the solution will not affect a single decent script and those who it affects will be fixed after a couple of hours. the only problem in teh current environment imo (and seems like in stars opinion as well) is teh neverending R cycle^^

says the biggest seat scripter on stars, who will lose a good amount of profit if this gets implemented correctly.



Sadly.. this.

And this. If stars REALLY wanted to solve this problem, they would have came up with a real solution, I hope they do.

It doesn't work like anything yet. It seems to me that making sitting at an empty table not count against your reservation total probably makes sense. But would it encourage people to more frequently sit empty tables with no intention to play most opponents, and if so does that create problems for people who do want to play?

This obviously should not be happening and I suspect we would have heard a lot about it were it a common occurrence. I see another poster says he has had the same experience. If anyone else has, please let me know.

If we see a serious increase in grimming we will have to deal with that of course. It doesn't seem to me that it will increase much at lower stakes because the scripter would only have the chance to join the table before action has occurred once (in most cases). After that when offered a seat, he would have to post to join action which would make grimming impossible. Playing one orbit and quitting, while perhaps annoying to others at the table, doesn't give him an advantage.

Make sure you report instances of grimming to support@pokerstars.com.

If you're on a waitlist and then decline a seat it won't count against your reservation total.

Some are using software to get on waitlists with the sole purpose, just like scripts, grabbing jesus seats. When they dont get a preferred seat they will rejoin the same waitlist over and over again. I think this should count as well or alternatively make them unable to rejoin that waitlist for a period of time. Either way it is great to finally seeing something done to this.

Yep, and while we r at it pls lifetimeban every player who ever played a fish in position!!!!111^^

Chris,

What would be a reason not to simply implement birdayy's solution? Seems super easy, fast, and no issues would arise from it (grimming,etc).

Having a temporary ban on a specific TABLE will have close to no effect. Having a temporary ban on all stakes with the same conditions (or at least a whole stake) is much closer to a solution. As for the latter, 3x R for 6hours may work fine, as are the original parameters. Also, open-seating should not count towards R (along the lines of what Krmont22 is saying).

From how I understand his suggestion, it would only affect tables that have a reg sitting out when the process starts. I'd like this to have impact even when that's not the case.

Also, wouldn't it be a trivial adjustment to the scripts to have them adjust for that first 'reserved' seat possibly being a sitting out reg?

Thanks a lot for your efforts, Chris

If scrips could see the player reserving the seat instead of just seeing an "R" (with player color showing especially), then this R process loop wouldn't start to being with (whether someone is sitting out or not). This is the reason this doesn't happen on FTP.

well, that's the deal with symptoms. they become visible as a pointer to the underlaying cause of the problem. stupid little things them are.

i'd suggest to rub some toadfat on the inflamed areas and speak a prayer by the time of full moon. alternatively you can off course just slap them over their heads and hope they do not return.

this proposed solution rewards people having scripts, its makes it even better for them.

the scripts would not be adjusted to exclude the first one, they would just read who the new player is and then decide to take seats yes/no.

it wold avoid the reserved loop yes and it would rewards scripters as they now don't have those annoying unknown any more, but only get triggered when a weaker player/unknown sits.

this solution looks like mc donald's selling salad.

Chris,

thanks for finally taking action. The change of restricting reservations/time is one in the right direction, however it remains higly exploitable in your suggested version. If a player can only make a reservation 3x/TABLE then scripters will obv try to close new tables after they have used their 3x by sitting out, causing the table to break.

There are 2 improvments I'd like to suggest:
1) As others have said, let go of the "R", make a player sitout on the table as soon as they click on "seat open"
2) DO NOT close tables where 2 players sit and a 3rd joins without action. Rather, limit the time a player can sit out at a table without action for 1minute. DO NOT CLOSE THE TABLE RIGHT AWAY! By doing this, a player that WANTS TO START a game can remain sitting and other campers/scripters will be bounced off the table. However, scripters can not intentionally close tables by sitting out after using their 3x. Also, regs who start games will actually be rewarded by this feature eventually.

I know, the counter argument is that lots of players only want to start 3handed games. Maybe other bright minds have more ideas about this

Anyway, glad something is happening finally.

Lets fight hand history datamining:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/28.../#post45180722

Chris,

why u cant just get rid of R or Reserved status ?
If the problem is in R blocking the table - just make it like on other poker sites: player click on "seat open" -> table shows his name without balance. Then player completes the buyin - table shows his name+stack and the game begins.

+1 This needs to happen. Don't know why it's not already built into the software.

Yeah this is what I was getting at.

The issue is regarding the R nonsense. Not the scripts themselves.

Regs will still script the weaker players, but at least the table will have open seats until they sit down.

The goal is not simply to solve the table blocking issue. That's a priority, but as stated in the OP we are also looking to reduce the overall impact of seating scripts in general.

While I don't think the idea in the OP will solve all the problems, I think it will have more impact than what you are suggesting here.

why don't you just use a different letter? i would think the 3rd letter in the alphabet has substantially more power than "R". and it is more roundish in a way.

i for one am on +1 for "C"

As I mentioned my script actually already closes these endless reservation tables out once a certain number of R's appear (in order to prevent participation in the endless reservations), so this won't really effect my script too much. I already had a major annoyance with these endless reservation tables and welcome this change.

For other scripts without this feature, I think it will force them all to come up with a solution to handle tables better, which is better for the overall community.

Chris - can you please give us Stars' explanation for not adding scripts to the banned software list and punishing those who use them? Are Stars happy with scripts, but they just want to solve the R table-blocking problem, or are Stars against scripts altogether but feel they can't effectively police the problem?

It's not just the table blocking problem. I understand the impatience but I want to get this immediate step implemented before discussing broader approaches.

very good stuff chris,
there is no reason whatsoever to reserve a seat without the intention of playing so you easily allow a maximum of 3 reserved seats without action per 24 hour imo

Hey,

so if I take a seat on a table with two players and sit out either to let the two play HU or just wait for the 4th and 5th player, does it count as one of the "three reservations without game action"?