PokerStars Implements Software Changes

How does the world’s largest online poker site improve? In the face of stiff competition from sites like Full Tilt Poker, the iPoker Network, and PartyPoker, the world’s premier online poker room, PokerStars, recently unleashed a flurry of changes across its software. Fresh off the inaugural running of the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) and signing 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate, PokerStars made its software infinitely easier to use for its customers. Let’s check out the changes made by the site that encourages players to “find the poker star in you.”

First and foremost, the buy-in amount is now listed in the title bar of each table. This seems like a feature that should have been on PokerStars for quite awhile, but it will help serious multi-tablers figure out the stakes without batting an eye. It’s like a constant reminder of what four times the big blind is or what it means if you’ve lost three buy-ins. The bottom line is that having this information at your disposal is critical in any online poker experience. It’s now a welcome sight by players on PokerStars. Previously, users had to visit the lobby, sift through the thousands of tables in action to find the one they were playing at, check its stakes, and then go back to the table and act accordingly. In the meantime, you hoped that you didn’t time out.

If you’re playing a heads-up sit and go, lose, and are itching to challenge your opponent to a rematch, this is also now possible on PokerStars. The site has implemented a heads-up rematch option, so you can quickly settle the score at the table. Upset about losing with pocket kings against 2-5 offsuit? No problem. Just challenge your opponent to a rematch and you’ll be back in business. You can also see if you have ample funds online because your total for “pending cashout” is now given in the PokerStars Cashier. Gone are the days of spamming PokerStars Support to find out what the status of your cashout is. Now, just head to the Cashier and figure it out.

Here’s another cool feature to get you fired up to play on the largest online poker site on the planet. If you’re already on the wait list to play at a table, it will be highlighted in pink in the PokerStars lobby. If you constantly just open every table you can find in the lobby trying to add yourself to wait lists, this feature should save you quite a bit of time and hassle. You’ll know exactly how many tables you’re waiting for, what stakes they are, and will be able to find them quickly. All this while you probably have eight to ten tables open already that need your attention. If you can identify what the color pink is, then this feature will make your life much easier. Finally, more time zones have been added. Life online is easier if your own time zone is available, so if it wasn’t before on PokerStars, go ahead and check now.

PokerStars offers a fully-downloadable client for Mac users, so no one is left out in the cold. PokerStars is one of only two major sites to offer this tool for Mac players, with Full Tilt Poker being the other. Having a fully-downloadable version, as opposed to one that launches in a web browser, means that as a Mac player, you’ll have access to all of the bells and whistles that your Windows counterparts do. For example, Bodog’s web browser-based version only allows for only one cash game table to be opened at a time. PartyPoker’s Instant Play software can accommodate just four tables at a time. Neither is particularly attractive to serious multi-tablers or likely many of the people reading this article.

Check out our PokerStars software review right here on PokerSoftware.com.


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