Hello all,
Below, we have compiled replies to the most common questions that we receive through support. I am aware that this does not reply directly to individual posts here, but I hope this post will clarify our position on the most important issues.
If, after this, you still have questions for us on the broader lines of these changes, I will check back on this thread over the weekend, and try to answer as many posts as I can. However, if your are having questions about very specific features of specific programs, I will still have to direct you to our regular customer support.
So, on to the summary:
What is your revised stance towards Heat Maps?
Heads-Up Displays are no longer allowed to display statistics filtered on card values, meaning things such as post flop aggression values on specific texture types are no longer permitted. This also includes tracking how often players had a specific starting hand, meaning “heat maps” are now longer permitted to be used in Heads-Up displays.
These statistics may still be referenced in post-game analysis review sessions.
You have prohibited any tool that coordinate a player’s registrations into Spin & Gos. Can my friends and I still coordinate our registrations manually?
The only manner in which players are permitted to avoid being seated at the same Spin & Go table is by taking measures to avoid concurrent play within the same player pool. This can be achieved by either playing at different stake levels, or having entirely different timetables for playing sessions.
Our intention is to protect the spirit of Spin & Go registration as much as possible and as such, all forms of coordination while concurrently playing in the same player pool are prohibited regardless of how it is executed. We aim to prevent any large-scale abuse and when we spot any amount of players who are repeatedly and systematically avoiding each other while concurrently playing in the same player pool, we will take necessary actions.
You have restricted the number of possible colors used for a specific HUD statistic. Can different statistics still use different colors?
Yes. Our intention is to limit the contextual/implicit advice that sophisticated coloring profiles may provide to the player. That is, each statistic may only have at maximum three different colors used, based on two raw-value thresholds, but the actual colors used may differ between statistics.
Some non-Spin & Go seating scripts are no longer displayed on your website. Have you changed your stance towards the use of these tools?
Seating scripts that do not manipulate opponents in games in which you are unable to choose a specific table to play on remain permitted for now. We have opted to no longer include such tools in our list of examples, due to revisiting this policy in the future as mentioned
here.
Can tools still calculate things like the Hutchinson point value of my Omaha starting hand?
No, such functionality would be considered interpretation of the current game state and is therefore prohibited.
Do the same color restrictions apply to other HUD-like information, such as displaying a player’s stack size in big blinds?
The color threshold restriction placed on HUDs is only applicable for the in-game retrieval of statistics based on a player’s historical play mid-session.
Other information that may be presented in a HUD-like form, such as a player’s stack size in big blinds, the M-equivalent of their stack size or the current pot odds facing a player would be considered game state information and therefore have tighter restrictions applied. No interpretation, commentary or advice can be given by game state reporters, which means that no dynamic coloring is permitted whatsoever.
Tools are no longer allowed to categorize or label players in-game. Can I still use tools to assign my own categorizes or labels?
Yes. Players are still allowed to assign their own categories/labels/badges to players based on their own observations.
Do I have to display the actual numerical value of the statistic itself, or can I simplify its display even further? For example, rather than displaying VPIP = 23%, can I just display VPIP = Green?
Yes, providing the statistic otherwise mimics a traditional numerical statistic in that it is always displayed and meets the threshold/color restrictions, its usage would still be considered numerical based and thus permitted.
Is there anything else you can share to help explain your policy regarding the “basic in nature” line when it comes to reference material?
Another way to interpret the “basic in nature” line is whether the reference material is something a regular person could realistically memorize. If it is something that could be memorized, by referring to it in game, one’s play has not changed; they have just prevented the need to actually go about memorizing it.
If it is not something one could memorize, by referring to it, they are altering the ultimate action they take, presumably for the better, which is the unfair advantage gained.
This obviously doesn’t remove the entirety of the subjectiveness but it does highlight that it is the amount of underlying data conveyed in the totality of the reference material used. It is not based on the number of individual pieces or the size of their representation.
In practice, in the common instance of starting hand tables where each cell of the table contains additional underlying information, such as a stack size, position or action, we’ve been interpreting the upper limit of “basic in nature” as four distinct tables.
Players are welcome to submit their reference material to us via email for definitive answers if they are unsure of the nature.
Which statistics are displayed in a HUD must be static throughout the hand. However, can you alter their display in other ways, other than the restrictions placed on their color?
No - any dynamic behavior, other than the explicit permitted change of their color, is prohibited. This means that displaying a statistic in 8-pt font the majority of the time, but displaying the same statistic in 16-pt font when it is deemed relevant is prohibited.
What do you mean by electronic navigation in terms of reference material? Wouldn’t this apply to everything in soft copy form?
Our original intention was for “electronic navigation” to encompass prohibiting dedicated tools that allow a player to click a button and have a specific chart appear but permit players to manually navigate an Excel sheet or specific folder on their hard drive. To avoid confusion we shall reduce the usage of “electronic navigation” and simply encompass the former scenario under “semi-automated information retrieval”.
Thanks,
Baard