Ok, I will try it - yesterday the freezing was just happening to me after folding, but today the tables have started to freeze in the middle of hands, although that could just be because I didn't play to much yesterday ...

Will report back in a bit ...

i dont use PT and experience the same lag too

Stars just so you guys know, this is what is happening to me right now.

1. I can't play zoom because hem2 newest update giving me problems not showing my stats.

2. I can't play reg tables because 1/4 of my tables are frozen.

So whether it's the site or hem, both are just giving problems & i won't play until these things are fixed.

my tables keep freezing, I'm playing tourneys, its cost me a fortune tonight, I've had to stop playing now because of it, other sites seem ok and its not all tables at the same time
never had this issue before and doesnt seem to be affecting many others

So I rebooted my computer, didn't turn on PT, and played for about 30 minutes without my HUD - and my table didn't freeze.

Then after 30 minutes, I turned on PT, and it froze 5 hands later.

I submitted my PS log file, and have one for the 5 hands of PT as well if you're interested in those.


Will probably not play this weekend unless the freezing with PT turned on is fixed though ...

when this gets fixed maybe implementing some form of countdown clock like other poker sites have (other than the 10 sec warning in the chat box as not all of us use chat) would help because you don't know if it is someone tanking or your client is frozen

I might have been the second user that Stefan was referring to but can confirm that no freezing occurs after rebooting, not starting PT and just playing.

Sounds like some PT background process that doesn't shut down after closing PT could be causing problems?

I get it and I don't have PT4 I use HM2

I am using Table Optimizer HUD additionaly and experienced the problem. Anyone who is not?

Didn't PT and HEM merge fairly recently, so it's reasonable to assume that those products might share code, e.g. for a hand importer or something else running in the background? Obv. just speculation.

Same problem with or without HM2

Is there a way to change the cashier option on pokerstars? Havent played in a while and i had to buy a new computer. Now im playing again and i logged in and i see its pokerstars 7. I then changed it back to pokerstars 6 the classic version but when i click on cashier... its not the old pokerstars 6 version. Does anyone know how to fix this issue or you can't fix it? I just don't like how it looks the cashier on stars.

I also had 4x a table freeze in the middle of a tourney. Internet connection was perfect. I could get to my PS cashier window. I am using PT4 also but I think thats not the problem because it also did freeze without using PT4 and also after restarting my PC. I mailed support bc I do not dare to play anymore atm :-(

PS7 Request:

When you open up the tourney lobby can you give us the option to change whether it opens up on Home, Tables, Chip Graph or Structure by default?

Just experienced the same thing at ZOOM.

I started 4 tables. After a dozen hands, I turned on PT4. I was having an issue with the HUD showing the stats for the wrong players, or not showing any at all. Because of this, I turned of PT4's auto-import. All of my tables immediately froze upon completion of each hand right after stopping PT4.

EDIT: Some more details: I actually ended up being sat out at all of my tables. The "Sit out next hand" button is checked on all of my tables even though I did not check the box. One box being accidentally checked I can see, but not all 4. Also not correct is that there are still players showing at all seats from the last hand that I played, instead of showing me sitting alone at a table like usual. When I click on the "I'm Back" button, the other players disappear, but I am never moved to a new hand.

EDIT 2: PS also failed to write the last 15 hands I played to my hard drive when the issue took place. I was able to get the hands when I requested my recent hand history through the client (I have not yet restarted anything, although I am about to).

EDIT 3: Definitely seems to be due to stopping PT4. Because I was feeling like a nice guy, shortly after restarting my session, I booted PT4 back up again. No issues. I started the importing hands while playing. No issues. After a dozen more hands, I stopped importing hands. All games immediately froze.

I want to say that stopping the PT4 import while playing causes somewhat of a connection issue. After a short period of time, 2 of my tables sat out. It almost seemed as if my hand was still timing down, I just couldn't see any updates or act. On the 3rd table, I tried my hotkey to fold the hand. Almost immediately, my stack decreased by one small blind, as if I actually folded the hand then was dealt into the small blind. After another short period, I sat out on that table. I am still waiting to sit out on the 4th table, where I was in the middle of a hand. I don't know if it is completely disconnected there, or if it is waiting for my timebank to expire (I think that should have happened already).
The connection issue also supports the last few hands not being written to my hard drive.

EDIT 4: When I tried to close the 4th table, it gave me the "if you leave your hand will be folded" dialogue. After I left, my cashier decreased by another small blind. It looks like I was dealt into small blind after my table froze (I don't remember using the fold hotkey there, but I may have earlier).

I can no longer edit my post.

EDIT 5: I tried restarting the auto-import while the tables were frozen, didn't help with anything.

EDIT 6: Just saw the hand history. The text "krazykarter has timed out while disconnected" is present on 3 hands (including one in which I was the small blind", and the shorter text "krazykarter has timed out" on two others (one in which I was also the small blind". It was only 10 cents total so I'm not going to raise a fuss about it, but if I were playing high stakes I would probably be quite upset.

Thanks to all players for the provided input!

We continue to look into things and at this point it's really not clear where the cause is for the affected players.

We do have multiple confirmations now that if you shut down PokerStars and any third party tools, restart your machine, and make sure no third party tools start with Windows, and then start PokerStars without any third party tool, the freezing is gone.

It appears that once the issue has started, shutting down third party tools does not resolve it -- it's a machine restart without ever starting a third party tool that seems to resolve it for few players who have reported success on it.

There are also detailed reports that interfacing with PT4 while playing causes the same behavior. So it is likely that the cause is actually outside PokerStars, but we continue to look into the issue.

We would advise all players to contact the third party vendor as well with all the details they can provide for them to investigate to try to find a fix.

We will provide an update when we have more info on the issue.

Worked fine with reboot and PT4 not running then started PT4 to check and it froze when i had AAQJds

Even if it proves to be PT4's problem and not stars ye better try and sort it out before the weekend for people playing MTTs on multiple sites.

Agreed.

An update: After more investigation (with many out of office hours spent) we were able to reproduce the issue and indeed have found a problem with the way PokerTracker (and likely HEM) interacts with our software, which is the cause of the table freezing issue that some players are experiencing. We have approached the teams responsible for those tools to let them know and have provided them details on where the issue lies (as much as possible from our end).

Players who experience the problem are advised at this point to stop using those tools in parallel with the PokerStars software, to restart their systems, and then play on PokerStars without starting those tools. The nature of the interaction means that if the issue has occurred, shutting down the third party tool is not enough -- you need at the very least to restart the entire PokerStars client as well, but to be on the safer side, to restart your system with the tools not running prior to starting the PokerStars client.

We advise players to contact the relevant vendors for further updates on when/how this is to be fixed as the cause of the problem is outside our control.

Incoming **** fits are about to begin.

thats awfull

I have tried restarting without any 3rd party software running but still have issues. My main issue is that my hands are being folded for me pre-flop. The hotkeys are not the problem as I have had the same issue when not using them.

Can you please show the people on the waitlist and the people that are on the table already in 1 window? Since stars 7 you always need to click on waitlist to see whos waiting.

@PokerStars Stefan: It would definitely be a great help, if you could implement some kind of information in the "Registered in Tournaments" section that shows, if someone is sitting out in any tournament to better prevent the consequences of such errors for players in general.