Do any poker sites make software compatible with Ubuntu? I can run stars in WINE but it doesn't like playing more than 3 tables and is just not very reliable.

vmware with a windows install is the best way. I don't know of any sites that offer a direct client that runs under ubuntu.

the elegant solution is to run things under Windows™

Unfortunately, it's kind of a catch 22 situation. Linux in general, and Ubuntu in particular, have come a long way from the days when you had to compile your own kernel, or the days when i had to rewrite the dialup scripts on an ancient version of redhat to get them to work with my ISP.

Unfortunately, although Linux has a big share of the web server market, it's still running a distant third, behind Windows and MacOS in the desktop market. This means that for Poker Sites and other specialty software, it's not worth the money to build a Linux version. The fact that a lot of software that people need or want isn't available for Linux is one thing that keeps its market share down.

Windows has a lot of flaws, but there is a lot of software that only runs in Windows.

You can get good word processors, spreadsheets, email clients and web browsers for Linux (mostly free), but if you want to play internet poker, you need Windows.

this.

Linux would also make bot detection much harder I would imagine since it has much better security restrictions on the software running. I don't think many Linux users would agree to let PokerStar's or FullTilt's client run with root privileges.

What is the problem with running Pokerstars under WINE? Besides the resize/redraw issue. Does it crash? Lag? Giant resource hog?

I'm interested in some of the current netbooks that run Linux and I would like to at least 4 table on them.

Thanks!

The Wine AppDB gives the PokerStars' client its highest compatibility rating.

Works beautifully. Redraw/resize works with F5 workaround which is not even an annoyance. There are only two issues worth mentioning:

- the hovering info notes don't work on tables; they occasionally fail to work on lobby too, but never on tables after you have clicked on the table window

- If you are using a lightweight windowmanager which uses multiple workspaces (not quite virtual desktops but from user point of view exactly similar), NEVER visit other workspaces if the lobby is minimized; if the lobby would ever pop up while you are on another workspace, it fails, and after that there is no way to bring the lobby up without restarting the client. The other windows do pop up but you just can't select any more tables.

As long as you bring the lobby up before switching workspaces, there is no problem.

I find this very strange, as I have been using Pokerstars with Wine on Ubuntu for about two years and have never found it to be anything other than reliable. Earlier today I was playing on 24 tables, on a little laptop with 512 Mb of RAM, with an HUD running, and everything went smoothly. (See this thread http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/45...2008-a-273001/ if curious about the HUD.)

I can only imagine there is a problem with your Wine configuration. I'd check the Wine Application DB (link in earlier response above).

Mark_K: To judge from my experience it would be safe to assume that Pokerstars will run on a Linux netbook without problems.

If you absolutely must have a native Linux application, you could try a site that has a no-download (i.e. in-browser) client. See Pokerlistings, for instance.

The main problem I have is that the Pokerstars client sometimes disappears when I switch to a different workspace and then switch back to the PS workspace. It's still running, but it doesn't display the tables. The only solution I've found is to shut down the client by killing it from a shell, then restarting it.

I'm running Ubuntu 8.04 and Wine 1.0 (I don't know what build). This didn't happen under Debian and whatever version of Wine I had then. The only time I play under Linux nowadays is when I'm killing time with a freeroll.

My windowmanager isn't exactly lightweight -- it's Gnome, under Ubuntu, but I do have the problem you describe. I didn't know about the minimized lobby thing, though. Thanks for that.

This definitely wasn't an issue when I ran Debian with KDE, but I wouldn't consider KDE to be much more heavyweight than Gnome.

I have used PokerStars under wine almost every day for at least 3 years. I have played 12 tables with no problem. I currently use Fedora, but used Ubuntu in the past with no problem. I cannot remember a crash when running stars.

I use Xfce. It is friendlier to PokerStars than is Gnome.

The Full Tilt Beta has problems running under wine, but looks pretty promising if we can iron out some details.

Aha. I am using Xfce too. Perhaps that's the way to avoid difficulties.

Great news... I'm glad to hear that Pokerstars works pretty well...