Borgata/PartyPoker Announces It Will Fix Software Crashes Due to MFC Errors
Borgata and PartyPoker announced this week that an imminent fix can be expected for those who experience frequent crashes on their site. The problems involve what’s called an “MFC error”, in which something unexpected by the software happens within the Microsoft Foundation Class library.
Players who use Apple Mac computers or Linux computers will not have such problems, because MFC errors only occur on Microsoft machines. Gaming media sources which have conducted informal surveys claim that the issue is widespread on computers using Microsfoft Windows operating systems, though.
Complaints on 2+2 Poker Forum
The glitch has presented enough of a problem that Borgata and Party Poker posted about the fix on their dedicated 2+2 Poker Forum. That thread has had 125 posts from 10 unique players since November 10, when players first started posting complaints about frequent clashes. The first poster on the forum complained they had nightly crashes, which seemed to draw comments from other players–many of whom agreed.
At the time the complaints first began appearing on the 2+2 Forum, the leading poker forum on the Internet, players speculated the issue might have to do with pop-ups. Multiple gamblers said they were told to uninstall and reinstall the software by Borgata’s tech support, but it did not resolve the issue. A similar discussion on PocketFives suggests that grinders (high-volume players) are having the most problems.
Crashes Happen During Poker Hands
Subsequent reports have indicated the memory leaks, bugs in a computer program, and bugs in the software are the primary causes of the technical issues. What distresses so many players is the Party/Borgata software sometimes crashes during a hand. This can be frustrating when the player is holding good cards.
In some instances, when players lock back into the casino software, they often find that they have been removed from their table. In other instances, the players cannot view their hole cards.
Memory Plays a Role in Crashes
The consensus among frustrated Borgata customers is the glitches have to do with poor memory allocation. The Borgata/Party software is known to consume twice as much memory as other software in the New Jersey market, such as 888poker software. In fact, the casino software takes up as much memory as a complicated interface like Skype.
The speculation is players have more crashes when they have 10 or more casino tabs open, often for the purpose of playing multiple tables. Also, when tournament announcement pop-ups appear on the screen, crashes are more likely to happen. Players report that the crashes are happening more since the September update, though sources suggest that this may simply be a result of the higher visibility the issue recently obtained.
Tech Support Is Criticized
Some of the players posting on the top poker forums have complained that the Party/Borgata tech support has not been as helpful as they could have been. In some cases, players have accused them of being misleading or uninformative. Replies often take 1 to 2 weeks. When replies are forthcoming, the player’s home ISP is often blamed. In other cases, support says they were unable to identify the issue.
Yet the issues continue to happen, according to many members of the online card playing community. On December 29, PartyPoker finally acknowledged a problem and a representative (“Colette”) announced that a fix would be forthcoming. In that announcement, Colette mentioned that Party had “identified the cause of the MFC errors and was working on a permanent fix.”
Software updates occur all the time, hoping to make the software more responsive, faster, or more secure. Sometimes, though, adding new code to a database has unforeseen effects on the existing software.
Problems with the code have to be hand-spotted and fixed with a rewrite of the program, called a patch. Running an online poker room is therefore a constant case of trial and error, with improvements, testing, and fixes taking place. In most instances, customers do not have to complain on online forums to get results.
DGE Complaints Department
Until the issue is resolved, those who lost money have the right to file a dispute with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. Under the law, players should try to resolve disputes with the gaming operator first, before filing a form with the DGE.
