What makes a good poker table?

[staphros]

Originally Posted by Saporoger

Well why writing it for a single OS, if one could use one of the cross platform libraries and support > 5 from begin on?

The reason is business.

Unless you can make it cross platform in the same amount of time as just making it for windows.

With also having the same performance - then knock yourself out and make it multiplatform.

If not then make it for windows.

I'd say >90% of the people will be using windows, <10% the shiny white mac and ~1% linux or other random OS.

So if its going to take you 6 months to make it for windows, and a year for multi platform......then its pure business sense to make it for windows first. THEN do a mac version. Finally do a cost analysis to see if development is worth while for the final 1%.

[Molinero]

Oh what I really miss is keyboard shortcuts. I remember there being keys at Ongame when I played FL (yes it did happen). You could press F1 for fold/check F2 for call and F3 for raise. I'd so like that.

[Kaishaku]

What i hate on some sites it's that the "Wait the Blind" button and the "Auto Post Blind" are not working together. If you click Wait The Blind, and then Auto post blind, you generally assume you will auto post BB when your turn comes. But on some sites, the Auto post blind kill the wait the blind feature and post the blind the next hand no matter what. That's boring when multi tabling to have to wait each table to re pop up again to ask you to post the BB and then prompting the "why you don't click the auto post blind button..." message.

Sorry if that was already said, but as it was pissing me off, i would have said it anyway.

Also the basics for me :

Big easy to read cards (or at least not some fuckin small postage stamp)
Resizable windows
Pot, Bet, Rake amount showed in digits
easy rebuy feature
Icon feature for player notes (a fish, a shark, a star, a $, some stuff making it easy to know what there is written in the notes without having to read it again (i usually wrote LONNNNNGGGGG player notes)
An easy to access and dissociable Hand history window.
And i love a bet feature that would use the BB as basis (3xBB, 4xBB and so on) AND the same for the raise with 2xOriginal Bet, 3xOB... so you don't have to click like a moron to make the bar scroll up or reach for the Num of your keyboard.

Now, if you can add a "put something that move at the table" feature (like a rabbit or somethin) that you could be able to punch in case of bad beat. That's not important, but you would definitely won my heart on this one.

[BarracudaKid]

ok heres what i expect from a good online poker room/table:

- fast action (i dont mean that players have few time to act, but that the software runs smooth without much delay after each persons actions)

- simple theme (no avatars or such crap, that just annoys imho, the stars approach with the little pictures is ok but i have turned that off too)

- easy to read potsize, betsizes etc. (rake shouldve already been deducted from the potsize, and if you have less money available as the current betting you should see "your" potsize for just the sidepot that you could possibly win if you call)

- ability to report other players directly from the table for misbehavior like insulting or racism etc... this will keep people from behaving like complete morons in the chat (but make sure those who use the function unneccessarily will also get punished in some way)

- resizeable window, not just making it smaller but also bigger

- built in multi-table functions like attention queue, or mouse-hover window activation, etc. (most important is that windows dont steal eachothers focus, thats really annoying)

- smart betslider (increment depending on current bet size... like 1/10 of current bet size)

- easy to access BetSize Textbox (should be the active control when the Table is active, so that you can just start typing the size)

- hotkeys for all kinds of actions (not just betting, but also UI, Hand History and autopost etc...)

- good note function with custom icons etc. (should also be editable from outside the poker client)

- easy to read Hand Histories, in .txt (potisze per street would also be nice)


- easy to use lobby, with all sorts of filters for games

etc..

[AceSweaty]

Originally Posted by Kaishaku

What i hate on some sites it's that the "Wait the Blind" button and the "Auto Post Blind" are not working together.

Seconded.

[kyo3030]

Originally Posted by NipSC4328

It would be nice if the "Check or Fold" button didn't turn into "Call" or "Raise" just as I was trying to check

Agreed 100%. This actually might be the most important as it has cost me money in a few situations.

Also, I'd like in addition to the slider for there to be a button that ups your raise by minimum increments. I think stars has this, can't remember. Anyway its really a hassle on Full Tilt because the slider is ineffective in NL (effective in PL for some reason), and often if I wanna raise 4BB before the flop, it just slides from 3bb right past 4 and I'll have to manually type in the number.

Also like on Stars, have the cards get BIGGER as you shrink the table. Have the actual marking on the card get simpler and bigger in relation to the table and keep them readable. At FT right now I often have to lean forward and squint if I have more than two tables going.

Almost everyone has the option of viewing Low/Medium/High stakes tables...if it is possible (I really dont know if it is), in the lobby it'd be nice to choose to view only a specific limit.

Also remember that many players want it simple! If you end up having all kinds of graphics and what not, be sure there is a function to strip everything down, and to have it kept stripped down by default.

[DeepBurner]

Originally Posted by Saporoger

Ask your PM to give you and few another developers/QA folks $300 and a week to play 5-8 sites
You would answer the most of your own questions then.
And try to play the same stuff at 21" and at 12,1" notebook.

We have been playing lots of other sites but I'm afraid only in our spare time with our own money

Originally Posted by Saporoger

- no support for any other OS at all

As a mac owner I share your pain and will recommend...

Originally Posted by Saporoger

What the most of the sites don't have:
All the player notes and settings you'll made are stored at your local HDD, if you'll change your WS, you will not get all you've configured/written down, make it be on the server side, even if it looks a bit to expensive for the first time.

Good point.

Originally Posted by Saporoger

P.S.: don't offer any info on players that one dindt made by itself or wouldnt get in the public (TLB, etc.), your users should trust you, if they wouldnt, you're done.

By this do you mean not to provide any historical stats on players you're playing against? For example stats such as the previous times you've played them, money won/lost from them, tournaments they've previously won, maybe even a ranking of the player. would be really interest in what other people thought about this

Originally Posted by staphros

SIMPLE TABLE! - Keep it clear and sparten - you may have great graphic designers - but I don't care about random hi rez pictures for each table position!

Completely agree with you... my job will be trying to convince or designers too!

Originally Posted by Kaishaku

And i love a bet feature that would use the BB as basis (3xBB, 4xBB and so on) AND the same for the raise with 2xOriginal Bet, 3xOB... so you don't have to click like a moron to make the bar scroll up or reach for the Num of your keyboard.

Do others agree with this? I've been a little unsure as to how much functionality to have for the action buttons as I believe many are rarely used. For people here, which are the most important and which buttons do you never use?

[staphros]

With regard the buttons you need the following:

• Big buttons (In relation to everything except cards and bet amounts)
• Catch people trying to fold wen they have a free check - just prompt them, lots of sites do this
• Slider that works! - Make it easy to use and also make it accessable via keyboard - perhaps with "[" and "]" ala photoshop!
• The F1/F2/F3 keys for shortcuts in limit games are useful
• Allow peopkle to hotkey to the bet amount area.

The bet pot will be the hardest to decide as people either love it or hate it. (maybehave it but off as default)


___________________RANDOM__________________
Also a fun - yet useless feature is the rabbit feature where you can see what would have happened - only if you win the pot and you must show your cards to do so.

Stolen from carbonpoker - the ability to show just 1 card when you win a pot IMO this should be in all clients but only carbon that I play on has this option.

You will also need good banking options for easy US transfer.

Easy updateable software

Make all rules / levels/ antis / payout structures / bonuses ect easy to find on the website.

HAVE STEPS GAMES! - Stars are missing out IMO. (Don't rake too high)

Also with rake - don't charge the little guy 20% for a SNG and anyone above $10 10%. Screwing the low limits guys over will damage your ecosystem long tern IMO. Charge 10% upto $50 SNG then start charging less.

Get your S/W solid and have a proven RNG before you add many different game types.

If you have a casino - keep it minimal / so it can be turned off on the screen.


.............with so many ideas.......maybe i should make a poker site lol!

[Badsastard]

Enforced auto bringin w/ Stud games would be nice.

[staphros]

Originally Posted by Badsastard

Enforced auto bringin w/ Stud games would be nice.

^^^- I was thinking this the other day - making us click bring in is pretty dumb when your only option is bring in