PartyPoker Levels The Playing Field
8 years ago
01 Oct
PartyPoker has become the latest poker operator to introduce changes which are aimed at preventing âbum-huntingâ by experienced players.
The bwin.party skin announced today that several âsoftware improvementsâ will be introduced which will effectively prevent the use of HUDâs (Heads-Up Displays), outlaw seating scripts and severely limit hand history downloads.
Todayâs Press release outlined the three main steps they would be taking to make the site more âfish-friendlyâ:
1. Players will be able to view the last 12 months of their own hand histories within the Missions icon in the partypoker software however hand histories will no longer be able to be downloaded and saved to local devices.
2. Players wishing to wait for a cash game will join the room-wide waiting list and be randomly seated when a seat that matches their preference becomes available.
3. Players joining a cash game will see the names of their opponents only once their first hand is dealt.
According to Tony Dunst, a World Poker Tour Caribbean champion and PartyPoker Ambassador:
âThese changes at PartyPoker are designed to create a more hospitable environment for recreational players. Unfortunately, many of the tools and tactics that professionals use to maximize their edge have made the games too difficult for new players to surviveâ.
PartyPoker are just the most recent in a long-list of poker sites who have taken to what some see as drastic measures in an attempt to attract â and keep â new recreational players (recs) who are often inexperienced and succumb quickly to the tactics employed by regular players (regs).
Recently Microgaming Poker Network announced plans to allow players to regularly change their screen-names.
âThe intention behind this is simple,â explained MPN Head of Poker Alex Scott, âWe want to stop parasitic players from ruthlessly pursuing weaker players.â
There are already âanonymous tablesâ available on certain networks â something which Party Poker say they were loathe to follow - and Full Tilt last month decided to remove certain game-selection features in what was seen as a âdramaticâ move by some. PokerStars has yet to introduce such restrictions, although there have been hints that they would be âsignificantly more restrictiveâ in the near future.
Speaking of todayâs decision, Director of Games at Party Poker, Golan Shaked, explains why these changes are being made.
QâAs part of our Poker for the People campaign, the Party Poker team is committed to providing all poker players, regardless of experience or skill levels, with trustedpoker products that are fair, ethical and fun. We will continue working with the wider poker community on developing a mutually beneficial, trusting relationship.â;
Dunst claimed to be âequally as excited for the upcoming changesâ, explaining that.
ââŚwithout them, grinders will merely pass money back and forth while being raked, and games will inevitably dry up. I think these changes will help level the playing field for casual players, and preserve the quality of games for professionals.â
The new plans have already drummed up some significant differences of opinion, with 2+2 forummembers quickly jumping on the press release.
âThink those changes make sense. Hope PokerStars follow suit in the near futureâ
That was âbhoylegendâs take on the changes, a comment which was met with the less-than-diplomatic response from ânikinblindsâ
âBollocks as per usual, reduce your ***** rake if you want it to be more sustainable.â
Many posters on the ever-popular forum felt that although banning âseating scriptsâ (which allow experienced players to find and target weaker players automatically) was a reasonable move, the âbanningâ of HUDâs was a retrograde step which would simply lower the sustainability of âprofessional multi-tablingâ.
Gooner933 said:
Q;âBanning seating scripts is great but scrapping HUDs is a really bad idea. I don't think HUDs are a bad thing (especially compared to scripts) for the poker economyâ.;
He went on to explain what many others on the forum also fee
âHUDs don't make you a better player, they merely facilitate multi-tabling (more rake), but it is still up to the individual to interpret the Hand Histories in a meaningful manner. Traffic (which is already not great) risks a serious decline on Party after thisâ.
Indeed, traffic was badly hit when FullTilt introduced their ârandom seatingâ idea (not dissimilar in effect to PartyPokerâs announcement today) but in an interview with Pokernews, Jay Kanabar - Head of Poker BI and Network Operations for PartyPoker â made it clear that he and his team were aware of such a possibility.
âI think the changes we are making are more fundamental that other operators have so far implementedâ, he said, adding, ââŚwe are making these changes to benefit all poker players and of course, we hope that PartyPoker will also benefit in the long term by making sensible, fair and balanced changes although itâs possible we could experience a drop but we want to be brave and not sit on the fenceâ.
When quizzed on the possibility of players bypassingthe new software controls, something which many of the 2+2 forumites thought highly likely, Kanabar stated:
QâWe have made sure that we all our homework has been done before pushing the go button and delivering these improvements.â;
Kanabar says that the site is responding to âoverwhelming feedback from players that they would prefer not to use this softwareâ rather than having an issue with it himself, but during the 12-month consultation period which was held before todayâs announcement he found that many players felt âforced to, because they would be at a disadvantage against the players that are deploying it against them.â
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