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Hi Dylan,Quote:
Originally Posted by DoubleJ
Any update on this one?
I had another thought; if player prefs/notes, etc can't be stored globally (i'm guessing that the server space required would be huge), could player profiles be made portable? e.g. allow players to copy preference files from PC to PC, or even have the file accessible centrally for players with networked PCs?
Cheers!
You can alrdy do this. All your preferences and even notes are somewhere in the stars folder.Quote:
Originally Posted by DoubleJ
cool - do you know where it is, please?Quote:
Originally Posted by Icanhastreebet
i think if pref/notes data can't be stored on the PS servers, this kind of housekeeping function should be accessible through the PS GUI
reckon?
OK - answered me own question.Quote:
Originally Posted by DoubleJ
on Windows 7 they're in C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\PokerStars
user.ini holds application settings
notes.<player_ID>.xml holds your notes. however, this seems to use a system-assigned ID number to each note, which could cause an error if you just copied the file to another PC.
Dylan - can you comment?
http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/218/brlkjbrlkj.jpgQuote:
Originally Posted by PokerStars VIP
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
We are talking about this right? I have to click check mark every time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DoubleJ
Hi DoubleJ - I've been following this and I'm in contact with the product team to try and figure out a surefire solution.
I'll hopefully have something for you early this coming week.
Dylan
top
cheers fella
+1Quote:
Originally Posted by Nekrogovner
just tried this out. confirmed.Quote:
Originally Posted by TLR
Quote:
Originally Posted by DoubleJ
Hey DoubleJ, spoke to someone about this. Basically you shouldn't have any issues copying notes from one computer to another as long as you use the same UserID. Same goes for user.ini.
Unfortunately, there aren't any plans in place at the moment for server stored settings and notes.
Good luck,
Dylan
That'll work for now.Quote:
Originally Posted by PokerStars VIP
thanks Dylan
Sup Dylan?
I'll ask this so that it can be all setup when you guys start letting us play again. Is it possible to have an option to change bet sizes, stack sizes, pot sizes... to bb nstead of actual cash? That way when you're playing different stakes at one time you won't see a difference in actual in monies being won/lost on each table?
Also, I know I asked before and feel free to not answer again for obv reasons but I really would like it if you guys could talk to Cake and get them to not suck so much, thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by supa
Hi Supa, currently in the .COM client you can set Bet Slider Shortcut options to Deal in Big Blinds preflop, and then % of Pot postflop. These options are relatively new so you may not have seen them yet. I'll pass on your feedback, but I can't really imagine PokerStars changing stack sizes to BBs instead of the cash value, but just brainstorming with you, maybe some kind of option where if you put your cursor over the stack, the BB value could be shown?
Cheers,
Dylan
Hi guys, just wanted to post the details of the latest Client update.
We will be releasing a client update over the next few days. Here is the list of the most important features added:
Hotkeys (Beta)
We will be releasing a Beta version of hotkeys in this build (Windows clients only). This feature has been tested by a small group of players on TestPokerStars over the past month and we are opening the feature to a wider audience for testing and more feedback.
In a nutshell, the feature allows you to configure keyboard/mouse shortcuts for various game actions. You can configure your PokerStars hotkeys by going to "Options" > "Hotkey Settings".
Hotkey actions include: Fold, Check, Bet / Raise, Set Bet amount to X% / BB / All in (with the option whether to bet or just set the bet amount), Activate next / previous table and some others.
You can also control which table would receive the hotkey -- the one that is active or the one that is under the mouse pointer. You can even specify a custom color for a table border that highlights the table to receive the hotkey!
We are very much interested in feedback about this new feature, so please email us yours at [email protected].
Easy Seat (Beta)
We have made a number of minor improvements to Easy Seat based on the results of the wider testing. The two most noticeable bugs we fixed were Easy Seat attempting to seat players despite them being at table cap and adding players to over-long waitlists.
Easy Seat will remain in Beta for this month to be sure that we have worked all the issues out. If you would like to test out Easy Seat, please go to "Options" > "Lobby Display Options" and select "Show Easy Seat (Beta)". For best results you should enable Auto-Buyin to make the process as seamless as possible.
If you have any feedback about this new feature, please email us at [email protected]. You can find more information about Easy Seat here.
Time Tournaments
We are making some final adjustments to the messaging associated with Time Tournaments and are planning to deploy a wider offering this month. Stay tuned for more updates!
Improved Table Animation (Beta)
We continue to work on improvements to the table animation to make the playing experience as nice as possible for our players. This build we are tweaking the “Full (Beta)” animation settings. We have made the animation smoother and have slowed it down a bit. Players on the default "Simplified" animation setting will not experience any changes.
If you want to try out the new animation simply go to “Options” > “Table Display Options” > “Animation” and select “Full (Beta)”. Any feedback on the Beta animation can be sent to [email protected].
As always, we have also made a number of other minor fixes / improvements to the client and server. These include highlighting the Notes tab after assigning a label, fixing a bug with the always apply labels option when detached chat is active, and a bug in the Hand Replayer where the flop was disappearing for Nova Theme Users.
Note: The above changes would only take effect once your gaming client has been updated, which could happen at different times for different players. Please ensure you are running PokerStarsUpdate.exe to get the update.
Cheers,
Dylan
this time the survey link came from [email protected]
and the last question asked for account details. Legit?
Quote:
Originally Posted by daven
Hi Daven,
I can confirm that the survey you received is in fact real. Sometimes in the interest of feedback from the players, PokerStars will send out surveys. I double checked with our support staff, and they confirmed that the survey from that email address is legit.
Cheers,
Dylan
10th Anniversary Promos are slowly being revealed. Announced so far are our 100 PCA Seats giveaway ($15k Prize package each), the 10th Anniversary 10 Million Gtd Sunday Million and a $1 World Record attempt Tournament (50k for 1st prize).
Feel free to ask any promotion related questions in this thread.
November and December are going to be fun months. There should be a little something for everyone to enjoy.
Cheers!
Dylan C
#4 - double vpip fortnight end novemberQuote:
Originally Posted by PokerStars VIP
#5 - supernova concierge increased value
#6 - double guarantees for tourneys first week of december
#7 - 10 year celebrations reload bonus BDAY 110% up to $1100
#8 - estonians banned
#9 - vip bbq
#10 - cheap poker stars hats in the FPP store
#4, then #8, then #7 please
Quote:
Originally Posted by daven
I'll be sure your suggestions are taken into consideration for future Promotions (not that it's impossible that you binked one of these). I think your Estonian bias may be misplaced - Tallinn is a great city.
Dylan C
ha, rough.Quote:
Originally Posted by daven
i've got nothing against estonia - hot women, strong vodka.... hell, the first estonian i ever met shared a bottle of firewater with me and taught me about eating rice crisps with strong spirits to avoid burning out your throat. Something like that anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by PokerStars VIP
If any are curious, we've recently posted a new bio-type video of our latest Team Online player - Talonchick. You can view it here: talonchick - A Short Film by PokerStars Team Online - YouTube
Dylan
looking for a replacement team pro now that chipstar is quitting?
Dylan, I'm getting back into grinding after a couple months off and really not doing much the last year or so. I have a SSNL roll at Ongame (Betfair) but want to know if you can give me some reasons to move to Stars. Trying to grind a BR back obviously means bonus/RB/Rake races will help so can Stars compete with that. I love the fact that game selection and software is easier and obviously as I move up essence and the botting situation at Ongame will be a huge factor. Should I move now?
what is it, the botting situation?Quote:
Originally Posted by jyms
Hi Jyms,
Some valid questions and concerns there.
There are certainly some attractive rakeback deals out there, so I won't try to convince you based solely on what percentage we offer, although I feel we're competitive in that regard as well, especially if you focus most of your play on PokerStars throughout a calendar year.
The most convincing thing I can probably tell you for a player of your description is that we have an amazing group of people working in our Security department combating collusion/cheater/bots, and I can say this confidently having met some of these people first hand.
Your money is secure and deposits/withdrawals are processed fast.
Best liquidity online. Table-select as you please.
If you'd like, you can provide a rough estimate of your volume/stakes you hope to play and I'd be happy to explain the specific cash rewards you can expect. The VIP page on our website gives a good rundown of it and recently we've added percentages to make it clearer. One thing players often forget is the amount of value there is in the freerolls we run weekly, monthly and quarterly. The EV in the quarterly $1mill GTD Supernova freeroll is >$215.
As for why/if you should move now, now's actually a pretty great time. Our 10th Anniversary promos are running, some of which might interest you. Our Ring Games Leaderboard runs on a day-to day basis, so it's not a monthly thing where if you take a few days off you fall way behind. There's a ton of other promos going on that are advertised when you boot up the client. If you dabble in the odd tourney or are willing to try some satellites, there is some great value to be had as well.
Also - if you intend on making a push in 2012 for Supernova, it's helpful to start at a higher VIP level as your FPPs multiplier will be higher (for example, going from BronzeStar to PlatinumStar earns you 23% in cash rewards, but as a continuing PlatinumStar you would earn 28%).
And last but not least - Me! I'd be your VIP rep out here in Canada, so you can e-mail me at [email protected] if you ever ever need help with anything or have questions. I can also buy you a beer if I'm ever in town :).
Let me know if anything was unclear regarding the above, and if you have more questions shoot away.
Cheers,
Dylan C
Hi Dylan,
Another idea for a Change Request - can 'Stars add some Bankroll Management tools to the Cashier window?
A basic one would be the ability to receive an alert when your bankroll breaks either an upper or lower limit (user defined)
this way, you can be sure sure playing at the right limit for your BR, but without having to monitor results, and becoming of the tilt.
Reckon?
Dear Stars,
Seriously, let me concierge my rent and bills. it's like the only thing in this world i spend money on. also groceries.
Hey Double J,
Interesting suggestion. I'm wondering if the work put into that (compared to other improvements) would be worth it given most people can just hit the 'cashier' mid-session to see where they're at. But I can relate to not wanting to check your balance as like you said it can trigger tilt. I'm going to pass it on with the rest of my software suggestions this week. Thanks for idea!
Bikes:
The reason we don't offer the Concierge service for rent is that the service is intended to be perceived as a 'Reward'. That term is obviously pretty flexible but paying your utility bills and rent with it isn't why the service was first unveiled.
I'd be in the same boat as you though - I'm not buying a new TV every month but I do have to pay my rent :(. I'll pass this on to the VIP Club for their consideration.
Dylan
Hey Dylan, I'm planning to move to London this summer and would like to resume playing on Pokerstars. I understand I'll want to set up a bank account once I settle there and get my name on some sort of bill as proof of residence, but what other practical steps do I need to take to get back to playing on stars asap?
My other big question: I had Supernova VIP status as of April 2011 -- will I restart as a Supernova VIP in June/July?
Hi Dylan,
I know ur getting a lot of flak over the rake stuff, so sorry if this adds to ur woes, but...
The last PS Client upgrade made a small but fundamental change to the HH file format which rendered the file import and HUD functions of both PokerOffice and PokerTracker unusable (poss. also HEM; i don't know).
What was the reason for this (apparently arbitrary) change, and why were users not alerted to the possible impact of accepting the upgrade?
A shoddy little episode that makes PS look either mickey-mouse or cynical. Take ur pick.
Edit: 16:00 GMT today - another PS client update. so...what's in this one, please? Not happy to install it until either:
* i know it's safe, or
* someone tells me how to roll-back to an old version if i need to
Hi Vi-Zer0,Quote:
Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill
Here's what you'll be asked to provide:
-A copy of government issued photo I.D. (your U.S. Passport or U.S. Driver's License is fine)
-A Bank Statement from a bank in your current country with your name and new address clearly visible (it helps if it's officially stamped by the bank)
-A Utility Bill in your name and/or a Lease Agreement. For the Lease, it has to be the legal Lease Agreement signed by both you and your landlord and it has to be for at least 3 months. A month long lease isn't sufficient.
-A landline phone number (where you can be reached by security to confirm your relocation).
If you haven't yet relocated or played since April 15th, you can relocate in 2012 and maintain your VIP Status for 5.5 months after the date you're relocated (provided you maintain the Supernova monthly VPP requirements). The VPPs you accrued in 2011 are carried over as well.
Best of luck, and let me know if you have further questions.
DylanC
Quote:
Originally Posted by DoubleJ
Hi DoubleJ,
The latest update released yesterday is legit and has several small fixes. Among them is a fix for tournament lobbies sometimes not displaying the list of players properly.
Regarding your original post:
I understand your frustration here. The intent of these software updates is to improve our software, not to mislead or throw our players for a loop. It's unfortunate that the side-effect was hand histories not importing into Hold'em Manager, but in these cases it's their responsibility to make adjustments. From the looks of it, the issue has been resolved and players are able to import their hands again.
I am going to pass along your feedback - specifically that you'd like advance warning before downloading an update on whether it's going to have an affect on any 3rd party tools.
As always, I appreciate the input.
DylanC
Thanks Dylan that was really helpful! Awesome that the VPP's I earned in 2011 count towards getting Supernova in 2012!!
hmmm....not trying to be a tw@t, but that's not an acceptable statement, is it?Quote:
Originally Posted by PokerStars VIP
it's fairly bleedin' obvious that a HH file format change is going to have a down-stream impact.
Question: does your tech dept. liaise with PO/PT/HEM at all? it'd seem to make sense to me. e.g. i'd be interested to know if there was a noticeable drop in traffic on 'stars post upgrade as people stopped playing waiting for patches to be released.
Disclaimer: Rant not aimed at your good self, Dylan
Good question. We do try to give advance warning to PokerTracker and Hold'em Manager before applying changes to Hand History formats. This was again the case with this recent change; advance warning was given to them about the changes we were making.Quote:
Originally Posted by DoubleJ
DylanC
OK, that's good. Thanks Dylan.Quote:
Originally Posted by PokerStars VIP
Could I ask a favour and have you add PokerOffice dev. to that list, please?
Also, seeing as you're a reg here, it'd be nice to give GMML a heads-up on upcoming changes (the format change broke our hand converter, too)
Cheers!
Noted DoubleJ. And I've passed along the suggestion to add PokerOffice to that list.
Cheers!
DylanC
Thanks mate - have a good weekend!
Hi Dylan,
Hopefully the last question on this - i notice that when i accept an upgrade of the PS Client, the installer creates a back-up.
is it possible for users to roll back to the backed-up version in the case of something going schwonky (e.g. HH format change)? And if so, what's the procedure?
Thanks!
I don't know the answer to that - I'm going to inquire and get back to you.
Dylan
Thanks Dylan
just in case you don't keep an eye on the blogs of people who earned 600k-1.4 million vpps in 2011
agree completely. i'm down about 40% on veeps after the changes. Huge money grab by stars. Arseholes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Micro2Macro
as an option, did poker stars consider contributed = vpps distributed among all players who contributed any amount to the pot (i.e.NOT weighted contributed) during the process of deciding to change from the dealt method of distributing vpps? Is poker stars considering moving back to dealt or from weighted contributed to contributed in light of how much opposition there is to the change that has occurred?
Sorry to hear you've been so adversely affected Daven. As far as I know, the weighted contributed method of assigning VPPs is here to stay. I do, however, keep relaying the feedback I receive from players on this topic to Management for their consideration.
DylanC
lol .....if you want my rake again start paying me equivalent rewards for playing with you that i can get at other sites.Quote:
Dear Keith,
We haven't seen you at the tables in a while and we want to make sure you haven't forgotten about the *****FPPs you have in your account.
All of our major promotions have FPP qualifiers, don't just leave them sitting in your account, you could be missing out on big money and great prizes! You can take a shot at the $300K guaranteed Sunday Storm every week for just 250FPPs, or qualify for the daily $50K guaranteed 'The Big $109' from just 40FPPs.http://newsletters.pokerstars.com/20...s/play-now.jpgRegards,
Liv Boeree
Team PokerStars: PRO
is this thread on 2p2 really important? Would steve look at input here too? or should we just post over there?
Help Me Improve the Games on Pokerstars - High Stakes Poker Pot Limit and No Limit - High Stakes Poker Forum
Hey, i am very glad to have found that there is a ps rep available here.
My situation is that i am from Belgium, and want to chamge my acc. back to the .com site. As i will not come in my country for about 9 months, and i will get an postletter i have to evrify in the month coming.
Anyway, i am working around the world, everytime i move in 3 months to another location for my job. Can i make a new acc. or change my country in the ps client to were i always am atm?
Like in a way like many Americans moved to canade etc.
Or what exactly do i need for pokerstars to make this change?
For example, i could prove my being in other countries due to sending stars an work contract every time, is that enough?
TX
Any input that you post here will be relayed from me to the appropriate people - on any subject. In this case on the subject of big changes, it would be escalated to SteveD. If it specifically refers to something we have a department for, then to the person running that department.Quote:
Originally Posted by daven
Dylan
Hi Springplank,Quote:
Originally Posted by springplank
Good question - sounds like you have an exciting job.
Essentially, the answer is yes, it is possible to play on the .COM client if you are no longer living in Belgium. However, the one snag is that we can't simply migrate your .BE account to the .COM client. A new account would have to be created.
To do this, you will have to provide proof of your new address. This typically requires:
-Government Issued identification (if not already provided)
-A recent utility bill or bank statement containing your new address and name. I believe an official Lease signed by both parties will also work.
You should contact [email protected] explaining your situation and they can help you with this request. You can also send them your documents or you can upload them via the PokerStars client through Help > Contact Support / Upload Documents > Select Category > 'Security' > Sub-Category 'Documents'" and you will be able to upload documents with a size up to 5 MB.
Let me know if you run into any issues with this, and best of luck abroad!
Dylan
Hey, ty so much for the info and help,-)))
I will surely contact security@ pokerstars, and explain them what i want, in the future.
tx
hey man, theres this german reg who keeps joining tables where 2 people are about to play heads up to play a button and leave.
he does NOT play any blinds. he will sit out immediately after being dealt a button. he will not play a hand if he is not deal the button first for 3 handed play when a table starts.
is this against the rules of stars? his SN is supersonic_h. can you plase report him to security cuz i havent slept in a day and i cant remember my password for my email
cheers
Hi M2M,
While I can't comment on another players specific account, deliberately avoiding to pay the blinds is considered by PokerStars to be a breach of our Cardroom Rules, falling under rule 13:
In the event that PokerStars deems that a User has engaged or attempted to engage in unfair play, including without limitation, engaging in any of the activities set forth above or any other game manipulation, PokerStars shall be entitled to take such action as it sees fit, as described in our Terms of Service.
Thanks for the heads-up, I will following up on this with our Game Security Team.
Get some sleep!
Dylan
Hey Dylan,
I just have a suggestion for the PokerStars client which I believe does not require all that much work and is quite essential to poker. A way to sit up and then sit back down somewhere else on the same table, without having to close the table. This would be beneficial to people that wish to increase their positional advantage. If there's a rock to your right and a fish to your left, and there's an empty seat to the left of the fish, then one would normally want to change to that empty seat, but it cannot be done without closing and re-opening the table, which is risky and hard to do when multitabling. I believe that FTP had this feature before it got shut down.
Thanks for your time!
i hate this idea - FTP did not have this featureQuote:
Originally Posted by QSCMNT
They used to, but got rid of it during an update a while back.
Fuck this bullshit. This just encourages bumhunting and makes fish feel targeted, which kills the games.Quote:
Originally Posted by QSCMNT
yah + 1 to above. i was actually going to post a link to the thing m2m has linked in his signature
apparently you can e-mail [email protected] and they will tell you how many vpps you would have earned this year under the old (dealt) system so you can see how much the new system is fucking you over.
Regarding QSCMNT's suggestion (being able to change seats on the fly), I'll definitely bring it up with my colleagues, but I'm not aware of anything like this being in the pipeline for changes. As others have mentioned, there may be a predatory aspect of it that takes some of the fun away for players; that's in no one's best interest.
Regarding Daven's post - Yes, players can email [email protected] if they would like to know how many VPPs they would have earned under the old assigning system.
Dylan
I was under the impression Stars did not tolerate players who instantly sit out when a 'mark' leaves the table and then instantly sits back in when one returns. Well that's what your fellow PokerStars pros like to do (along with yaojing83).
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/2355/scum.png
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
What a great example for a POKERSTARS PRO to be setting. No wonder predatory bum hunting is so common today. I am all for good table selection, but scum like this just have to take it to the extreme. Then again, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
***Both yaojing83 and wizardOfAhhs were playing on other tables that had 'marks' on them, and this behavior has been consistent and constant in their play (they aren't just taking a quick break together - though that would be suspicious). The least they could do is just leave the table until a 'mark' comes along, but they make it all the more obvious to the recreational player that they are only there to prey upon them and just wait until one sits before instantly sitting back in play again.
^ re what m2m said
get rid of these scum
1st offence = warning
2nd offence = 1 week ban from all games at the stake the offence occurred at
3rd offence = 1 month ban from all games at the stake the offence occurred at
4th offence = ice them
are stars having another meeting with player reps?
sounds like it
e.g. Two Plus Two Poker Forums - View Single Post - //**** Official 2012 uFR Pokerstars Regs Thread (NSFW) ****\\
Two Plus Two Poker Forums - View Single Post - //**** Official 2012 uFR Pokerstars Regs Thread (NSFW) ****\\
could you get a rep from FTR along? my votes are for m2m and keith
edit: + renton
digger the dog? lol? does that guy even play poker anymore?
10k posts doesn't mean you know jack shit about anything.
also daven nice solution i like it.
Happy Monday gentlemen. I'm going to try get back to you soon with more information on future player meetings and the selection process.
Your concerns regarding our sitting out policies will be considered. M2M, I e-mailed you this afternoon.
Dylan
pretty sure he played only 70k hands in 2011, and zero in 2012 thus far. A risk with non-players is that they no longer have a vested interest in outcomes that benefit playersQuote:
Originally Posted by Micro2Macro
qfmfetcQuote:
Originally Posted by Micro2Macro
cheers bro, i got heaps of ideas, but don't expect to be hitting the manx surf anytime soon ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Micro2Macro
Maybe time to start posting more in this thread
happy tuesday, I'm impressed with how you are managing this thread - nhQuote:
Originally Posted by PokerStars VIP
yeah Dylan does a great job here imo.
Update: Regarding player meetings.
March meetings are being held for 'General Discussion' and players that are attending are being invited by PokerStars, not elected by any community. It's my understanding that these meetings are already nearly full.
April meetings will focus more on the subject of Rake, and these attendees will be elected or suggested by the community. The exact mechanics of how this will play out is yet to be determined. I can put your names 'in the ring', which I will certainly do, but I can't make any promises as there are obviously a lot of interested parties and just a few spots.
Let me know if I wasn't clear on anything here.
Also, a sincere thanks for the vote of confidence. I learned how to play poker on FTR, I'll always love this place.
Dylan
Thanks for the vote Dozer. Somehow,after some of the threads i have made recently critcising stars VIP system for micro stakes players, I don't think stars would be too happy to invite me ;). From the last reps visit sStars played a blinder. They gave the reps a miniscule budget to reallocate knowing full well that it would be the reps that got ripped to pieces and blamed for the outcome leaving Stars reaping the rewards without the blame.Quote:
Originally Posted by daven
Whats the point of the milestone promotion except to generate a massive increase in rake and pay back a miniscule fraction to the milestone winners. Very few people actually benefit from this. Why not actually attract the fish.Offer small ($100) monthly reload bonuses (maybe with a restriction that you can' t take a bonus if you made a withdrawal in the previous month) to persuade the fish to continue depositing and give them a perk.People will still play to clear the bonus, it will help players move up and generate extra rake ,and the bonus will get redistributed around the system and people taking out of the poker economy will be penalised to a certain extent.
Or how about doing something truly radical and getting rid of rake and rake caps altogether and make it so that you pay 1bb to play so many hands at a table (30 ish would work out at ~3 orbits at FR or 5 orbits at 6max and 3.33bb/100 hands).Maybe have a counter in the corner of each table saying how many hands til the next rake payment and an auto rake check box that you can turn off when you intend to leave at the end of your session. This would penalise ratholers as any hands not played would be forfeited. This could also be trialed with these sort of tables running alongside traditionally raked tables.Would this appeal to the fish. they win a 40$ pot and see 40$ in front of them , instead of 38$ after the rake has been taken.
How about working together with other poker rooms and set up some sort of player id system. Players then just have to prove their id,address and banking info and no doubt mac address info could be included as well) and then get a poker id that is shared between rooms collobarating. Players then found to be colluding/cheating/card fraud,transfer scams,running bots etc would then find themselves banned from all the cooperating rooms and not just from the room they get caught on. the AJB4/punkybeau/ cheating may well have been caught by security rather than players if the sites could see when individual players were playing together across different rooms with different screen names if all those screennames had to be linked to a player id or poker passport when signing up for the account. Sharing the cost of security is bound to have a financial benefit to the individual sites by helping to deter fraud and preventing cheating . Individual computers playing 24hrs a day across multiple sites could then be investigated for bot use etc.
If you increase the deterrent effect for people getting caught, i.e you can't then open accounts across the cooperating sites and any existing accounts get shut down this should cut down the amount of fraud going on and reduce the cost to the individual rooms. Players benefit as they would only have to prove their identity and details once to the central "passport" issuing department making life easier for the players making withdrawals/deposits.
In such a situation though it is only fair that just as the sites get greater information about the players , the players should also get greater security for their money they have on the sites, which would require the sites cooperating to abide by some fundamentall rules to protect the players deposits.
1. All player funds held by the sites should be segregated and seperated so that players fund can never be stolen by the sites managers/seized as company assets as has happened at fulltilt /cereus and the current uncertainty about everleafs deposits. Stars actions after black friday repaying the usa players fund as they were identifiable as usa players funds should be the minimum that we as players should expect and the licensing authorities should regularly inspect the fundson deposit and in players accounts to see that players funds are indeed safe.
2. ONLY THE PLAYER WHO is the registered poker passport holder for an account can DEPOSIT to and WITHDRAW from that account via methods that the account holder has previously registered with passport control.Ths should then stop hackers from making small deposits to an account and then withdrawing the whole balance to the hackers account.
3. only cleared funds should be allowed to be used to play. If funds aren't cleared then players have to wait until they can play with those funds.
4. If multiple sites are cooperating,provide players with a free RSA token /tokens that can be used across all sites on the cooperating poker rooms. I.e one free RSA token for a main computer and secondary (purchased) token(s) for use with a laptop that are then linked back to the players passport.
just about all those ideas are too unrealistic for a business to actually put into practice
lol...what better way to make the games better than to encourage fish to deposit by incentivisiing them (and everyone else) to do so by giving them a bonus and ensuring that the games are fair and that the deposits are safe (except actually at the table).
To the public it would appear like any other form of entertainment , you pay a fee and get to play for a certain period of time.What is different between this concept and say a track day at a racing circuit. you pay a fee to enter and get to race your car round a track. the track provides the marshalls for safety and if you do something stupid and crash your car you have to pay the costs of repairing it. There is a direct analogy for a business using this concept.
The latter things about the sites should be something we as poker players should be demanding from the sites. Full Tilt ultimately went down because of fraud caused by the owners dipping into players funds and by letting players play on credit.This involves the reported cases of the pros collectively owing the sites millions and not paying back what they owe and the US players who kept depositing with echecks knowing full well thatthe funds were not being taken from their bank accounts and then withdrawing those funds or chip dumping them off to a friend to withdraw.
The situation at everleaf at the moment should not happen. They have always claimed that the players deposits are seperated and segregated , and long cash outs to US players are understandable in the current climate. But there is no excuse for a moneybookers withdrawal for players in the rest of thje world to be taking over a week.ITs electronic for gods sake,
why shouldn't the sites cooperate to root out the cheats and scammers that cost them money. they have an incentive to do so and by cooperating with other sites and the players they can cut the cost of policing their games and have fairer games as well. Also why not introduce a poker passport and link RSA tokens to it to help protect against hackers accessing players accountsand spread the cost by allowing one RSA token to be valid accross multiple cooperating sites.This will help to cut out multi accounting, help with actually idenifying players as the RSA token would have to be sent to the players address and once the player has set up their passport and verified there bank details it would save having to keep proving your id to withdraw from your account.
Anyone who has run a business , knows that driving sales/generating revenue is not the only way to increase profitability. minimizing the costs to your business are just as important. Its more profitable to spend 3$ to save 9$ of fraud costs than to spend 1$ and save 2$ of fraud. By cooperating the poker sites can make the fraud prevention more effective and also cheaper to implement.
If the players accounts are protected by rsa tokens,and deposits/withdrawals can only be made by methods approved of by the player who has accessed the site with the RSA token,password and username tha chances of hackers stealing money from accounts is drastically cut.In these situations the sites usually say tough luck , you let your password known to somebody and its your loss. By cooperating and spreading the cost of the rsa token they can use it as a positive to attract custom by promoting the fact that the players money is safe in their hands. At the moment their is a climate of fear regarding how safe players funds are , especially with sites serving USA players.
Using the RSA token and computer ids can also then be used by the sites to crack down on multi accounters and help to promote the integrity of the games in the cooperating rooms making them more attractive to recreational players and therefore improving the games for the regulars.
The problem with working with other poker rooms on game security is that it could actually make security worse, much harder to control, and open up sensitive information of customers to more people/firms than necessary (not to mention create a ton of red tape). Why should a player who solely plays on PokerStars and trusts PokerStars with their personal information have multiple other poker clients holding their information?
It's a sites choice whether or not to implement RSA and it's the customers choice as to whether or not they will play only on sites with RSA identification or take chances on networks with less secure log in parameters.
It doesn't matter if you can come up with a perfect way to make this work, it won't happen. Stars security isn't broken, so it doesn't need fixing.
where did I say personal details would be shared with sites that players hadn't signed up to. I'm suggesting an Independent body who do the initial checks on id and issue the poker passport. Then as a player signs up to extra sites the screenames are then attached to that passport. The only thing that the sites will see is the screennames of that player on other sites not their personal information.
How do you think security is done on merge , ipoker and ongame. Its centalised and personal data isn't shared amongst all the rooms on the network.You are arguing against something that happens on every network .I'm talking about making networks cooperate on security for the benefit of the players and the cooperating sites.
By coopeating and utilising a single RSA token for all the cooperating sites they can spread the cost and make it more convenient for the player and provide greater safety for the players funds and make the cooperating sites more attractive to players than the sites without the extra security features.
As for stars security isn't broken, only in the last week there has been a post about stars refunding money after a collusion ring was busted
Collusion ring caught at Stars' 9m hypers? - Internet Poker - Online Poker Forum . You don't have to be a genius to work out that these scumbags are either going to move to another pokersite and do the same thing, or try creating new accounts and do the same thing again at stars.What I am tallking about is making it much harder for them to move to another site as once they get banned on one of the cooperating sites they get banned from all the other sites as well, combined with making it much harder for them to create extra accounts in the first place. The deterrents will therefore help to protect honest players as they will be less likely to cheat in the first place and once they have been caught, their options to move elsewhere and cheat other players will be reduced. Money is refunded to the victims of their scams but noone knows what the actual % of what they have lost is returned to them.
Similarly , why should players have to put up with having a stars RSA, and Ipoker rsa, an ongame RSA a merge RSA,an everest RSA, a full tilt RSA and juggle between them. GIve the players an option to make life easier for themselves and just have one RSA token securing all of their sites.
in no way shape or form would i want only 1 rsa. let me have my like 5 because if i lost the one i'd be screwed. that's a horrible idea.
from the original
I'm suggesting that you can purchase extra RSA tokens and link them to your passport so that if you lost one you can still log in and use your accounts, and the client software should then also have an option so that if one of your rsa tokens was lost/stolen you can disable it to help prevent access to your sites. Even if someone tries to use your RSA token to hack your account they still then have to get your login and password details.Quote:
4. If multiple sites are cooperating,provide players with a free RSA token /tokens that can be used across all sites on the cooperating poker rooms. I.e one free RSA token for a main computer and secondary (purchased) token(s) for use with a laptop that are then linked back to the players passport.
i had this really long post written up but i deleted it.
the short of it is. cheaters bots and collusion on other sites is good for pokerstars. if the other sites are riddled with these things more people want to play on stars. it's good for business. why would stars want to hurt their business?
as for the rake changes? Stars has a monopoly on this business. yes you can claim blah blah blah i get 60%-70% rb on ipoker. but really Stars doesn't care. Esp since you play micros. And even with ipoker and ongame with their redic rb numbers if you played midstakes or small stakes stars knows their software is not as good, their support is not as good and the same amount of games aren't available. I'm pretty sure the entirety of 25nl and below could dissapear and Stars wouldn't even feel it. That being said Stars takes absurdly good care of its SNs and SNEs which is why a huge percentage of players played and play on PS.
Stars has its business model pretty perfect for maximum profitability. Any crutch we had of competition died with FTP. Stars can pretty much do whatever they want and most people would still continue to play there. You can complain all you want but at the end of the day it's this. "Will this cut into our bottom line? Yes? To what degree?" If it's anything more than minor to appease a community as small as 2p2 you can prolly count the change wont happen because at the end of the day PS exists to make money.
Keith - you definitely have some interesting ideas and I appreciate the 'outside the box' thinking. There are quite a few things that you touch on that I'm personally not in a position to authoritatively comment on. I agree with M2M that some of your suggestions may not be realistic at this point in time. PokerStars provides industry leading security and keeps player funds segregated and secure.
Regarding one of your suggestions -
"Offer small ($100) monthly reload bonuses (maybe with a restriction that you can' t take a bonus if you made a withdrawal in the previous month) to persuade the fish to continue depositing and give them a perk.People will still play to clear the bonus, it will help players move up and generate extra rake ,and the bonus will get redistributed around the system and people taking out of the poker economy will be penalised to a certain extent. "
While we do offer a deposit bonus and in the past have offered reload promotions, PokerStars doesn't explicitly differentiate in how we treat 'professional' or 'recreational' players. I don't foresee a change here as the VIP Club prides itself on a transparent system.
I'll bring up some of these topics with my superiors and see if any of them pick up any traction.
Cheers,
Dylan
@ keith
i think rake fee/hands played tables are an interesting idea
i think the across sites information sharing won't happen for the reasons bikes and m2m described
i think that any bonuses etc have to be available to all players equally. There is currently a '100k deposit freerolls' promotion on stars, where players who deposit get access to daily freerolls but lose this access when they withdraw from their account (something like this anyway, i'm hazy on the details) which sounds a little like your suggestion
I'm not saying to discriminate between recs and regs witjh the deposit bonus but make it available to everyone so long as they haven't made a withdrawal in the previous month. We want losing players to keep depositing so give them an incentive to do so.
whilst stars security is indoubtedly catching and banishing the cheats ,its unknown how many cheats,scammers and other general scumbags are still flying under the radar. the AJB4 case on merge has shown that they were pulling the same dodgy tricks at cake,full tilt and i think everleaf were mentioned as well, together with a lot of suspicion pointed at "passthesalsa" at stars post BF and suspicion was postulated about their play at stars pre BF. Collabooration will increase the sample sizes for analysing individual players colluding/soft playing and hopefully leaf to earlier detection.
as for the rake free tables the only prolem i can see is if the table breaks. Anyone leaving a table could then join a different tab;e with the same number of hands left to play but with the same stacksize they left the previous table with. this stops the ratholing, but lets players leave a table early if necessary
lol @ rake tables lol @ poker competitors cooperating with each oother L O UCKING L AT MAKING DRASTIC CHANGES TO A BUSINESS MODEL THAT ISNT BROKEN CAN WE PLEASE JUST GET THIS THREAD BACK ON TRACK TO WHAT IT IS INTENDED FOR: POKERSTARS. IF YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT MERGE BOTS AND OTHER BUSTO UNTRSTWORTHY SITES START ANOTHER THREAD
I agree with drunk and tilted m2m
no need to delete anything , I'm happy to debate any points you make.Quote:
Originally Posted by bikes
And who says that Stars isn't riddled with cheaters,bots & colluders as well?. Else why did stars limit the number of chinese players able to play at the same time, kick a load of bots from their system and repay some of the money confiscated to players affected. Why did they refund players last week . Stars is probably just as riddled with cheats and scammers as any other site. In fact , repaying the customers draws attention to the cheats and scammers on stars.Quote:
the short of it is. cheaters bots and collusion on other sites is good for pokerstars. if the other sites are riddled with these things more people want to play on stars. it's good for business. why would stars want to hurt their business?
What's this bullshit thats perpetually spouted about Stars support being the best. They havent even got a phone number so that you can ring them with a problem. They don't have live chat in their software so that you can have a real time chat with a support worker. Stars support may have been far superior to Full tilts abysmal support , but its third world compared to the sites offering phone numbers and live chat. Is it any wonder that the sites offering that standard of support tend to be the big bookmakers who have a history of actually interacting with their customers. A happy customer is one thats going to give them their money.Quote:
as for the rake changes? Stars has a monopoly on this business. yes you can claim blah blah blah i get 60%-70% rb on ipoker. but really Stars doesn't care. Esp since you play micros. And even with ipoker and ongame with their redic rb numbers if you played midstakes or small stakes stars knows their software is not as good, their support is not as good and the same amount of games aren't available. I'm pretty sure the entirety of 25nl and below could dissapear and Stars wouldn't even feel it. That being said Stars takes absurdly good care of its SNs and SNEs which is why a huge percentage of players played and play on PS.
If the micro players as so unimportant to stars, how come the money given back from the increased rake across all players had so little effect when spent back on the micro players. Its because the micro players are raped with the rake and given pitiful rewards. If they lose the micro players it will have a big impact on stars profitability which will then impact on the supernovas + as they won't have the money to direct their way..
I'm not complaining , stars can structure however they want and target players however they want. My point is that for the vast majority of micro players they would be far better off playing elsewhere. Once stars loses its micro players it will be to the detriment of all stakes further up, and stars themselves as the money will no longer be flowing up from the bottom , players working up the stakes on other sites will them probably continue to play on those sites and you will end up with just high volume regs playing against each other. Just look at M2M's post up above about wizard of ahhs bumhunting , that will just become the norm as good players refuse to play other players of a similar standard to themselves.Quote:
Stars has its business model pretty perfect for maximum profitability. Any crutch we had of competition died with FTP. Stars can pretty much do whatever they want and most people would still continue to play there. You can complain all you want but at the end of the day it's this. "Will this cut into our bottom line? Yes? To what degree?" If it's anything more than minor to appease a community as small as 2p2 you can prolly count the change wont happen because at the end of the day PS exists to make money.
so if this business model isnt broken how do you explainQuote:
Originally Posted by Micro2Macro
andQuote:
Originally Posted by Micro2Macro
andQuote:
Originally Posted by Micro2Macro
when this restored faith in pokerstars is by bringing in the changes that you ranted about in the earlier paragraphs except for chucking in an extra carrot for the supernova+ players.Quote:
Originally Posted by Micro2Macro
As for untrustworthy sites , how many of ipoker/ongame sites flouted US law and allowed US players to play and are currently indicted for bank fraud as a result? Many of the big UK bookmaking sites are public companies , published accounts, stock traded on stock exchanges, and strictly regulated financially as a result. That is why they withdrew from the US market because their financial regulation prevented them from engaging in the bank fraud necesary to cater to the american market. They have the financial reserves and they are in other cash generating businesses as well. Just because Stars repaid the american customers does not mean that you can automatically assume that the big uk bookmakers are untrustwothy. I won't say the same for some of the smaller ipoker sites, but sticking to the large sites with plenty of financial backing players funds are as safe or safer than stars players funds.
this is an example of what i mean about offering reload bonuses to micro players. Offer him an "up to 100$" reload bonus clearing at 20% and you make 400$ out of him initially, and then continued income down the line. Its moronic to offer nothing and then have him look around to see what other sites offer.Quote:
Originally Posted by binky bee
Its been commented on at 2+2 that each signup to a site generally costs 500$. With stars mass market advertising and larger budget they probably get economies of scale to reduce the cost of a signup. Here they had a chance to generate income and blew it for the sake of a discount on his initial rake .
i mean yeah im pissed that stars gave me something like a 6k pay decrease but at least they responded to player outrage instead of just ignoring everyone. I think they do a good job at taking players opinions into account, it just seems like they dont to some because outrageous demands aren't met.
also just because customers are unhappy doesnt mean a business is broken. it's not like making the changes has just sent everyone looking to play elsewhere. alot of players aren't moving and just dealing with it.
heres an example of what i mean by offering ongoing bonuses to the players . Up to $250 in monthly bonuses in our Lord of the Grind promotion!
in effect its a rip off of the "take 2" promo at full tilt just as stars zoom is a rip off of rush. The interesting part about it to me is that it looks like its ongoing , its ontop of the standard vip scheme and its looks to be a way of generating brand loyalty, players will always have a bonus to clear and in doing so they generate more bonus to clear the following month.
The lower bonus levels look like they are clearing at the first deposit bonus rate and then at a declining rate as the bonuses get bigger.anyone going after the bigger bonuses would be better off on a rakeback deal elsewhere on the network and after chatting with Binky in the early hours of this morning, perversely this deal isnt really suited to him either. As he is playing 2nl at limited number of table for a limited time each day , coupled with players only earning points at Titan on pots over $0.6 , his limited number of hands coupled with a lot of those hands not actually generating points because of pot size, mean that he and other similar players are unlikely to generate the points in the first place. Secondly he would have to deposit, so deposit bonus would clear first for two months negating a lot of the advantages of this scheme as the pending bonus would expire for the first couple of months before he got a chance to clear it.
Get to 4nl or 10nl and combine it with the cardrunners HEM deal/month free and then have this running after the initial bonus is cleared and keep generating points to cash in and theres a lot of value to be had here . Any higher and rb is probably the route to go.
The timing of this promo is also interesting when set against the timing of the zoom poker introduction. Is it designed to retain their player base and slow down defections to zoom.
keith all i can say is make SN if your unhappy and Stars treats you absurdlhy well.
i have never been mistreated by stars or felt anything was unfair in my 4ish years of playing there. Granted I made SN every year so my opinion may be biased. I also wasn't concerned with things as trivial as a few points of rb at tiny stakes because I moved up pretty quickly though them. Possibly because I didn't spend so much time analyzing trivial shit like a few points of rb.
Keith, if you spent half the time getting good at poker as you do providing armchair marketing to pokerstars, you might have tens of hundreds of dollars by now!
By the time wife kids and work are factored in, I will always be a recreational player. I don't have the time,inclination or quite honestly the ability to make SN and the same will apply to many players at stars and elsewhere. I'm not jealous of the rewards that SN+ players get ,they have put a serious amount of time in to achieve it.I'm also not so immature and lacking in self esteem that i have to belittle and insult other people.
For me and many of the micro players , poker is a hobby , a form of entertainment. in effect its similar to choosing which cinema to watch a film at , one is dearer normal price but you get 50% discount voucher for all the films you watch, the seats are a bit less comfy but adequate against a cinema with a slightly cheaper priced comfier seats but only offering a 10% discount voucher.
The difference is not trivial and most of the micro players probably don't even realise that the rewards for them are better elsewhere. Stars have lost my custom along with many other people. I'm giving feedback why and in the long run the SN+ players will be hit if there is a mass defection of micro players to other sites as there will be a reduction in money moving up from the micros into the small and midstakes and less rake to fund the rewards that the SN+ players are getting.
when i stack a fish and he leaves before the hand is completed, do i get his share of the vpps for the hand as well as mine? or do these extra vpps just disappear into a void?Quote:
Originally Posted by starsvippage
i can give you some hand numbers of examples if that helps
Hi Daven,Quote:
Originally Posted by daven
Good question. The 'lost' VPPs are split amongst the remaining players as per the weighted contributed method of assigning VPPs. Let me know if you have any follow-up questions regarding this.
Dylan
sounds goodQuote:
Originally Posted by PokerStars VIP
a follow-up.
What happens with VPP allocation when i stack someone HU and there is no next hand because they leave the table?
why is Toni Judet a PS player and he has a "Play with the Pros" table at PS when he is such a bad poker player and he really does not represent what poker in Romania is, when there are players( just 2 examples) like 0Human0 for cash games and Ramondemon77 for MTT's that have huge succes on online poker? t
You would get all the VPPs allocated for that hand if they left before the hand was completed.Quote:
Originally Posted by daven
Dylan
Hi Razvan,Quote:
Originally Posted by Razvan729
I will pass along your feelings here to our Team PokerStars manager. Team PokerStars pros obligations extend further than just their play on the client - for online play we have PokerStars Team Online.
In the case of those players you mentioned, they are welcome to submit their cases for consideration when applications for Team Online are open in the future.
Appreciate the feedback,
Dylan
gidday, I have a question.
What happens to the confiscated balances of cheating players who have been caught?
see, e.g., the e-mail i received this morning, about a week after reporting a couple of obvious russian scum reg cheats i had been playing with. If their account balances were confiscated, then did this money simply become part of poker stars' profit line? or were the cheats allowed to withdraw their funds? Or did it go into the slush fund from which VIP freerolls and etc. are funded?
this money should surely be distributed among all players who have played against the cheats, pro-rated explicitly on the number of hands played at tables with these players. Their presence and their cheating costs all players at tables with them money, even if i am in profit against them individually, and a pro-rated distribution of their account balances would be an effective way to compensate players for this.
I'm not too worried about this specific case, but I am very curious about the general approach taken by poker stars in cases such as this one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pokerstars
yeah that sounds like shite to me. just because you were good enough to beat them despite their cheating, doesn't mean they weren't bleeding your bb/100 any more/less than anybody else's, right? your bb/100 vs them was just higher to begin with.