reset the PokerStars PIN by having it sent to you via email.

In addition, if you have a validated mobile phone, PokerStars will also send One Time Passwords for the RSA Security Token to you via text messaging.  This will make the paper sheet with the One Time Passwords redundant.

We've only launched this over the last few hours, and recognise that there are a few user interface issues that need adjustment.  As a result, we would welcome any feedback that you have - feel free to send me a PM, post here, or email support@pokerstars.com.

Sincerely,

Michael J
PokerStars Game Security Team

We will have a client release over the next few days that will introduce several new client features and some fixes. A lot of effort this past month went in preparing a Danish PokerStars client and we are very pleased that PokerStars is now licensed in Denmark. PokerStars.DK is live and it has international liquidity, so Danish players will still be playing with the rest of the Isle of Man license players.

Here are the most interesting features released with this update:

Flighted Tournaments (Beta)

We have developed the ability to run Flighted Tournaments. These tournaments allow players to play the first levels of a large tournament at different times and then join together for the later stages. This is like certain larger live events where there is Day 1A and 1B both sending survivors to Day 2. Initially we will be rolling these out quite slowly to ensure everything works as expected and will expand the offering further during the year. Stay tuned for more news about promotions related to Flighted Tournaments!

Alternative Way to Mark Player to Act without Blinking

We will be releasing an alternate way of marking the active player – it will use a highlight effect rather than blinking. You can enable this setting via “Options” > “Table Display Options” > “Highlight Active Player (Beta)”. Any feedback about the feature will be greatly appreciated!


Improving Fonts on Tables

We have been working on improving the readability of the fonts on tables at smaller sizes. This feature is not going to be released with this build, but we will be looking to ask players to test in January the new fonts before we roll out the changes to all players, ideally in early February. Here is a screenshot from our current test environment for a table at min-size:


Other Changes

• The logic when assigning a label to a note has been reverted to not switch to the Notes tab. We have added an option in “Options” > “Player Notes” to switch to the Notes tab for those who prefer current behaviour.
• The “No Limit/Pot Limit” sub-tab under the “Hold’em” client lobby tab will be split into separate “No Limit” and “Pot Limit” tabs. This will make it easier to join the games you actually want and not the wrong kind by mistake.
• We have made the following improvements to chat bubbles based on player feedback:

• Bubbles will be automatically sized based on text length.
• You can disable your own chat bubbles from the menu that drops from your chat bubble.
• Left-clicking a chat bubble instantly hides that particular chat bubble instance.

• The word “Game” will be changed to the word “Hand” in hand histories.

As always, we have made further minor fixes/improvements to the client and server. These include fixing a bug in the Hand Replayer where the flop was disappearing for Nova Theme Users.

Note: The above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.

xperu is a brit now living in peru i believe.

I can't find any threads on 2p2 or anywhere about this however..

I struggled to get Stars hotkeys to work, it tended to not respond to a new table popping up.

To overcome this you disable the "Don't steal focus from chat and notes" under the Advanced-MultiTable Options

just seen someone flash a card when they were last to fold i have never been offered this option not that i would use it often but do i need to click on something to enable this?

We will have a client release over the next few days. A lot of our recent effort has gone in to work on the clients for our upcoming new licenses. However, there are still several features we think will be interesting to the players here.

Final Table Themes
We have created final table versions for all of our themes. We wanted to give the feel of this being a final table without over-powering or completely changing the look of your chosen theme. The final table background adds spotlight effects to the background and to the table itself.

In addition to giving you the feeling of achieving something special, these will let you know which tables require that little bit of extra attention.

(http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/2019/finaltablethemes.jpg)

We will be slowly rolling out final table themes over the upcoming weeks. Eventually, all tournaments will have them and all larger Sit & Go’s. If you don’t like the final table themes, they can be turned off under ‘Options’ > ‘Table Display Options’ > ‘Show Final Table Background’.

Dynamically Calculated Pay Tables
The prizes for each position in a scheduled tournament will now be dynamically updated as players register rather than waiting for registration to close. This means players will have a much better idea what the prizes for a tournament will be before they register.

Fast Moving Ring Games Product
Work continues on our fast moving ring games product. Dates and exact details of the public beta are still to be confirmed but it should be very soon. We have conducted successful private play tests, but there are still a few rough edges that need to be smoothed out before the product is ready for launch.

Minor Fixes & Improvements
As always, we have made further minor fixes/improvements to the client and server. This includes work on the bug with users’ coloured rings disappearing, issues with MAC hotkeys and some final tweaks to Flighted Tournaments.

Note: The above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.

I'm glad PokerStars agree with me that Full Tilt's software was better, even if nobody else does, going by the rate they are copying Full Tilt's old features.

We will be releasing a client update over the next few days with some very exciting features.

ZOOM Poker

Most importantly, we will release ZOOM poker in beta for Real Money on .COM and other shared liquidity clients (.EU, .DK, .BE, etc.). ZOOM is our fast-paced ring game product that allows you to play many more hands per hour by constantly assigning players to new tables with new opponents as soon as they fold.

ZOOM is a very customizable product – players can pick among three different animation styles, can “Sit Out Next Big Blind”, and can even decide to fold a hand but still remain on the table and observe it by clicking Ctrl+Fold Button.

Please watch for the client news announcement once ZOOM is deployed!

MTT Lobby Changes (Beta)

We will also release an alternative layout for the main “Tourney” lobby in the client. The aim is to re-group the information and make it more user-friendly to navigate through the tournament listings. This alternative layout is off by default for now, but you can try it out by going to “Options” > “Lobby Display Options” > “Enable Alternative Tournament List Layout (Beta)”.


We will love to hear feedback from players who use the new tourney lobby. We are planning to make this the default once it is properly tested by players. You can post feedback here or email beta@pokerstars.com.

Better Fonts on Smaller Tables (Beta)

This build we are also releasing as Beta the option to use alternative, better fonts for tables at smaller sizes. To try the alternative fonts please enable them from “Options” > “Table Display Options” > “Larger Fonts on Small Tables (Beta)”.


Again, please do post your feedback here or email beta@pokerstars.com.

Pre-action Check Boxes Redesign

This is a small improvement to the design of the pre-action check boxes to make them stand out more. We will release for all themes except Nova, Black, Classic, and Slicks at the Beta stage. After enough testing we will roll out similar change to all other themes.


Omaha Tab Redesign
The main Omaha games tab will get slight redesign to allow players to find the games they want more easily. Play Money games will be split to their own tab, and there will be Real Money sub-tabs for stake levels (All, High, Medium, Low, Micro).

Animation

We will swap everyone who has never changed their animation settings to the new “Full” animation. It has been in Beta for several months and we believe it will provide a better experience for players using animation.

If for some reason you don’t like the new animation we have kept the option to go back to the previous mode by selecting “Simplified” from the main lobby, via “Options” > “Table Display Options” > “Animation”.


Events Tab Changes

We have also re-organized the Events tab slightly to allow some regional tours to be presented better to players.

As usual, there are many other small changes and bug fixes.

Note: The above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to ensure you get the update delivered.

Where can I uninstall doom switch?

We will release a client update over the next few days. Besides some further ZOOM improvements released with this update, we are also introducing some exciting new features. More details below.

Easier and Richer Table Customization (Beta)

We are adding the ability to choose a different background and to change the felt color for each theme.  After the update, you can right-click on the respective area of the table and you will see a drop-down menu with a selection of background or felt choices. For example, you can play with Nova theme with a light-colored background, or play with Black theme and a red felt on a red carpet background.


Initially, all Nova, Black, Classic, and Slick themes will support this functionality, but we will expand it to all themes around mid-May. We also plan to add more functionality then, to make it even easier to get the table look and feel which are perfect for you.

We would love to hear your feedback about this feature once you have had a chance to try it out, especially about what backgrounds and what felt colors you would like to have offered.

Note: The drop-down menus to change felt or background will not show if you have disabled the option in the lobby 'View' > 'Right-click Table to Show Table Themes'. In this case, you can check that option, change your felt/background and disable it again if you want to keep it disabled.

Group Similar Ring Game Tables (Beta for Play Money)

We are working on making it easier to find and join games in the lobby. To this end, we will release a feature that groups all ring game tables of the same type together.


Clicking “Seat Me” will quickly place you at a table with an available seat from this group of tables, or by clicking the “+” icon you can expand each group to see the individual tables.

Initially, this feature will be deployed only for Hold’em and Omaha Play Money games, but the plan is to roll it out to all Ring Games. We will of course offer the option to keep the current view of games by not grouping them. To see the feature, simply go to the Hold’em or Omaha Play Money tabs after the client update.

Zoom

We have made a lot of improvements to Zoom this month based on player feedback. Some of the new changes released with this client are:

• “Fold and Watch” button inside the Fold button, making it easier to Fold and Watch a hand by just a single click of the mouse. This is optional and off by default. To enable this feature go to ‘Options’ > ‘ZOOM Options’ > ‘Display Fold and Watch’ from the lobby.

• “New Hand” button while watching.  After choosing to Fold and Watch there will now be a “New Hand” button so that you can jump straight back into action without having to wait for the hand to actually finish.
• Tweaks to back-end performance to improve the flow of the game, which might be more noticeable to players with a bit slower connections.

Auto-Refresh Info Tab

The “Info” tab on the tables will now automatically refresh after each hand. This has freed up some space so we are adding “X places paid” for tournaments. Please let us know what you will find most useful for both ring games and tournament to be added in this tab.

Hotkeys

We are introducing some further improvements to Hotkeys, including:

• Activate Next/Previous Table. The behaviour here is changing to closer match the feedback that we have received.
• ZOOM Fold and Watch hotkey is being introduced.

Auto-Buy-In and Rathole Restriction

We have added an option in the Auto-Buy-In dialog to allow players to auto-buy-in for the rathole restriction amount when applicable and not be prompted with the buy-in dialog. To activate this setting, simply check “Automatically return to table with same amount if required” in the Auto-Buy-In dialog (‘Options’ > ‘Auto-Buy-In (Ring Games)’).


As always we have a lot of minor tweaks and fixes to the client, among which is improved design to the pre-action check boxes and removing the green “Seat Open” design until we refine it more.

Note: The above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. We plan to update Mac .COM client today and Windows .COM client tomorrow. Regional clients are also planned to be updated today or tomorrow(.EU client update was already released late last night). Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.

will there be any zoom touneys in the near future ?

Bring back the Amazon gift vouchers to the VIP store!

I spoke to a guy from stars at Fox's just before Zoom was rolled-out and he said these were a long way off :(

We are planning to release a client update over the next few days that will introduce some new and exciting features. Estonian and .Net clients were already released and rest of clients are planned for the following days. Here are the details:

Table Themes Customization Improvements (Beta)

We are adding more improvements to the ability to customize the look of the tables. We are bringing all customization options into one dialog that is directly accessible from the table:

This dialog replaces the previous Table Themes dialog. Changes:

• All themes now support multiple felt and background options.
• Custom Felt Color. Don’t like the colors we have pre-selected? No problem, pick your own!
• More visibility to changing the deck front and back design.
• The back design of the deck is not tied to the front design of the deck, so you can mix and match.
• The dialog has a preview area of the table for quick feedback on the changes.
• We have added two new profiles, “All Sit & Go tables” and “All ZOOM tables”. So now you can have different felt color, background or theme based on the type of game. Just select a different profile from the “Apply To” drop-down and apply your changes to that profile.
• An option to apply the changes via the right-click table drop-downs to the current table only, as the default. This is accessed from the lobby via ‘View’ > ‘Right-Click: Apply Changes to This Table Only’.

Feedback and suggestions for improvement for the new options is always welcomed!

Table Groups (Beta)

We are making some changes to the way table groups work to streamline the user interface and improve functionality.

The biggest change is that the “Play Now” button (previously “Seat Me”) will now act like Easy Seat – if an empty seat does not currently exist, the player will be progressively added to waiting lists and the system will keep looking in the background for an empty seat at a table of this type. There are plans to even create new tables by seating players who are all using Play Now.

In addition, we have introduced a simpler initial view with a new toggle to see the list of tables and players, and we have removed the expanding/collapsing functionality.

We are making this feature available to real money players, but it is disabled by default. To enable the feature please go to ‘Options’ > ‘Lobby Display Options’ > ‘Group Similar Tables’.

Once the feature is active you will see an On/Off toggle in the main lobby that will allow you to easily revert to previous view. The toggle will only show if you don’t have Easy Seat enabled, due to space constraints.

We would love feedback from players on this feature!

Tournament Color Options (Beta)

We are adding a new menu in the ‘Options’ drop-down called ‘Tournament Color Options...’.

From this dialog you can configure what colors tournaments use in the main lobby and choose to disable certain colors. You can also disable all coloring of the lobby and just have a black and white lobby.

Easy Seat Advanced Options

We are adding the Filter advanced options to Easy Seat that will allow you to specify additional criteria for the tables Easy Seat considers. For example, min average pot, min average stack, etc.

Beta Options Menu

We have added a lot of new functionality over the past few updates and decided to add a new “Beta Options” menu that will allow players to easily see what the latest Beta features are. To access it simply go to ‘Options’ > ‘Beta options’.

As always, there are many small improvements to the existing product offering, especially around ZOOM poker. We are also fixing the tournament lobby update issue.

Note: The above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.

The new Table Theme thing is sweeeeeeeeeeeet

This week we plan to release a new client update. A lot of effort this month went towards the release of the Spanish client, PokerStars.ES, but we are also releasing several features in addition to the work on the new license.

Prize Pool Column in Alternative Tourney View (Beta)

We are adding a prize pool column in the alternative tourney tab layout that will update in real time showing the prize pool of the tournament. If you have not enabled this view you can do so from “Options” > “Lobby Display Options” > “Enable Alternative Tournament List Layout (Beta)” and then you will see the prize pool column.

Please let us know if you spot any issues with the behavior of the column or have any general feedback about the new tournament lobby listing view.

Auto-Rebuy for Ring Games on .IT Client

We are rolling out auto rebuy for Ring Games on the PokerStars.IT client. Due to license requirements we had to implement a “table reserve” feature. This is needed since the Italian regulator AAMS needs to approve rebuys, and in the event of internet lag it could happen that when the approval is received, adding the entire rebuy amount would put the player above the table’s maximum buy in. In this event, the player’s amount on the table will be brought to table maximum and the remaining approved rebuy amount will be “reserved” on the table for future rebuys. Once you leave the table any outstanding reserved amount is credited back to your account balance. You can see any reserved amount in the “Info” tab on the table.

Showing List of Players in Main Lobby for Sit & Go’s up to 45 Players

We are adding the ability to see the registered players in up to 45-player Sit & Go’s (inclusive) directly from the main lobby.

Custom Time Zones

We are adding a “Custom” entry in the time zones dialog that allows you to specify a custom UTC offset in case your time zone or the Daylight Saving Time specific to your region is not currently supported.

Other changes

• VPPs earned in each hand (for Ring Games) will now show as an additional column in the “Instant Hand History” window.
• We have fixed the bug with design of backs of decks not being remembered sometimes.
• The timeout on the rematch window in Heads-Up Sit & Go’s has been reduced to 15 seconds (used to be 30 seconds).
• Currently on some themes (Nova, Slicks, and No Images) the action a player makes hides their User ID for a certain amount of time, e.g. it shows "Fold" as opposed to the user ID. With this update, we will half the time the action is displayed, so the User ID will be displayed back much quicker.
• We have improved the date of birth entry process for the PokerStars.FR client to allow for quicker entry.
• We have changed the VIP Progress Bar to show the amount of a milestone target, rather than the VPPs needed to achieve the target.
• We have fixed a problem with overlapping Add-on break and Sync breaks. Before, if an add-on break ended during the synchronized break, the tournament would restart. With this build the tournament will stay in sync break until the sync break ends.
• Various other bug fixes and small tweaks.

.EU, .EE and .IT clients were already updated and we are planning to finish the updates with Windows .COM client on Thursday. There could of course be delays from this schedule.

Note: The above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.

Unregister all will be really handy on occasion :)

...

BOOM!

We just enabled BOOM! on the .COM client earlier this week. As some of you have already seen, BOOM! allows you to share your poker hands in the format of a video, view hands shared by other players and Pros, and discuss hands. You can share hands either directly to Twitter or VKontakte from the client or to http://www.boomplayer.com (http://www.boomplayer.com), where you can watch, upload, or discuss hands. You can visit http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/products/boom-hand-replayer/ (http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/products/boom-hand-replayer/) for more info.

Unregister from all Tournaments

We have enhanced the “Registered in Tournaments” dialog to allow you to unregister from multiple (or all) tournaments at the same time, and to also give you a better overview on the tourneys that you are currently registered for. You can access this from ‘Requests’ > ‘Registered in Tournaments’ in the main lobby or via the Ctrl+R shortcut from the main lobby.

Hotkey Tweaks and Improvements

We have done some small tweaks to Hotkeys. The biggest change is that we have added a new hotkey to bring the table requiring most urgent action to the front. You can set up the Hotkey by selecting “Go to ‘First Action’ Table” from the Hotkeys box. The way this hotkey works is the following:

a.   If a table is in focus that is not the table that needs action most urgently, the hotkey will bring the table where you need to act most urgently to the front.
b.   If the table where you need to act most urgently is in focus and you press the hotkey you will see the second most urgent table. Pressing the hotkey again will follow the logic in (a).

There a lot of other improvements, but most have no direct impact on game play.

Note: The above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.

yay, unregister from all tournaments is cool. wp pokerstars

We will be deploying a small client update over this week (Estonian and EU clients have already been released). Here are the most noticeable changes in this update:

Main Lobby Filters Placement Changes

We are improving the visibility of the elements that are below the list of games right now, i.e. filters and “Show registering/upcoming” button, by bringing them to be above the list of games. For the “Tourney” tab we are also bringing out the text search to be outside the filters as a separate search field.


Chat Emoticons <'))><

We are adding chat emoticons this update to the chat area to improve the chatting experience.


In addition to the standard emoticons that are shown in the Emoticons dialog, we also have three “hidden” emoticons:

• Fish   <'))><
• Donkey   &-B
• Shark   (^^^)

Typing the respective symbols above will show the hidden emoticons to other players on the table.

Improved Fonts at Small Tables

We are rolling out globally the improved fonts for tables at smaller sizes. For now we will keep the option to go back to the pervious fonts in case you run into any issues with the new fonts. To revert, please go to “Options” > “Table Display Options” and de-select “Larger Fonts on Small Tables”. Here is an image illustrating the differences for tables at smallest size:


New Deck Development

We are very close to finalizing a new deck (both front and back of the cards) for the client that will be deployed to the TestPokerStars site later in August for player testing. Here is a preview of the latest version of the deck:


The deck will be only in 4 color variant and the emphasis has been on simpler front and back of the deck. We are planning to release this to RM clients with the September client updates.


There are other smaller items being released, such as a GBP games filter, MAC visual table customization (same as on Windows), and various small bug fixes. Currently we plan to update .COM Mac client today (late European time) and .COM Windows client on Thursday. Regional clients are planned to be updated before end of the week. Clearly, there could be delays to this preliminary schedule.

Note: The above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.[/QUOTE]

Hi, any news on when the iPad mobile app will be available for PokerStars.be ?

I don't work for PokerStars, this is all just C+P from 2+2 ;)

lol, txs  I did wonder, thought maybe you had a hot line...

:P

Fwiw I've seen a bunch of people ask similar questions on this thread (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/28/internet-poker/pokerstars-launches-mobile-version-1167136) and the usual reply is that they can't give any time frames...

I've been reliably informed that it is available now...

deffo think you got a little red PokerStars phone icon on your desk top that flashes when there is news (....it is indeed there today...loading as I type  :)

How you are not an online pro for stars amazes me. Who makes the decisions on this, anyone in the offices on the isle of wight?

Fame? Recognition? World wide draw?


+ here he's helped someone who already had stars to just use it better so hasn't even drawn more people in tusk tusk



Also remember they've just dropped Blom ffs! it's deffo not based on looks :p

Is it because James has been sending his application forms here?

No wonder he has not got the gig.

lol Longy

Lol. Mann Ffs.

(http://cdn.crackberry.com/files/u2195866/WW_a_sphincter_says_what.jpg)

Apparently I'm a good candidate for team online but not quite good enough. FML.

(http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/i-may-have-over-trusted-that-fart.png)

For the milestone hands bonus, your potential win goes up the longer you're at the tables, I'm sure mines going down too.  Currently one table  is at $136 if I win, I've been there ages, I'm sure it was about $900 not long ago.  Doesnt say anything about them going down on the site as far as I can see, anyone else noticed this?

I believe your bonus is determined on the VPP's generated in your last 50 hands.  Length of time on the table is not have any impact.

Ah, that would account for it, cheers. Few I saw were all at 1c 2c tables anyway.

We will be releasing a client update that will introduce some new and exciting features. Estonian client will be deployed today and other clients will follow early next week with the Windows .COM client being planned for Monday. Here are the most significant player-facing features that are being rolled out:

Run It Twice (Beta)

As already mentioned we have been working on Run It Twice and are ready to deploy it as a Beta feature to the main clients. To recap for players who might not be familiar with the feature, Run It Twice allows players to have the remaining board cards dealt twice once everyone is all in. The pot is split in two and awarded for each “board” separately. Players must “opt in” to always using Run It Twice when the opportunity arises.

You can configure your Run It Twice settings from “Options” > “Run It Twice (Beta)” and can select from the following states:

• Never (default)
• Always
• By Table (default On)
• By Table (default Off)

Everyone remaining in a hand when action is completed needs to have elected to Run It Twice in order for Run It Twice to actually happen. If any of the participants in the hand have not turned on this feature in advance, the board will run out normally, one time, for all players.

We will not charge extra rake for Run It Twice hands.

New Deck (Beta)

We are releasing the new Quasar deck to the main clients. We have both new front cards and new back cards which are independent of each other, so you can mix them with current fronts and backs. Here is a screenshot of how the new options look:


The deck is only available in “4 Color” option and the emphasis has been on a less busy back and an easier to read plain front. We hope you will enjoy the new additions!

ZOOM Tournaments (Beta)

We are in the final stages of finalizing ZOOM tournaments on the TestPokerStars site and will invite players to test on the TestPokerStars site once we reach a stable point. We will keep you posted!

System to Unregister from Sit & Go’s when Disconnected (Beta)

We will slowly roll out a system that will protect players who are registered in Sit & Go tournaments should they become disconnected before the Sit & Go starts. In essence, the system will unregister players from specific Sit & Go’s if the players are disconnected for longer than a specified amount of time. The time you will need to be disconnected will depend on the specific Sit & Go and will be configured per tournament. The purpose of this feature is to help prevent players who register and then get disconnected from being blinded out of an event which starts when they are no longer able to connect to play.

There is an option to opt out of this protection through “Options” > “Advanced Multi-Table Options” > “No Automated Unregistering for Sit & Go tournaments”.

We will share more details once we start to implement this protection per Sit & Go.

Round to Nearest Blind Option

Players who use the bet slider shortcuts or hotkeys to “bet % of pot” will have their bets rounded to the nearest small or big blind. Whether the rounding is to the small or to the big blind will depend on the bet slider increment you have chosen in “Options” > “Bet Slider Options” (default is Big blind).

We have added the ability for players to opt out of this behaviour and have the old logic by selecting “Set/Bet % of pot: Don’t round to nearest blind” in “Options” > “Advanced Multi-Table Options”.

Other things rolled out:

• We are putting back the Refresh button in the “Info” tab on the tables. The auto refresh would still work, but due to popular demand we are having in addition a refresh for those times when you really want to refresh quicker than at the end of hand.
• ZOOM tables will preserve the chat from last few hands now. This will hopefully make it more social in smaller ZOOM pools where it is likely to have similar opponents on next hand and will also allow ZOOM players to BOOM! their hands more easily.
• We have added three new emoticons – fish, donkey, and shark (at the bottom of below screenshot).

• XThemes will now properly work with the changes introduced to table design.

That’s all for now – we hope that you will enjoy the new features, and as always are looking forward to your feedback and further suggestions on how to improve!

Note: The above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.

zoom tournaments!?

Why do freerolls now show in my lobby even tho my filter is as normal with minimum buyin above 0? Its a complete eye sore

Lol Dubai, not even thin. (I saw original edit)

:P

I think it must be a bug,

Someone else mentions it here, http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=35289223&postcount=16393

Presumably that should get fixed fairly swiftly.

"There is a client update today that introduces features related to pairing PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker accounts in the PokerStars software. The pairing of accounts would then allow players to transfer funds between PokerStars and Full Tilt.

This is in preparation for the Full Tilt Poker re-launch and more details will be shared in the very near future."

"until [the] Full Tilt client is live you will not be able to pair your PokerStars and Full Tilt accounts."

(http://i.imgur.com/BxAc9.png)

Sick

We had a client update at the end of October that introduced the ability to pair PokerStars and Full Tilt accounts and to perform transfers between the two sites. We will be now releasing another update to the PokerStars clients over the next few days that will introduce some additional features to PokerStars. Here is a summary of the most significant player-facing features that are being rolled out:

ZOOM Shorthanded Dealing (Beta)

This update will allow starting a ZOOM player pool shorthanded. When the ZOOM group has a low number of players we can set the system to start hands even if a table won’t be full.

We will gradually release the feature (so it won’t be active immediately after the client update) and will share more specific information as we roll it out.

Table Starters (Beta)

I have mentioned Table Starters in the past, but we haven’t rolled the feature out yet due to polishing the functionality. We will slowly be rolling out the feature after the client update, only for a few stakes at first.

Table Starters is like an interest list for specific ring game table types. They will show in the lobby as another table and will be identified with a special icon at the start. Players can sign up on the Table Starter through the lobby by clicking “Join Table Starter”. Once enough players sign up, a new table is created with the players on the Table Starter list.

Here is how a table will specifically be started: Buy-in amount will be asked at the time of joining the table starter. At this point funds are not reserved, but players pre-approve to be bought in for that amount once the table starts. Once enough players join the Table Starter who have the pre-approved funds available, the new table will open and players will be bought in for the amounts they have specified. Then blinds will be posted but the dealing of cards will not actually start for a few seconds to allow all players to notice the new table starting. After this short wait elapses, dealing will begin, and from then on everything will be like a normal table. There will also be a “Play Now” button that if clicked by everyone who is seated will start the dealing immediately.

Every player can choose how many players they want to start a table with. Once a match is found a table will start. You can customize your own settings for when a table should start by going to ‘Options’ > ‘Table Starter Preferences...’ So if 4 players who have specified they are OK for the table to start 4-handed join the Table Starter, a new table will be formed and those players will be able to play with the remaining seats being open for other players.

Various features in PokerStars will automatically sign up players for Table Starters if they cannot be seated immediately. For example, when using “Easy Seat” or clicking “Play Now” in group mode, the system will first try to seat you at an existing table as requested, and if unavailable you will be added to the Table Starters list.

To avoid abuse, there will be a timer that will block players from using Table Starters should they be seated at a new table and then leave soon after the start of dealing. We also have automatic monitoring for abusive behaviours and reserve the right to sanction players who attempt to use Table Starters for purposes other than to play at the newly created tables. More specifically, trying to avoid paying your fair share of blinds or using Table Starters to find favorable opponents is not allowed.

We will be rolling Table Starters out slowly at first, but if all works as expected they may be utilized as the only way to start new tables of certain types. 

Flighted Tournaments

We have fixed some of the issues that existed the previous time we rolled out some flighted tournaments and have them ready again for deployment. We will start testing slowly at first, until we are sure the tournaments are ready for prime time.

To recap, flighted tournaments are the online equivalent to how some very large live tournaments are split in multiple days, e.g. Day 1A, 1B, 1C, Day 2A, 2B etc. In the case of flighted tournaments, there will be flights 1A, 1B, 1C etc that lead to the second level and so on. What is more, if you play a flight 1 tournament and do not make it to flight 2, then you will be able to play other flight 1 tournaments, if available, to have more chances to make it to flight 2.

Changes to Nova Theme

We will be updating the Nova theme in two ways:

• We will amend slightly the current Nova theme to introduce new and improved button designs. The color scheme is still the same, i.e. gray buttons. We will also rename this theme to Nova Gray.
• The Nova theme entry will be changed to have dark red action buttons. We are planning to make this new Nova theme the default PokerStars theme in the near future (perhaps as part of the December client updates).

Some updates to previously mentioned topics:

PokerStars 7

We continue to improve the initial PokerStars 7 design that was shown at the VIP Club party in London. We want to make sure the product is as good as possible before we open it to players for Beta testing, so it might take a little longer to allow everyone to play with it. We will keep you posted!

ZOOM Tournaments

We are getting close to having ZOOM tournaments ready for deployment, but still have few things to polish. The current plan is to have them ready with the December client updates.

Run it Twice Rollout

We are gradually expanding the number of Run It Twice-enabled tables. Things are going OK so far, and we might look to expand more in the near future. It is very unlikely that Run It Twice will be deployed to ZOOM before the December client update, due to necessary technical changes. We understand your impatience to have the feature enabled on more tables, but we have to make sure everything is running smoothly first.


That’s all for now – keep sharing your highly valuable feedback on how to improve PokerStars!

Note: The above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.

We are planning to deploy another update to the PokerStars clients over the next few days (the Windows .COM client is planned for early next week right now). Here are the details of the most interesting features:

Zoom Tournaments (Beta)

We are planning to start the beta test of Zoom tournaments on the main clients. We will initially start quite slowly until we make sure that everything is running smoothly.

Zoom tournaments are tournament that play in Zoom style, i.e. once you fold you are moved to another table with other players from the same tournament who have finished their hands. Once the tournament nears the final table, it will move to regular playing mode till the end of the tournament. There is also support for hand-for-hand while in Zoom mode of the tournament. In hand-for-hand mode, hands will be synchronized so that once all tables have finished players will be re-seated and the next hand dealt. In this way, we keep the spirit of Zoom game play, while disincentivizing stalling on the bubble.

VIP Club 2013 Changes

This update lays the groundwork for the new VIP Level, ChromeStar, which is being added from the start of 2013.

Variable Level Length in Tournaments

Tournaments will support variable time for the different levels with this update. This would allow, for example, to have shorter initial levels, while having longer late-stage levels. This will be tested and then gradually added to some tournament structures.

VIP Store Localization

The VIP Store will support multiple languages after this update. It will take time to populate the language data, but this should be a great improvement for non-English speakers.

Run It Twice for Zoom

After this update we will be able to deploy Run It Twice (RIT) on Zoom groups. The exact timing of when RIT will be enabled for Zoom is not clear just yet, but we will update you once deployed. It might take some time after the client update.

Nova becoming default theme

Nova will become the default theme at PokerStars. Players who have never changed their theme on their current install will be prompted to change to the Nova theme, and new installations will have Nova by default.

Small additions:

• The “Waiting on Tables” dialog will now allow you to remove yourself from individual wait lists, in addition to leaving all waiting lists.
• In knockout tournaments, we will show in the Tourney Lobby the number of players someone has knocked out as an additional statistic.

Bug fixes:

• Flighted tournaments – several fixes have been made as a result of the initial Beta tests. We will continue to test these tournaments in December.
• The “Wait List” dialog should not be modal to the table any more.

Note: The above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.

I like the fact they are setting nova as the default theme.

Ever since i changed over to it I have played better and I think the usability of it trumps the other choices.

Does anyone else, while playing zoom or rush get motion sickness? I know they have the fade feature, but would much rather the names just changed rather than the seats and I think that would be a great update.

Anyone else frustrated by the last iteration of changes to the table layouts/backdrops settings.

whereby if you set a backdrop to a table ALL of your tables change to it. so you cant set different one's, soooo tilting completely ruined how I set up my grinds.

(http://i49.tinypic.com/16787wk.jpg)


1. Go to table themes

2. Change 'Apply to' from "all tables" to "this table" or other varients such as "all SNG tables"

You're welcome

has that always been the case since it was implemented because I never saw it when I was trying to set everything up?



edit and apologies for this not being rude enough :p irony ftw.

It's always been like that dude :)

I sucketh the balls. sigh I was just used to right clicking to set my backgrounds and when you do it that way it enforces the change for all tables. kept messing me up. ty xx

There will be a client update today that will not introduce new features, but will just fix few issues.

We also have to force an update today to the December version of the client to make sure that the new VIP Level and ZOOM Tournaments work smoothly. Players who are still running a client version from before the last update will receive a prompt that asks them to update to the latest version. While this prompt is shown players can still play at their tables, but will not be able to interact with the main lobby. Players who update regularly will not be affected by this.

few questions from rude bean.


1) who doesn't auto update I didn't think it ever worked if you weren't up to date

2) do you get problems at the mo James where if you are viewing a table and it closes the software doesn't function properly. normally empty seats move, 'table closed' comes up and after a while it shuts itself. at the moment I get a disconnect type message and the table sits there not changing with the last run out still shown and stuff. I emailed stars once but haven't seen it fixed yet, obv as such a pro railer I get into this situation alot lol.


3) regarding backgrounds, and setting them via right click and in the menu, is there anyway to set it so that when you right click and set your background it changes ONLY the table you are clicking on and doesn't change all of them. currently you have to open the menu and use the selection area window thing and set it in the pull down menu of what to affect. tis very annoying and opening that selection window is slow and laborious.

:)

1) Anyone that uses table mods (like me) because if you update the software it writes over them each time

2) Hasn't happened to me dude but I don't rail much. Send them the log files next time or something, you can do it through the software.

3) Yes there is. Change the theme option to "this table" in the full theme menu, and from then on it will only apply to that table when you do it via right click.


(http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mb6njlQX411qftwhy.jpg)

oh god

if no3 is true i'm going to be so annoyed. I swear i've tried that about 10 times.

god I suck.


you though, should get paid by stars!!!


I'm totally blown away by your non updatyness! madness. ty

Lol it's cool, np. Agree with line 4 obv :)

Is there a way to stop the lobby from minimising when I select a table to play on?

Yeah man,

Options --> Advanced Multi-Table Options --> Untick "Minimize main lobby when opening table"

lol you are just too good

Brilliant, thank you!

James

Can you let me know where the boom switch is

Cheers

(PM fine obv)

Simples:

Requests --> Transfer Funds --> Transfer USD $77.77 To Player ID: epitomised --> Ok --> On the resulting pop-up click "Yes"

Boom switch will activate shortly afterwards.

:P

obviously a joke, please don't ban me Stars, ktnxbye

No probs dude


Yeah, at least if I go busto I might be able to get a job working for PokerStars support :)

Plz don't go busto  ;)

We are planning to deploy a small client update before the beginning of TCOOP this Thursday. This update lays the groundwork for more upcoming promotions in 2013 and few beta options are added that we will be looking to introduce to the majority of players with February build. Here are the highlights:

Live View for Ring Games (Beta)

We are planning to add a graphical preview of the selected ring game in the main lobby. The existing list of players would still be there as an option. Here is a screenshot of what the preview looks like:


There will be a very accessible toggle between the new graphical preview and the existing list of players – just to the right of the table name.

For now this feature is only added as Beta and to access it you need to first go to “Options” > “Lobby Display Options” and select “Enable Graphical Preview for Ring Games (Beta)”. Once this is activated, you will see the toggle to switch between the two views.

Please do send us your feedback on this new addition!


Game List Font Options (Beta)

We are looking to improve the font set up in the list of games in the client. We feel that the current set up is good, but could be updated to improve readability, especially for casual players. To this end, we are planning to change the default look while preserving the option to see things exactly as they look today.

As the first step, we are adding three new font set ups that you can try out and tell us what you like best. You can change the font set up from “View” > “Game List Font Options (Beta)”. The new options are:

• “Microsoft Sans Serif with Row Padding” – this is the current font with few pixels of added row padding to aid readability.
• “Utah” – this a set up that uses the Utah font. Utah is a relatively new font that is designed to be narrow but at the same time very readable.
• “Arial” – this is a set up with the Arial font.

For each of the set ups you can adjust the font size up and down to your liking from "View" > "Text Size".

We would love to hear from you what you find best from the offered choices. Keep in mind that while we might change the default, we will keep the option to switch back to today’s set up.

Preferred Seat Enhancements

We are enhancing the Preferred Seat functionality slightly. In addition to updating the graphics to the Nova theme, we are also adding two new options: “Auto-center me at ring game tables” and “Auto-center me at tournament tables”. If checked, each option will automatically seat you in the bottom center seat for the respective game type, unless you already have a Preferred Seat setting for a specific layout. For themes that don’t have a bottom center seat, you will be seated in the seat on the right of the bottom center of the table.

We will also make the option for tournaments on by default, while the one for ring games will be off by default.

Speed Filter Changes

In line with the changes to table speed posted here (http://"http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/28/internet-poker/pokerstars-announcement-changes-time-act-ring-games-1289316/"), the ring game filters will not have a “Speed” check box anymore. Same applies to Easy Seat. You can read more about those changes and discuss them in the thread linked above.

Enhancing the Groups Feature for Ring Games (TestPokerStars only for now)

We are adding different views for the ring game lobbies – this is an enhancement of the “Groups” feature that exists today. The changes for now are only deployed to TestPokerStars and we will be looking to add them to the clients in late February.

In short, we are introducing the notion of “Views” in the ring game lobby and will offer three views:

• Table View – this is the same view as today where all tables are shown in a single list.
• Group View – this is similar to today’s Group view – tables of the same type are grouped together and you can click a “Find Me A Seat” button to play at a table of this type. Here is a screen grab:

• Combo View – this view merges the above two views – you see a condensed version of the Group View and once you select a group you see all the tables within this group. Here is a screenshot:

We hope you will try out these different views and give us feedback on them, and how they can be improved.

Note: The above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.[/list]

ooooh more updates James, keep working lol.

got any info about the introduction of zoom mtts?

I do my best ;)



"Yes, we did an initial set of Beta tests and are deploying some fixes with this client update. We will then do another set of Beta tournaments and see if everything is running smoothly. At that point, we will see about when we will deploy more."

For Full Tilt Poker

In the latest update:

A. Re-Entry Tournaments - If you bust from a re-entry tournament while late registration is still going and haven't reached that tournament's maximum number of entries, you can re-enter the tournament as a brand new player. Many of our biggest guarantees (The $500,000 Guarantee, various FTOPS events) that used to be Multi-Entry Tournaments will become Re-Entry. The first $500K with the change will be a week from this Sunday.

B. Ticket Balance Dialog Improvements- The Ticket Balance dialog (which you can get to from the Cashier in the Tickets section or from the "Requests->Check my Ticket Balance" option) has been completely revamped to allow you to easily see everything that you can use your tickets in. Click on a Ring Game ticket and see a list of Ring Games you can use it in. Click on a Tournament Ticket and see all of the tournaments/SNGs it can be used in.

C. 'Plrs/Flop', 'Plr/Drw' and 'Plr/4th' is now 'Active'  - Instead of calculating what percentage of players are seeing the flop (or 2nd draw in Draw, or 4th Street in Stud) on average, this column now calculates the average percentage of players voluntarily putting money into the pot each hand.

D. Automatically Decline Rematch Requests - You can now opt to automatically decline any rematch requests after a Heads-Up SNG instead of seeing the Rematch dialog. You can find the option under "Options->Table Options->Gameplay Settings..."

Anyone who is Supernova+ got a bunch of e-mails over the last week about the plans in various departments. I thought I'd pick out the main points.

Cliff notes:

Software:
*PokerStars 7 software coming soon, will feature "Favourite games" and will eventually have achievements, challenges, social features and such for recs

Ring Games:
*A special solution to "ratholing" in the works, to be implemented by June 30th
*Zoom to be deployed for high stakes games (on a seemingly trial basis)
*Heads-Up Zoom pools to be deployed within the next few months
*5-Card PLO, 5-Card PLO Hi/Lo, and Courchevel games will be added soon

Tournaments:
*"Flighted" tournaments to be launched in upcoming Red Spade open
*Re-Entry tournaments to be added later this year
*"Mix-Max" tournaments also to be added
*Variable level times to be trialled, and highly likely to be utilized in "Action Hour" tournaments
*3 "Micro Millions" Series planned to run in 2013

SNGs:
*"Easy Seat" session controls to be introduced in the next few months (ie. auto registration a lá TableNinja SNG opener on TableNinja)
*MTT SNGs to have "Late Registration" (with a player cap) by mid-year (i.e. 180-mans to start running when 45 players are registered, with a 180 player cap)
*180-man tournaments now pay 27 instead of 18 (90-mans pay 13 instead of 12)
*Changes/revamp to Battle of Planets/alternative SNG promotions still being considered, elimination of the B.O.P. monthly freeroll is quite likely

For Full Tilt Poker

There's a complete revamp of the FTP Tournament schedule

@FTPMarkus
"The new schedule will start appearing over the weekend and officially kick off at noon ET on Monday. We, uh, had some fun with the names."


Shyam's post on 2+2:

Thanks again for the continuing feedback. There is going to be plenty of room for changes/improvements over the next few weeks as players start playing the new schedule and giving specific comments.

At the moment the only new tournaments that are showing in the game are the tournaments that repeat weekly. Which, at the moment, means 5 tournaments or so. Given there are around 200 guarantees a day in the new schedule, it's safe to say it's still too early to judge the schedule.

Our main objective with the new schedule is to give tournament players something they'd be interested in playing no matter when they log in or what kind of tournament player they are.

The new schedule tries to follow a few general rules:

• The green color now means a tournament has satellites that feed into it.
• There is at least one green NLH guarantee on the hour every hour. Even if it's a $1 buyin, if it's green it has satellites. (Just about every tournament that starts on the hour is green.)
• There is also at least one NLH guarantee starting on the :20s and :40s. There is at least one non-NLH guarantee starting on the :10s, :30s, and :50s.
• The tournaments that start in-between the hour will mostly not have satellites and will remain pink. They will also in general have lower guarantees than the green guarantees.
• Speaking of guarantee amounts, we haven't gone crazy here. We want the schedule to develop organically, and we don't presume to know exactly which tournaments will prove to be the most popular. As the prize pools grow, we will raise the guarantees. So for now, expect a good number of smaller guarantees in the daily schedule.
• Satellites themselves will no longer be pink. Hopefully this will help draw more attention to the pink and green tournaments.

I also apologize in advance for some of the tournament names. Our goal with these names is to make certain tournaments more memorable. We take the poker seriously, but there's plenty of room for fun when it comes to the names and descriptions. It won't be for everyone, but hopefully people get into the spirit of it. (And I won't be firing myself for the Wednesday Webuy, sorry.)

Look for next Saturday's weekly events to appear in the schedule later today, but the bulk of the new schedule will start appearing tomorrow afternoon ET (tournaments will generally appear exactly 24 hours before they start).

Tikay's not gonna be happy! Looks like Bounty Hunter tournaments are forthcoming...


Over the next few days we will be releasing another client update that will introduce some new features which will hopefully improve your experience at PokerStars. We are also continuing to add support for upcoming promotions, such as the recent milestone hands in France, Spain, and Italy, but I will not reveal more details for now. Here is an overview of what is immediately player-visible with this update:

Views for Ring Games Lobbies (Beta)

After adding few enhancements and polishing functionality during the Beta stage we are releasing the new views for the list of games in the ring game lobbies to all players. With next update you will see a new control in the ring game lobbies to change the “View” and you have three options:

• List View (default) – This is the same view as today, i.e. one list with all tables that match your filter settings
• Groups View – All tables of the same type are grouped together in one entry and there is a “Find Me A Seat” button. “Find Me A Seat” will look for an empty seat at a table of this type. If no seat is immediately available you will be given the option to continue searching for a seat – in this case the system will automatically add you to waiting lists and check for available seats until you either cancel the search or a seat is found. In either eventuality, you are automatically removed from any waiting lists where the system has added you. Next month we plan to integrate this with Table Starters, so that if one exists you will also be added to the Table Starter.

We have also added a new “Observe” icon which when clicked will open a table of this type that a player can observe. Also, the number of tables now shows only tables which are dealing (for non-HU types) as opposed to also including empty or non-dealing tables.

Here is a screen grab of the Groups view:

• Combo View – You can see groups, and once you select a group you also see the specific tables within a group. Great for players who like to monitor multiple table types, but like to easily switch between them. Here is a screen grab:

Graphical Preview for Ring Games

After the update you will see a new toggle icon above the list of players on a table in the main lobby. You can then switch between today’s list and a new graphical view of the table. In the graphical view you will still see notes on opponents, but in addition you will also see sitting out players, as well as where the button is. You can also directly choose a specific seat to take from the lobby if one is available.


Progressive Knockout Tournaments (Beta)

We will be trialling a new type of a knockout tournament – working title is Progressive Knockouts. In this variant, when you eliminate a player you get a part of their bounty credited to your account, but another part goes towards you own bounty so you become more attractive to be eliminated!

We will initially deploy only few of these to make sure everything is running smoothly before we deploy these on a wider scale.

Ability to Change Order of Columns in Lobby

This update we are adding Drag & Drop functionality for the columns in the main lobby so you can arrange them just the way you want. Simply drag the header of any column and drop it where you want. You can also click the Column Settings gear icon just above the scroll bar to further configure your lobby.


Other updates:

• ZOOM Tournaments – We have added support for more ZOOM tournament types (Timed, Bounty, and satellites) and will run another set of Beta tests after the clients are rolled out.
• We have added a separator line between “Sit Here” and “Find this player” in the right-click menu on another player on the table. This will hopefully reduce mis-clicks in this area.
• We are also working on an ability to observe ZOOM gameplay and will share more details about this later on.
• This update we are also merging the “Find Seat Options” and “Table Starter Preferences” into one new “Auto-Seating Options (Ring Games)” that is found under then “Options” menu in the main lobby.

Note: The above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. We are planning to update the Estonian client first today with Belgium and Denmark clients following tomorrow. .COM Windows client will most likely be updated on Thursday this week. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.

stars run MTTs with a good late reg period

so if a MTT is saying it has 80 minutes late reg, does that mean:

1) 80 minutes of play

or

2) 80 minutes from the start of the MTT

thanks muchly

Mick

80 mins from start of play

cheers mate. had my suspicions as i have missed a few late reg's for the 3x turbos, but wasnt too sure

For Full Tilt Poker

Today's update is now available and the game is live. The Cashier and My Promotions should be functional in the next 30-60 minutes.

In the update:

A. 5 Card Stud and Irish Poker – We will be spreading these two games starting today. 5 Card Stud is fairly well known, especially if you're, uh, old. Instead of 3 down cards and 4 up cards like 7 Card Stud, you're making the best 5 card poker hand out of 1 down card and 4 up cards. You can find the game in the Stud lobby.

Irish Poker is lesser known, but great fun. It's a community card game where you start with 4 cards pre-flop and you're forced to discard 2 after the betting round on the flop. From there it plays just like Hold'em. You can find Irish in the new "Other" lobby.

Both will also have events in this FTOPS as well, with Irish getting Event #1 (on St. Patrick's Day!) and Event #25 is 5 Stud on Tuesday, March 26 at 14:00 ET. Irish is also the Game of the Week (http://"http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/promotions/game-of-the-week") starting on Monday, so you'll have even more reasons to give it a try.

B. Escalator Tournaments – This new tournament type is a tweak on the length of time between each blind level increase. It starts out with the blinds going up very quickly, but the time between levels increases by one minute every other level. So at the beginning it acts like a turbo, in the middle it acts like a fairly standard tournament, and at the end it should give lots and lots of play. A few will start appearing in the daily schedule over the course of the next few days, and it's also the last missing FTOPS event (#30, on Thursday, March 28 at 11:00 ET).

C. Revamped Tournament Lobby – We've added the two most requested bits of information to the main tournament lobby. You can now see the name of most tournaments as well as their current prize pool at a glance. We had to move some things around to do it, but hopefully you'll agree the tournament lobby not only has all the important pieces of information you need to pick which tournaments you'd like to jump into, but it also looks much better.

D. "Early Bird" SNG Promo – If you're one of the first players to join a SNG (smaller than 30 players), you'll get double the normal FTPs. Pretty simple! Some more information can be found here:

http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/promotions/early-bird (http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/promotions/early-bird)

E. My Tournaments and Find Player Dialog Improvements – Two more old dialogs have gotten a refresh. The new "My Tournaments" dialog replaces the old "Requests->Registered In Tournaments…" dialog and has a whole lot more information about the tournaments you're currently registered in or playing.

The new "Find Player" dialog replaces the old one, and similarly has a lot more information about what the player you're looking up is currently playing. It also allows you to more easily take notes from the dialog itself.

Both are still in a bit of a "beta" phase, so if you think there's anything missing or wrong about either dialog, please let us know and we can tweak things a bit.

F. Removal of Late Registration "Penalty" – Also by popular request, we no longer force you to wait for your big blind before being dealt into a tournament if you register late.

G. Undo "I'm Ready" in Tournaments – Ever click the "I'm Ready" button, then realize not everyone was going to click it quickly, so you want to go get a drink or something but can't undo your readiness? Well, now you can.

H. Bet Amount Abbreviations and Cents Delimiter – You can now use either "." or "," to bet cents when you type in the bet box ("1,25" and "1.25" will both bet $1.25). You can also use a couple of abbreviations for betting larger amounts: Typing "2k" will bet 2,000 chips and "3.1m" will bet 3,100,000 chips.

loll and they forget the best improvement.


The Find a player window has been revamped to be like stars so you also see X of Y by each of your tournaments you are in. :)up

Is there any way to save your preferences? Every two or three times I close Pokerstars it says it was forced shut down and all the settings get reset - table view, mucking options, hotkeys, filters etc.

Any help greatly appreciated thanks.

save notes etc then uninstall reinstall and try again? never not had it shut down properly so cant really help otherwise.

Lol Titty you are a joker, it's in "E" ffs


This def shouldn't be happening. Have you e-mailed support? They are pretty helpful with this kind of thing...

I read a few words of each bolded bit there was loads of text for E so I skipped it


loooool

We are planning to release another update to the PokerStars clients this week. We continue to work on support for new upcoming promotions later in the year, but we also have several new features coming up with this update. Here are the details:

New game types: 5 Card Omaha and Courchevel

This update we will be deploying two new game types: 5 Card Omaha and Courchevel. Both will be rolled out in Hi and Hi/Lo variants and you can find Ring Games under the “Omaha” > “5 Card Omaha” tabs.

In case you are not familiar with those variants, 5 Card Omaha is played just like Omaha, but with 5 hole cards. Courchevel is a variation of 5 Card Omaha where the first flop card is dealt face up at the beginning of the hand.

Font Options and Changes to Default Font Setup for List of Games

In order to improve readability of the list of games we are adding 3 pixels to the height of the rows in the main lobby game lists. Here is a screenshot that illustrates the change in a Ring Games lobby (similar changes will apply to the other lobbies as well):

Before:                                                                                     


After:


We also have added options to keep the exact same font setup as today and to also switch to the Utah font, which is a more narrow font that some players may prefer. To access these options go to “View” > “Game List Font Options”. If you want to change back to the same look as before the update, please select “Microsoft Sans Serif” from this menu.

Players who make a new install of the client will see a different font type by default – Arial. We decided to not change current users to Arial as the difference in terms of player feedback was not significant, and more players expressed preference for what they are used to. We still believe Arial is overall more readable, so we will be having it for new installs going forward. If you want to try it, you can select it from the fonts menu.

Auto-Rebuy for Tournaments Options

This update will introduce the ability for players to specify in more detail how they want Auto-Rebuy to work in rebuy tournaments. You will have three options to specify from the table of a rebuy tournament:

• Whenever possible
• 1x Rebuy when 0 chips
• 2x Rebuy when 0 chips

In addition, we are adding the ability to set your default tournament Auto-Rebuy preference so that you don’t need to specify your selection for each tournament. To do this, simply go to “Options” > “Auto-Rebuy (Tournaments) Options...” Of course, you can later change your choice via the table controls for each individual tournament.

With the April client updates we are also looking to add Rebuy and Add On buttons directly on the table, so players not using Auto-Rebuy will have easier access when they are eligible for either option.

Option to Register to New Sit & Go from Elimination Dialog

As some players have already posted, we have added the ability to register for another Sit & Go of the same type in the dialog that shows once a tournament ends for you. This is simply a convenience feature to allow players to jump straight into another Sit & Go of the same type.

ZOOM Observation Mode

This item was briefly mentioned last update, but we have now rolled out the ability to observe a ZOOM group. Once you select a ZOOM group you will notice an “Observe Game” button. What actually happens is that observers see a selection of hands that have been recently played, to allow them to get a feel for ZOOM. There are multiple factors that determine which hands are picked and show to observers, but the goal is to pick the more interesting hands.

We also now have the ability to show ZOOM groups in the main list of Ring Games, as some of you have already noticed.

Ring Game Views Improvements

We have added the ability to resize the first two panes in Combo view. We have also made a few other fixes and tweaks to the different lobby views.

Hall of Fame Client Badges

We are introducing “Hall of Fame” badges for players who are members of the VIP Club Hall of Fame. You can read more about the Hall of Fame here (http://"http://www.pokerstars.com/vip/hall-of-fame/").
 
Other Updates:

• We have made a few improvements and fixes to the graphical table display in the Ring Game lobbies.
• We have ironed out several ZOOM tournaments issues – particularly we have eliminated a delay in getting seated at a new table during the first few minutes of the tournament.
• We have made a few improvements to Progressive Knockout tournaments and will have another set of beta tourneys after the clients are rolled out.

Note: The above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.

Minor update for PokerStars

We are rolling out a small client update this week. This software update will mostly contain increased support for upcoming promotions (not yet visible), but also includes several improvements to existing features and some bug fixes. Here are the things you are most likely to notice in this update:

Further Improvements for Rebuy Tournaments

After the update whenever you are eligible for a rebuy we will show a rebuy button directly on the table. The location of this button on the table will vary based on the theme you are using. Once the Add-on period starts, the button will change accordingly.

As a reminder, in the last update we introduced the ability to have more control of how exactly auto rebuy for tournaments works, and also added the dialog found at “Options” > “Auto Rebuy (Tournaments)...” where you can set default auto rebuy settings for new tournaments.

Focus Stealing

We have resolved a problem with focus stealing that was related to losing at showdown. This should improve the playing experience for players who stack tables.

Improvements to First Time Deposit Process

We are making improvements to the deposit process by improving the user experience at the first step where we collect and verify important personal information about the player. At this point this change will be for the French client only, and then we will roll out to other clients as well. While this is not something that will be visible in terms of a change to many players on the forum here, this change furthers our goal to make the initial experience for recreational players more streamlined.

Other improvements/bug fixes:

• A number of improvements to Table Starters, including an option to remember your preferred buy-in.
• Zoom tables will now properly show Happy Hour icons.
• The auto-rebuy option for tournaments will no longer sometimes block actions on other tables.
• Minor tweaks and improvements have been made to the client elements for the VIP Club Hall of Fame.
• Importing player notes will no longer mix up color labels.
• Several back-end VIP Store improvements that will help the user experience.
• It will now be possible to opt to discuss a deal in 4-max tournaments at the start of the final table which has 5 players.
• Many other bug fixes and usability tweaks.

Note: The above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.

For Full Tilt Poker:

There is an update out right now that has some new features. We didn't need to bring the game down for any of it, so you can just restart your client and grab the update to see the changes.

In the update:

A. 5 Card Omaha and Courchevel: We refuse to let any other site have a good poker game we don't have. ;)

Courchevel will be the Game of the Week (http://"http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/promotions/game-of-the-week") starting on Monday. We'll also have New to the Game (http://"http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/poker/new-to-the-game") tables set up for both if you want to give them a try in a slower-paced, micro stakes environment.

Learn more about both games here:

http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/poker/games/omaha (http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/poker/games/omaha)

B. Tournament and SNG Rake changes: Most of the higher buy-in ($150+) MTTs have had their rake reduced. For example, the $200+$16 tournaments are now $200+$15. If you had a Tournament Ticket for any of the tournaments that have had their total buy-in amount changed, you'll be getting (if you haven't gotten it already) a replacement ticket and some T$ to make up for the difference.

In addition, SNG rake has changed on many SNGs (total buy-in amounts are still the same). Chances are your favorite SNG is now a better deal than it was yesterday (and if it's not a better deal, it's the same deal it was yesterday).

C. Buy-In Amount Listed In Tournament Table Title Bar: By popular demand, this is a small change so that it's easy to see at a glance the total buy-in amount of the tournament you're playing from the table itself.

D. Rush Mobile on HTML5: Not related to today's update, but last week we soft-(re)launched our HTML5 Rush Mobile app for iOS devices. So if you have an iPhone or iPad, head over to http://ios.fulltiltpoker.com (http://ios.fulltiltpoker.com) and play some Rush Poker!

It's worth noting that not only is this HTML5 app a beta, it's also a fairly temporary solution. We're working hard on native applications for both iOS and Android devices, and when they come out (still a good number of months off) we will likely toss out the HTML5 app.

In fact, I don't expect the HTML5 app to ever come out of beta. We dusted it off so players could at least play something on their iOS mobile devices while we worked on the real mobile apps. You should give it a try if you get an itch for Rush while out and about.

Unfortunately, we couldn't bring the old Flash app for Android back to life, so Android users will have to wait for the native app to come out. Sorry about that.


Some questions also answered here: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=38411122&postcount=101

stars just gone down as i read this

"There is an update out right now that has some new features. We didn't need to bring the game down for any of it, so you can just restart your client and grab the update to see the changes. "

jinxed

phew, I thought there was a problem on my end.

apparently all tournies & cash games down.

not sure how long i should wait before giving up...

fair play. Thought this sort of thing must be extremely rare with stars, think this is the first time i have experienced it. Aside from a busy Sunday night where the games have slowed somewhat.

lemme know any of u, if it is back up on ure end please. Can't log in atm. Even though the games appear to be showing.

logged back on - break.

tyty, back on myself now and on break too

on break and trying out smileys

shocked tube8 hasnt gone down, must have been an increase in traffic.

I now have a new German friend, we have bonded in the chat box through our annoyance of the break. Riveting stuff.

out of interest how long do they normally leave it before they cancel the comp?

I'm ready for bed.

The only two tournaments I am still in are on stars and stars.fr.  Surely they can't start again now?

Don't quote me on it. But I am pretty sure if you gave up now they would partially refund you for this, despite it restarting. It has been a good while now.

Would be odd to restart from a 30 mins+ break anyway tbh. Most likely they will halt all the active tourns and deploy their compensation policy, but they are probably still deciding what to do.

i would assume not, almost an hour after going down would be pretty ridic to expect people to hang around... i dont want to throw in the towel just incase... got a stack for the first time in my life

It's late, whoever is in charge atm might have a mare. Probably good to wait it out a little while longer. But yeh this has cancellation of tourns written all over it.

was thinking about regging the $500 H/l and gambling I get more than $500 back under the refund policy ;)

might do the same... can you ship me $500 pls

@pokerstars not demonstrating how useful twitter can be at times like this.

lol was just thinking the same

PokerStars ‏@PokerStars 47m
The PokerStars site went down a few minutes ago. We're aware of it and are working on a solution. Thank you for your patience.

RESTART

back on!

what a time to put a bad beat on someone, first hand after coming back, the little things that make a sadist happy.

a guy on my table with 2bb waited it out...

And now has close to the CL? Gotta love the dedication.

am out of 1 already.  other got 2 sit outs.  This can't be a sensible solution

i busted him obv, he just loves the game

Oddly i think they will survey it by if you logged back onto the servers or were active when the restart took place, you couldn't get compensation. But if you weren't you would.

I think that is how its going to go down.

Ha, I had one short stack and one decent one.  Maybe should have closed down the short stack on .com and kept the .fr one open?  Too late now :(

pokerstars twitter has kicked back to life...

should have disconnected

Has anyone else noticed they do not have a dead button anymore in tourneys? The last few SnG's and the big $10 last night the button moved straight to the BB when the SB was knocked out in the previous hand  >:(

This is the system they have always operated on PokerStars.

Update for PokerStars

We will be deploying a new client update over this and next weeks. The update contains primarily tasks related to the recently-announced 100 Billionth Hand Celebration. If you haven't read the news about it yet, you can go to: http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/promotions/100-billion-celebration/ (http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/promotions/100-billion-celebration/).

There are also a lot of back end improvements with this update and some bug fixes. Here is a summary of what is being released:

100 Billion Hands Celebration

There are many tasks being released that will be part of the 100 Billion Hands Celebration. Those will not be immediately visible and I cannot share more specific details right now, but stay tuned for more news from PokerStars in due course about this event!

Lag/Freeze Fix

We believe we have tracked down and fixed an issue that caused lag and client freezes for some players. It was due to an odd interaction between a third party application and our table shutdown process. If you see this again, please contact us. Make sure to tell us what other programs were running alongside PokerStars at the time.

Changes to the Installation and First Time Signup Processes

We are testing several changes to the new client installation process and to the way our signup process works. Among other things, some clients will now install with Group View - the third View option in the ring games lobby - on by default (so we can look at new player impact) and the “Welcome” pop-up upon first sign up will soon be replaced with a dialog that will allow us to much better experiment with different messages and functionality for new sign ups. This is all part of an effort to streamline the initial experience at PokerStars.

Other improvements/bug fixes:

• Hand histories and tournament summaries now properly save when a table auto-closes.
• Progressive knockout tournaments are now supported on mobile clients.
• The number of hands played in the Stats tab will now correctly update after a player sits out in Zoom.
• The 20 - 50 BB ring games filter has been removed (since we no longer have any of those tables).
• Table Starters are now integrated with the "Find Me A Seat" button in Groups and Combo views in the ring game lobby.
• Other small bug fixes and small usability and functionality improvements.

Note: Most of the above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.

Oioi, pretty big bink right there, I was posting in the chat asking if ppl were lagging/freezing as I was really badly, nobody said they were having problems so I thought it was my new PC, was beyond tilted, shipppppppppp!

I thought it was my PC too. So I upgraded ;noflopshomer;

Must have been HM2 related?

I don't use 2.

For Full Tilt Poker:

Small update, new features:

A. 6 Card Omaha: Because sometimes 5 Card Omaha isn't enough. Ring games and SNGs will start appearing shortly after we come back up, and it will be the Game of the Week (http://"http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/promotions/game-of-the-week") starting on Monday. The one missing MTOPS (http://"http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/promotions/mtops/schedule") event (#69) will also be 6 Card Omaha.

B. Small Tournament Changes: A trio of smaller changes to tournaments –

• Red Tournaments – The bigger, more "special" tournaments weren't standing out enough from the pack of Green tournaments in the schedule, so we've introduced a new Red color to make them pop a bit more. For the most part it will be the bigger weekly tournaments that get the Red treatment.
  
• Earlier Antes – By popular demand, most NL Hold'em tournaments will now have antes kick in at the 50/100 blind level instead of 120/240.
  
• Lower Minimum Players for Rush – Before this update all Rush tournaments needed 36 players to start. We've changed it so only two tables are required, so either 12 or 18 players will be the new minimum for all Rush Tournaments. This should have the biggest impact on our Rush On Demand tournaments, which should start more frequently now.

Wiiiiii earlier antes FTW!

SO MUCH THIS... the late antes were THE WORST

VAMOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

+afew

Does stars read this thread or just the 2+2 one? I have a suggestion for multi-tabling...

Would be great to have some way to click (right click or otherwise) and say something like "ignore focus from this table" so if you are stacked for instance and have a decision and are tanking it on one table can carry on clicking buttons like a monkey on the others without the table constantly popping back up otentially causing you to time-out elsewhere/ slow the other games down for people.

Im not sure if this is used for suggestions etc, but it would be great if there was a feature that allowed you to save a schedule of favorite tournaments for example and then you could one click reg of all of your saved tourneys.

afaik they only read the 2+2 one. Just move the table you are tanking on out of your stack and you can work on your stacked tables. Pretty simple to set up a set table aside hotkey as well if necessary...


I've seen this suggestion loads of times, I've seen it claimed to be in development so hopefully it will be something they bring in soon...

Update for PokerStars:

We will be deploying client updates this week. Here is a list of most notable items:

Mac client using Cocoa API

We have changed our Mac client to use the Cocoa API. This client will initially be deployed solely on .NET this month to find any critical bugs before being rolled out to the real money clients. The change to Cocoa is a prerequisite to adding Retina support and many other improvements for Macs down the road. Retina support is not being added just yet, but we expect it will shortly follow should everything go smoothly on .NET client this month.

Other Mac Improvements

We are also deploying two Windows client features over to the Mac client – chat emoticons and the ability to re-order columns in the lobby list of games. Emoticons are directly accessible from the chat area on the table. To use the re-order of columns functionality you can simply drag & drop a column header in the main lobby, or click on the Lobby Column Settings icon just above the bet slider and do it from the dialog that opens.

New Gaming Sounds (Beta)

We are releasing a new set of beta sounds for the client and have made improvements to the way sounds are played in the client to improve the overall experience. To try the new Beta sounds simply check "Enable beta sounds" checkbox in the "Options" > "Sounds" dialog. We will be looking to make those default sounds for the client after the Beta period.

In addition to the sounds being updated, we have also added a unique sound for raise.

We would love to hear how you like the new sounds – please email your feedback to beta@pokerstars.com.

Tournament Lobby "Date" Column Change

Tournaments that will start within the next 60 minutes will display the number of remaining minutes in the current "Date" column. So instead of showing for example "Jun 21 07:24", the column might show "In 15 min" with a tooltip of the actual date and time. We are also changing the header of this column to be "Start". In case you do not find this new display to your liking, you can revert to always showing the date by unchecking "Show Minutes Remaining in ‘Start’ Column for Tournaments" in "Options" > "Lobby Display Options".

Alternative Tourney List View

We are making few minor changes to the alternative list view for Tourney tab – polishing a few display issues, adjusting the sorting logic, and ironing out some bugs. We will be looking to roll out the alternative view as default soon, so if you have not tried it, please do so and send us your feedback to beta@pokerstars.com. To enable the new view, please go to "Options" > "Lobby Display Options" and select "Enable Alternative Tournament List Layout (Beta)".

Flighted Tournaments (Beta)

After resolving several major issues (mostly related to reporting for European regulators) we will be looking to re-start a wider Beta testing phase of flighted tournaments on shared liquidity clients. For the ones who are not clear what this is, flighted tournaments are very similar to the way major live tournaments are run where you have Day 1A, Day 1B, etc., that lead to a single Day 2 combining the remaining players from the previous flight. Players may also be able to play in more than one entry level flight, if they have been eliminated from the previous one.

Other improvements:

• We will now have filters that allow players to hide Table Starters and Zoom in the main ring game lobby.
•     The pop-up that shows when busting out of an SNG no longer steals focus – it is simply added to the queue of actions.
•     The live table view in the lobby will now be the default for new installs.
•     The SNG lobby now more clearly displays the added money and total prizepool for Golden SNGs.
•     Many other small bug fixes and improvements.

Note: Most of the above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.

anyone know how i stop the pokerstars main lobby popping to the front when i register for a sng (using register too similair button under the chip tray)?

Do you run any 3rd party software?

If not try Options --> Advanced Multi-Table Options --> Untick Auto-open tournament lobby?

Couple of other options in there you could fiddle about with to see if that helps.

had unticked that option just unticked the new tourny takes focus see if that helps

what 3rd party software should i use apart from a HUD which i will get soon enough

feck that didnt work either

Yes but even so if you pull it out and are still tanking it will still keep coming back to that one and not taking focus from the others in the queue if you know what I mean?

just a quick question.

In zoom poker, I've somehow managed to stop the box coming up that asks you to choose how many tables you'd like to play...


This is forcing me to click on the stakes and 'play' then stars auto minimises as I've set and then I have to pull it up again to select again....

and repeat..


help?

Yeah man, but I don't have this problem. Do you have single click table activation on? (in Options --> Advanced Multi-Table Options)



Not sure if you want Stars to auto minimize from how you wrote that. If not:

Options --> Advanced Multi-Table Options --> Untick "Minimize main lobby when opening table"

I dont mind stars auto minimising...

its more that I want to be able to choose how many tables I play at each zoom stake.

;)

Oops, missed this from a few days ago:

For Full Tilt Poker:

Today's update (available within the hour) is the launch of the new Black Card program.

I'd like to give a quick (or maybe not so quick) rundown on the promotion, focusing mostly on how the new Black Card leaderboards will be calculated.

Before we get to that, first some basic details that will hopefully answer some of the questions you've had about the promotion:

How do I earn Black Card status?

Black Card is the new top tier in the Edge program. It's earned based off of your 100 day rolling FTP average, with a 500 FTP average required.

What do I get for being Black Card?

There are three main benefits to Black Card:

• You can convert your FTPs to cash at a rate of 200 FTPs per $1. There are two ways you will be able to do this. First, you can set it up so you automatically convert all FTPs earned for the week to become cash at the same time as your Edge Reward (and have it be added to your Edge Reward). The second option is to manually convert any amount of your current FTPs as a one-off thing.
• You will earn double FTPs as long as you are opted-in to the Edge Leaderboards.
• You will be eligible to compete in the Black Card Leaderboards to become a "Black Card Pro."

.
What do I get for being a Black Card Pro?

Three things:

• You become "red" on the site and get a "Black Card Pro" avatar
• 100% Edge Rewards (aka rakeback)
• A $20K prize package (either FTOPS/MiniFTOPS entries or a bonus, your choice)

http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/edge/black-card/sponsorship (http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/edge/black-card/sponsorship)

What are the Edge Leaderboards?

The monthly Edge Leaderboards replace our current monthly leaderboard system and greatly expand it. Instead of only having monthly MTT, SNG, and Heads-Up SNG leaderboards, we will have all of those plus an additional set of ring game leaderboards, for a total of 15 different leaderboards. The top 25 players from each leaderboard will get an "Edge Boost", granting them one Edge level higher for the following month than they had at the end of the previous month. The top 3 from each leaderboard will also win a small cash prize.

What are the Black Card Leaderboards?

Black Card Leaderboards are where Black Card members compete to become a Black Card Pro. There are 11 Black Card Leaderboards. They run for 6 months, and at the end of the 6 months, the top player from each leaderboard will win the 6 month Black Card Pro sponsorship.

More details can be found here:

http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/edge/black-card (http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/edge/black-card)

So that's the basics. On to the details of the leaderboards themselves –

Monthly Edge Leaderboards

Here is the list of the 15 monthly Edge Leaderboards:

• NL/PL Hold'em High (Above $1/$2)
• NL/PL Hold'em Low (Up to $1/$2)
• PL Omaha High (Above $1/$2)
• PL Omaha Low (Up to $1/$2)
• Rush Ring Games High (Above $0.50/$1)
• Rush Ring Games Low (Up to $0.50/$1)
• Heads-Up Ring Games (All stakes)
• All Other Ring Games (All stakes)
• SNG High ($26 buyin and up)
• SNG Low (Up to $26)
• Heads-Up SNG Highest ($50 buyin and up)
• Heads-Up SNG High ($20-$49)
• Heads-Up SNG Medium ($5-$19)
• Heads-Up SNG Low (Below $5)
• MTT (All)

Each leaderboard uses one of three different scoring systems. All 8 ring game leaderboards use one system, the 4 HU leaderboards use a second, and the SNG/MTT leaderboards use a third.

SNG/MTT Leaderboards: The SNG/MTT leaderboard calculation is exactly the same as it existed in the monthly leaderboards previously.

Ring Game Leaderboards: The 8 ring game leaderboards use an entirely new scoring system (created with the help of the feedback we received here) and works like this:

You score points on the leaderboard based on your record vs. each player in the game and stake level you're playing. The number of points you get are based on three factors: How many big blinds you're up on that player at the end of the month, what stake level you were playing, and whether or not that player you beat was in the top 100 of that leaderboard the previous month.

Capping the number of points you can win off a single opponent should encourage players to play as many different players as possible. We also hope giving a bonus for beating players who were on the previous month's leaderboard will encourage some players to "take a shot" at some of the better players. The stakes multiplier was needed because there are fewer "different" players to play against at the higher stakes, and the competition is obviously tougher up there.

There is no crossover between the leaderboards. This means that if you're playing Heads-Up NLH (even at a table with more than 2 seats) that hand counts towards the Heads-Up leaderboard only and not the NLH leaderboard. If you're playing PLO Rush, it counts towards the Rush leaderboard only.

HU SNG Leaderboards: The HU SNG Leaderboards work similarly to the Ring Game leaderboards, but instead of needing to win a certain number of BBs from each opponent, you need to be a certain amount of SNGs "up" on that opponent to earn base leaderboard points.

For both the Ring Game and HU SNG Leaderboards, the "previous month bonus" obviously won't be in effect for July since there is no previous month results to go off of, but that will start up in August.

The exact details of each scoring system can be found here:

http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/edge/monthly-leaderboards/rules (http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/edge/monthly-leaderboards/rules)

Black Card Leaderboards

Black Card Leaderboards feed off of the monthly Edge Leaderboards. If you have Black Card status, your top 4 monthly Edge Leaderboard scores will be added together to form your full 6 month Black Card Leaderboard score. This means you can take 2 months off for whatever reason and not be unduly punished in the leaderboard.

There isn't quite a 1:1 mapping from monthly Edge Leaderboards to Black Card Leaderboards (some Edge Leaderboards won't have enough players with Black Card status to make it an interesting and competitive leaderboard), and the full list of 11 Black Card Leaderboards looks like this:

• NL/PL Hold'em High (Above $1/$2)
• NL/PL Hold'em Low (Up to $1/$2)
• PL Omaha High (Above $1/$2)
• PL Omaha Low (Up to $1/$2)
• Rush Ring Games High (Above $0.50/$1)
• Rush Ring Games Low (Up to $0.50/$1)
• Heads-Up Ring Games (All stakes)
• Other Ring Games (All stakes)
• SNG (All stakes)
• Heads-Up SNG (All stakes)
• MTT (All)

More details relating to the Black Card Leaderboards can be found here:

http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/edge/black-card/leaderboards (http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/edge/black-card/leaderboards)

It's important to note that we don't expect everything in these leaderboards to be perfect immediately. We will rely on your feedback on how we can improve the systems for the next running (starting in January) to make sure we really are rewarding the "best" (however that's defined) players on the site.

I'm personally pretty excited to see how this will work out. I hope we'll see some great battles in at least a few of the leaderboards. I predict at least a couple will be wide open to start, so it'll be interesting to see who wants to fight for it.

Game on!

Q: Bryan, can you comment on a complete revamp of the schedule? I recall someone posting in here a few months ago that the MTT schedule will be completely different in the upcoming months.

A: The schedule overhaul is currently planned to deploy shortly after the conclusion of WCOOP 2013. The new schedule will be different in many ways, though a lot of the major standbys, like the daily Bigs, the Hot turbos, Omania, the Saturday Line-Up, the Sunday Majors, the Super Tuesday, etc... are going to stay in one form or another. A survey is being sent out to many thousands of players this month; please take the time to fill it out and let us know what you think!

Update for PokerStars:

We are in the process of deploying a small client update this week. Here is a list of the most notable items:

Re-entry tournaments (Beta)

We are introducing re-entry tournaments to the PokerStars tournaments offering. In re-entry tournaments, when you bust during late registration, you are given the option to re-enter the tournament. Unlike in a rebuy, you will not keep your seat (and there is no add-on period); instead, you are given a completely new tournament entry. Initially we will start with a small Beta offering of those tournaments until we verify that everything is functioning properly.

New card decks (Beta)

We've introduced two new card decks. They are accessible via Table Themes. Here are screenshots of the new decks:


Mac Client and Cocoa API

The PokerStars.NET Mac Cocoa client rollout has gone rather smoothly, so we are deploying the new Cocoa Mac client to several real money licenses this month. If all goes well, it will be deployed to .COM and .EU next month. In the Cocoa client there is initial Retina support for text and native OS controls.

Other bug fixes and improvements

• Beta Sounds: A fix for the ante sound being played too many times each hand.
• A fix for some graphical issues with full hole cards obscuring the dealer button in themes derived from the Classic theme.
• A fix for a problem with tournaments not auto-closing when a player busts at the same time the table breaks.
• Other smaller fixes and tweaks.

Note: Most of the above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.

Update for PokerStars:

We are in the process of deploying a client update this week. Here is a list of the most notable items:

PokerStars 7 Alpha

This is not technically linked to the update that is being deployed, but as some of you may have heard we have started an Alpha testing phase of PokerStars 7 with a small number of players. The first Alpha version has key features such as Quick Seat lobby, Favorites, new Main Lobby filters, the new App Bar and more. We will be updating the Alpha client as more features are ready to be released there, until we are ready to transition to the more open Beta stage. Stay tuned for more news!

Extra Bet Slider Button

The desktop client will now have four configurable buttons that control betting amounts. We have also turned the bet slider shortcut buttons on for everyone, though you can still switch them off if you prefer. If you have already customized the bet slider shortcuts, you will  need to  go to “Options” > “Bet Slider Options” and configure the extra button.

Mac Cocoa API

We will finish the upgrade process and deploy the new Cocoa client to all remaining licenses (including .COM) this month. The Cocoa client has initial Retina support for text and native OS controls.

Ratholing Restrictions

We are in the final stages of testing the new ratholing restrictions that were agreed upon during player meetings. If we do not find any problems they will be enabled this month.

Other bug fixes and improvements

• We believe we've identified and fixed a rare occurrence that sometimes prevented starting SNGs from opening when multi-tabling.
• Tournaments will now correctly auto-close a table that breaks when the player busts.
• Changed the ante sound triggers in the beta sound set. This sound will now play less often. We look to enable the new sounds by default in early October, while keeping the option to use the old ones.
• BOOM! hand replays can now be watched using mobile devices, via boomplayer.com
• Few more fixes and improvements.

Note: Most of the above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.

is there an app for the ipad for FTP?

http://bit.ly/17Nap3l

they do all this good work then allow scripters to ruin the lobby

We are releasing a small client update this week. The focus right now is mostly on PokerStars 7 which is in closed Alpha stage, but here is a list of few items that are being released:

• Mac Performance Improvements --We have optimized the Mac clients performance slightly to alleviate some of the lag problems that players might have experienced. We have also fixed several other issues reported recently. Players who are using the special client posted in this thread earlier will not be asked to update to the newly deployed client and can continue using the special client until we confirm the instant lag issue has been resolved.
• New Default Card Backs -- we have changed the default card backs to be one of the recently added variants. If your card backs have changed and you want to go back to the previous design, then please right click on the table background or felt and select "Table Themes" and adjust your card back design from there.
• Auto-Centering when Automatically Seated -- we have added the option to always be automatically centered in the bottom center seat (or the one closest to bottom center) when a player is automatically seated at a table, for example via "Seat me" or "Find Me A Seat".
• Other minor improvements and fixes.

What is this Pokerstars 7 I read about in here?

currently running PS6.

ps7 is the newest software iteration, has improved lobby and quick seat, favourites for tournaments and a bunch of other changes. it's been in closed alpha for a while, if I could remember my 2+2 details atm then I could see when the beta will be out but no dice atm lolz

I hate change.  They say change is fine but it never is!!!!

As long as I still run good I don't mind though.

mtt favourites is fking sweet  ;whistle;

This.

When I start my session it is a bit of a pain in the arse going through the lobby for 10-15 minutes finding all the tournaments I play.

Cannot wait! I think every tourney grinder has this problem!

"We will enable today a feature that will indicate when a player is playing from a mobile device via a small mobile device icon on the player pod of the player. You can disable those icons by going to "Options" > "Table Display Options" and the unchecking "Show mobile device icons of other players".

You can also disable this icon showing for yourself when you are using a mobile device (so that other players can't see you are playing via a mobile device) by going to "Options" > "Table Display Options" and selecting "Show my mobile device icon to other players"."

Ffs thought this was the new schedule for MTTs!

Another aid for regs this surely, noticed this last night and instantly thought, on an ipad/phone. Not a grinder etc no HUD blah blah blah

Came here for new MTT schedule :(

Sorry guys, I doubt we'll get new MTT schedule in the next 3 months given the joke fest it's been so far.

I guess they've gone for the icon thing for advertising purposes

Yup exactly what I thought.

Why would they introduce this, other than to benefit regs?

I'd say it's solely advertising purposes.

Agreed. Seems shortsighted though but ofc i am going to use it in game!

seems absurd :s

i love it!

i don't care!

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxxajLWwzqY

Is there any way to join a waiting list on the mobile app platform. Specifically the Android version

Any idea why my iPad would be restricting to 3 tables?

(http://i.imgur.com/qiz4f1L.png)

PokerStars 7 Alpha software is now available to any Windows user who has a PokerStars.com account and would like to join our Alpha testing program.

What is PokerStars 7?

PokerStars 7 is our newest desktop poker client (we’ll be referring to the current software players are using today as PokerStars 6).  If you’d like an overview of the features of PokerStars 7, please visit our website at http://www.pokerstars.com/pokerstars7 (http://"http://alphatester:ps7alpha@www.pokerstars.com/pokerstars7").   (Username: alphatester, Password: ps7alpha)

What does Alpha mean?

PS7 Alpha is fully functional and supports both real money and play money poker, but it is pre-beta, meaning that it is still undergoing user testing with frequent product updates as minor issues are being resolved and the UI is being refined.  We’ve been in an internal Alpha stage for many months and have slowly invited more players to test the client and the new features/fixes that are appearing each week.  At this point, all the major features are in and we are ready to allow more players access in order to receive more feedback.

Can I use the PokerStars 7 Alpha software?

Yes, as long as you have a PokerStars.COM account on a Windows PC.  PokerStars 7 is not yet available for Mac OS or for .NET or any other extension besides .COM.    The instructions for installing the Alpha are listed at the end of this post.

How can I see what’s new?

First, please visit the PokerStars 7 website (http://"http://alphatester:ps7alpha@www.pokerstars.com/pokerstars7") for an overview of new features (Username: alphatester, Password: ps7alpha).  Next, we encourage everyone to join the private ‘PokerStars 7’ forum on 2+2. The product team for PokerStars 7 is actively participating in the PS7 forum so we can quickly act on any issues or suggestions reported by Alpha players, answer questions, keep everyone informed of changes, and post release notes for each product update.  You can join the forum following these steps:

1)   Go to the Group Memberships (http://"http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/profile.php?do=editusergroups") page on 2+2.

2)   Look for PS7 in the list of groups available for you to join, select the radio button on the far right and click ‘Join Group’.
 Within 24 hours your request to join the group will be accepted (but typically within an hour or so).

Installation Instructions

IMPORTANT:  Please be aware that the PokerStars 7 Alpha software is a separate installation from the currently available PokerStars 6 client. By default, it will be installing into a folder separate from your existing PokerStars 6 folder, but it will attempt to use your existing notes and settings where possible so you aren’t starting from scratch with PS7.
  
Download the Alpha from here: http://dev1.testpokerstars.com/exchange/PS_COM_ALPHA.exe (http://"http://dev1.testpokerstars.com/exchange/PS_COM_ALPHA.exe") .
 
After installation, you will see a new PokerStars 7 icon on your desktop.  When you want play on PokerStars 7, click on the new PS7 icon.   When you want to play on PokerStars 6, you will need to close PokerStars 7 and click on the PokerStars icon (red spade) that you have been using up till now.  Note that you cannot be logged in to both clients at the same time.

Does PokerStars 7 work with 3rd party software?

As we don’t test our client against 3rd party software before releasing it, we cannot comment on the compatibility of any 3rd party software used with PokerStars 7.  We suggest checking with the 3rd party software provider.

oh ya'll are involved too now yo


you gonna love the chip graphs for stack sizes in mtts, favourites!

<3 <3 <3

Will this be gg for TN1?

not a clue re TN would assume not. They didn't mention or at least I didn't see any discussion about limiting 3rd party software etc.

I think the point is that we have TN2 now, which is till really buggy as far as I am aware. Yet I can't see them updating tn1 for the new stars client. I will be updating my client as late as I possibly can.

yeh I mean w/e I have no specific knowledge of TN,  I just know that nothing was mentioned with regards to 3rd party software. Depending on how reliant you are on TN then favourites and filters may make your life alot easier anyway to do stuff manually.

Is there a way to stop those tourney advert popups please?

Options > Tournament Announcements?

Thanks.

I did blocked them when I downloaded the software about 5 years ago, but when I changed my OS recently I'd forgotten how I did it.

how do i stop this annoying box coming up in the middle of my tables?

options, table appearance, tournament announcements. you can turn off both the table overlays and the chat window information.


;)

thank you

I resize my tables so that they almost fill my lappy screen.

When I start a new session, the first table opens to that size, but any others open small and I have to stretch them.

How do I set the big size as my default please?

stacking?

Lol. I'm not sure if you're asking me a question or offering me a solution.

Any chance of a couple more words?

You can press control & 0 (I think) on whichever table is at your preferred size. This will stack all the tables, you can then arrange them as you choose.

Also go to options & select "remember my table positions" so you only have to do it once.

Just tried Control & 0. It made em all small instead of all big. :(

I have this problem as well and it annoys me.  I'm gonna load tables now and I wont leave this thread till I've sorted it.  You will have an answer forthwith.

Get the tables set up how you want them.  Once you have them all in position click View in the lobby and then click on Save Custom Layout.  Click Save As, call it what you want and save.  If you click View again, there should be a new entry in the list which says Custom Layout: (whatever you called it) which should be ticked.  Below that is a box that says Apply Active Layout (Ctrl + 3) which should be the hotkey you need should you move any tables and want to return to the original size and layout.

I just closed down stars and reopened it and all the tables appeared as I left them, so hopefully this is the solution.  If this isn't clear please let me know.

My replayer seems to be broken on FTP. I cant see the mucked hands of opponents.

Any info

Think i was just being an idiot.

Perfect!

Thank you.

My phone makes the 'text message' sound, but it's actually the PokerStars app inviting me to do something or other.

Can I swich this function off? It's a bloody liberty considering the fact that I haven't even got the app open.

On your iPhone:

Settings ----> Notification Centre ----> Look for PokerStars and change settings as you desire

I'm an android...

(https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTYWSMy_AjOHORbhshcPCT9Azfg2AJv5XJuPDEEtgRJE1vCPOZJIg)

Spin & Gos now live on PokerStars.com

http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/spin-and-go/

Thought it was worth a mention that FTP have made some positive moves.

They've changed their tournament buy-ins and the MTT lobby looks super clean. They've decreased Turbo MTT rake to be less than Reg Speed rake. They've also introduced rake-free SNG satellites.

Post is here and changes were made today: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=45894908&postcount=3224

I don't see any rake free satellites, but let's hope the new schedule can grow some traffic on there...

SNGs --> Satellites