PartyPoker Rolling Out New Software in Q1 2013

In its 2012 first half financial results, bwin.party, the parent company of the popular online poker rooms bwin and PartyPoker, dropped a bombshell about brand new software coming soon: "Having integrated our poker liquidity, we will then be in a position to launch an all-new version of our world-famous PartyPoker product. Having last re-launched PartyPoker in 2009, we have been working on the next generation version that will be rolled out during the first quarter of 2013. Comprising many new features and a new look and feel, our objective is to once again make PartyPoker the world's favorite poker room and return poker to growth."

Specific details about what the software would include were not given. Whatever it ultimately entails, new software will undoubtedly be a welcome addition to PartyPoker for many of the room's players. The site just rolled out FastForward tables, which are similar to Zoom Poker on PokerStars and Rush Poker on the old Full Tilt. Players can fast-fold their way out of a hand and then be taken to a new table with a new set of opponents and play in a brand new hand.

All No Limit Hold'em cash tables on PartyPoker are available in FastForward formats, including heads-up games. You can play up to four FastForward tables at the same time; these can be in the same pool or across several pools. PartyPoker's current software also features auto buy-in capabilities, filters, keyboard shortcuts, a bet slider, a hand history replayer, table stacking, and synchronized breaks.

PartyPoker recently removed its high-stakes tables above $5/$10. According to the same financial release, the change was made in order to "reduce the ability for net depositing… as well as improve the liquidity at lower stake levels."

bwin.Party plans to integrate its bwin and PartyPoker player pools on the dot-com and dot-fr platforms later this year. The integration has been in the works for some time now and PartyPoker officials explained, "Whilst we expect an initial level of player loss on migration, we still expect to see a meaningful uplift in player liquidity and are focused on ensuring that we maximize the network effect from an increased numbers of players in each pool."

PartyPoker and bwin players in Italy will be pooled together early in 2013. bwin.Party is devoting half of its resources toward making the merger an overwhelming success.

Adhering to the mobile crowd is also top-of-mind for PartyPoker. Mobile gaming revenues are up over 100% for the European company. According to PartyPoker officials, the poker room will soon receive a brand new mobile version, which will be welcome news for those playing on their iPads and iPhones: "Having launched a new mobile browser for sports betting ahead of Euro 2012, we are now working on delivering live video streaming through the mobile channel. Also on our product roadmap for the rest of this year are new mobile versions of our PartyPoker and PartyCasino products."

According to PokerScout, PartyPoker is the third largest network worldwide and comes in at a seven-day running average of 2,550 real money ring game players. Its traffic is about 10% less than the iPoker Network and includes sites like WPT Poker and Empire Poker. PartyPoker has a 24-hour peak of well over 5,000 cash game players.

PartyPoker is Mac-friendly and offers a 100% deposit bonus up to $500 for new players along with $30,000 in guaranteed freerolls for new depositors and extra soft cash games and tournaments. Sign up for PartyPoker today.