PartyPoker Updates Software for Macs and Tournaments
The people at PartyPoker are continuously making changes. Every player will not be pleased with every alteration or rule change, but PartyPoker has consistently been aiming to make play fairer and the online poker experience better for the masses.
For months, the updates from PartyPoker pertained to bots and HUDs. It has been a process to eliminate programs designed to make plays automatically and software used to analyze players to the disadvantage of the majority of them.
Banning bots has required a team of people dedicated to detecting them, banning pertinent accounts, and refunding players who were victimized by those bot accounts. This continues with thousands of bots already banned and hundreds of thousands of dollars refunded.
The HUD ban officially went into effect in June, complete with a software update.
Most recently, another round of changes took effect. PartyPoker reduced the amount of time for decision-making in cash games. In addition, site representatives like Rob Yong became more involved in explaining decisions, such as the HUD bans and #FairPlay initiative. He and others have been making videos and writing blog posts to explain recent changes in great detail and welcome feedback.
Lovely stuff – more tournaments on @partypoker keep sending in feedback as to what you want – they listen. https://t.co/vXsBD8F8jv
— Gary Oakes (@OakesGary) September 6, 2019
And that brings us to the latest updates from PartyPoker.
Mac Users, Rejoice
The most recent software update happened during the first week of September. Players logging in on or after the 4th of the month likely found an update waiting.
One of the primary changes was for players competing on Mac computers.
Often lost in online poker action, Mac players are often the last to receive updates, but this one packed a lot into one upgrade.
Players found new oval and racetrack table shapes. Player notes improved to provide more color options and optimization options for the display of the notes.
Speaking of customization, Mac users can now choose from new table felt and background options, including some specially-themed additions, and different card backs and fronts. Players can customize their activities and preview the new themes in the settings tab.
Mac players now have a new big blind count display that allows the option of seeing players stacks in terms of BBs instead of total counts.
Tournament Players, Gotcha Covered
The majority of changes in the latest software update pertained to Windows and Mac users. They apply to tournament players and action.
In the upper left corner of the tournament screen, players can now see a data box containing a plethora of information, including:
–Player position versus the total number of players remaining in the tournament
–Average stack of players in the tournament or average number of big blinds per player
–Blinds and antes
–ITM (in the money) indicator shows how many places will be paid
–ITM color codes include an amber bar showing the money bubble is close, green showing all remaining players are in the money
–Level of tournament and how much time remaining in that level
I really like the little box in the top left. Scrapping HUD’s still feels odd but little changes defiantly help 👍
— HurleyIDK (@IDKHurley) September 4, 2019
For players who use late registration to get into tournaments, the lobby now features a countdown clock for each tournament with late registration open. The new status column is on the right of the tournament list. In addition, a new panel also pops up for any tournament clicked on. More than just the time remaining for late registration, it also informs as to the number of players left, prize pool thus far, and current level of play.
Cash Game Players Not Forgotten
The new one-click bet is for all players if they choose to use it.
In global settings, a player can customize his or her common bets. It enables players to then place those bets easily with the click of a button instead of reconfirming the bet by clicking to raise.
Players can go to the “bet slider” tab in settings and choose pre-flop and post-flop bet sizes, such as min bet or half-pot or a number of big blinds. And now, instead of having to click twice to confirm those bets, they can be set as one-click bets.
And for those who want to see what all of these changes look like, PartyPoker Ambassador Jaime Staples takes players through it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaGW2LC5PvE
