Hello 2+2,
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.