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PokerStars Software News
PokerStars prides itself in never growing complacent. That’s why we work every day to build new and exciting features to make your poker experience better. This page lists some of the most recent upgrades to the free PokerStars software.
Use these links to jump to previous software updates and major new features.
April 2012 | March 2012 | February 2012 | January 2012
October 2011 | September 2011 | August 2011 | June 2011
May 2011 | April 2011 | March 2011 | February 2011 | January 2011 | 2010
Zoom Poker | New MTT Lobby
Final Table Themes | Dynamically Calculated Pay Tables | Easy Seat
Home Games | Time Tournaments | Chat Bubbles
"Nova" Table Themes | Fold and Show/Show One Card | Hotkeys
Seat Me | Find Seat | Bet Slider Options | Detached Chat
Auto Buy-In | Session Options
April 2012
* Table Customization (Beta) – We are adding the ability to choose a different background, and to change the felt color for each theme. After the update, you can right-click on the respective area of the table and you will see a drop-down menu with a selection of background or felt choices. For example, you can play with the Nova theme with a light-coloured background, or play with the Black theme and have a red felt on a red carpet background.
Initially, all Nova, Black, Classic, and Slick themes will support this functionality, but we will expand it to all themes around mid-May. We also plan to add more functionality then, to make it even easier to get the table look and feel that is perfect for you.
We would love to hear your feedback about this feature once you have had a chance to try it out, especially about what backgrounds and what felt colors you would like to have offered.
* Table Groups (Beta) – We are working on making it easier to find and join games in the lobby. To this end, we will release a feature that groups together all ring game tables of the same type.
Clicking 'Seat Me' will quickly place you at a table with an available seat from this group of tables. You can also click the '+' icon to expand each group and see individual tables.
Initially, this feature will be deployed only for Hold'em and Omaha Play Money games, but the plan is to roll it out to all Ring Games. We will of course offer the option to keep the current view of games by not grouping them. To see the feature, simply go to the Hold'em or Omaha Play Money tabs after the client update.
* Zoom Improvements – We have made a lot of improvements to Zoom this month, based on player feedback. Some of the new changes in this client release are:
- 'Fold and Watch' button inside the Fold button, making it easier to fold and watch a hand with just a single click of the mouse. This is optional, and turned off by default. To enable this feature, go to 'Options' > 'Zoom Options' > 'Display Fold and Watch' from the lobby.
- After choosing to fold and watch, there will now be a 'New Hand' button, so that you can jump straight back into action without having to wait for the hand to actually finish.
* Auto-Refreshing of Stats & Info Tabs – The 'Stats' and 'Info' tabs on the tables will now automatically refresh after each hand. This has freed up some space, so we are adding 'X places paid' for tournaments. Please let us know what you would find most useful in this tab, for both ring games and tournaments.
* Hotkeys Improvements – We are introducing some further improvements to Hotkeys, including:
- Activate Next/Previous Table. The behaviour here is changing to closer match the feedback we have received from players.
- Zoom Fold and Watch hotkey is also being introduced.
March 2012
* Zoom Poker – Zoom is our fast-paced ring game format that allows you to play many more hands per hour, by constantly assigning players to new tables, with new opponents, as soon as they fold. Zoom is a very customizable product, as players can pick three different animation styles, choose to 'Sit Out Next Big Blind', and even decide to fold a hand but still remain on the table and observe it, by clicking Ctrl+Fold Button.
* Alternative Tournament List Layout (Beta) – have released an alternative layout for the main 'Tourney' lobby in the client. The aim is to re-group the information and make it more user-friendly to navigate through the tournament listings. This alternative layout is turned off by default for now, but you can try it out by going to 'Options' > 'Lobby Display Options' > 'Enable Alternative Tournament List Layout (Beta)'.
* Bigger Fonts on Small Tables – We have released as Beta the option to use alternative, bigger fonts for tables at smaller sizes. To try the alternative fonts, enable them from 'Options' > 'Table Display Options' > 'Larger Fonts on Small Tables (Beta)'.
* Pre-Action Checkboxes Redesign – This is a small improvement to the design of the pre-action check boxes, to make them stand out more.
* Omaha Tab Redesign – The main Omaha games tab will get a slight redesign to allow players to find the games they want more easily. Play Money games will be split with their own tab, and there will also be Real Money sub-tabs for stake levels (All, High, Medium, Low, Micro).
* Events Tab Changes – We have re-organized the 'Events' tab slightly to allow some regional tours to be presented better to players.
February 2012
* Final Table Themes – We have created special final table versions of all of our themes, giving you a sense of achievement for making the final table, but without being too over-powering or completely changing the look of your chosen theme. The final table background includes a spotlight effect on both the table itself and the surrounding area. For those who are multi-tabling, these need effects also let you know which tables require that little bit of extra attention.
All tournaments and Sit & Go's with 45 entrants and up will have final table graphics enabled. If you don't like the final table themes, they can be turned off under 'Options' > 'Table Display Options' > 'Show Final Table Background'.
* Dynamically Calculated Pay Tables – The prizes for each position in a scheduled tournament will now be updated dynamically as players register, rather than waiting for registration to close. This means players will have a much better idea what the prizes for a tournament will be, before they register.
January 2012
* Flighted Tournaments – We are now pleased to offer you Flighted Tournaments, which allows you to play the first levels of a large tournament at different times, and then join together with other players for the later stages. This format is similar to certain large live events, where there are days 1A and 1B, both of which send survivors to Day 2.
* Highlight Active Player – We have released an alternate way of marking the active player, which uses a highlight effect rather than blinking. You can enable this setting via "Options" > "Table Display Options" > "Highlight Active Player".
* Chat Bubble Improvements – We have made the following improvements to chat bubbles based on player feedback:
- Bubbles will automatically be sized based on text length.
- You can disable your own chat bubbles via the menu that drops down from your chat bubble.
- Left-clicking a chat bubble instantly hides that particular chat bubble instance.
October 2011
* Hotkeys (Beta) – This 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 of whether to bet or just set the bet amount), Activate next / previous table and more. You can also control which table uses the hotkey, either 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 that is receiving the hotkey!
September 2011
* Easy Seat (Beta) – Easy Seat transforms the experience of starting a multi-tabling session. Once you set up your Easy Seat preferences you will be able to launch your sessions with just a single click from the main lobby! Taking your seat has never been this easy!
Once started, Easy Seat will automatically look for free seats at tables that match your criteria. If there aren't enough free seats; Easy Seat will add you to suitable waiting lists. For example, if you specify that you want to play 18 fast tables of $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em, the Easy Seat system will seat you at 18 tables as fast as possible.
Easy Seat can also help maintain your desired number of tables. If you enable 'Session Mode', when tables close Easy Seat will open new ones to keep you at your desired number.
Easy Seat will initially be in a Beta stage and not shown by default in the main ring game lobby. To test out Easy Seat, go to 'Options' > 'Lobby Display Options' and select 'Show Easy Seat (Beta)'. For best results you should enable Auto-Buy-In to make the process as seamless as possible.
* Time Tournaments – Time tournaments are perfect when you want to play a tournament but only have a limited amount of time. Time tournaments end after a pre-defined period. Once the time limit is reached, surviving players are paid out based wholly or partially on chip counts.
* "Nova" Table Themes – There are four new themes, which include a new table design, and features that many players asked for, such as North/South seating, bigger fonts, more distinguishable cards of opponents etc. To use one of the new themes simply go to 'View' > 'Table Themes' and pick one of the Nova themes.
* 4-Max Final Table – 4-Max tournaments will now go to the final table at 5 players. This means that you will be playing 5-handed in a '4-Max' tournament but this avoids the uneven situation of one table having to play heads-up while the other is 3-handed.
* Show Full Hole Cards – If you enable this option (under 'Options' > 'Table Display Options') you will see the whole of both hole cards. This feature applies to Texas Hold'em only.
* Show Large Opponent Cards – If you enable this option (under 'Options' > 'Table Display Options') the size of your opponents' hole cards is increased. This makes it easier to quickly see who is left in a hand.
* Fold and Show/Show One Card – Players will now be given the ability to Fold and Show (rather than just fold) when last to act. Players will also be able to only show some of their cards rather than having to choose between showing all or none. You choose which card(s) you want to show by clicking on them.
Fold and Show does not work in draw games. As before, general preferences for whether to ever show are controlled in the 'Showing / Mucking Hands' section of the Options menu.
* Ring Game Lobby Improvements – We have made improvements to the ring game lobby. There will be a new 'Type' column that will show game speed and buy-in structure, and an icon for table size. The table column will now only have the table name.
* Animation Improvements – We have made improvements to some of the table animations in the client so they are smoother. This is part of a large project that will gradually improve animations in the client even more. To try these improvements, select 'Options' > 'Table Display Options' > 'Animation' > 'Full'. We have renamed the previous animation method to 'Simplified'.
August 2011
* Home Games Social Features – Home Games clubs will be more social in future. We have added a wall feature to allow players to post and reply to messages in the club lobby. We have also added an announcement/whiteboard feature for club administrators so they can share important messages with their members.
* Deal Making Improvements – Over the last month we have added to most of our guaranteed Multi-Table Tournaments (MTT's) a feature that allows players to pause a tournament manually when on the final table. If you want to pause a tournament for deal discussions, simply go to the 'Info' tab on the table and select 'Discuss a deal'. If all players on the final table select this, then the tournament will auto-pause and a Support representative will be called to the table to facilitate the deal. We will be expanding this option to include more MTTs in coming weeks.
June 2011
* Notes Improvements – We have made a number of improvements to how our notes system works:
- You can now differentiate between a player who just has a colored label and a player who actually has a textual note. The presence of the 'N' icon would indicate that there is text, while the lack of it would indicate that you have just assigned a colored label.
- Applying a color label is much quicker now. You can do this via the 'Label' right-click menu that has been added, or even quicker by enabling 'Left-click player to assign label' from 'Options' > 'Player Notes'. This will allow you to see the labels menu by just left-clicking a player - very handy for quick note taking!
- You can now have more than eight labels, and there are also various other small improvements.
May 2011
* Sit & Go Lobby Revamp – PokerStars has made changes to the Sit & Go lobby to make it easier to navigate and find the games you want. Also added are Hyper-Turbo cash Sit & Go's as part of the non-satellite Sit & Go offering.
* Sit Out Next Big Blind and Close Table – This new functionality lets you sit out the next big blind and close an individual table. 'Options' > 'Advanced Multi-Table Options' > 'Sit out next big blind' checkbox: Close table on big blind' enables this feature.
Activating this checkbox changes the behaviour when manually selecting 'Sit out next big blind' checkbox, closing the table once you are sitting out. Note that Session Options can still be used to sit out next big blind on all tables without closing tables.
* Apply Active Layout – You will now be able to reapply a currently saved layout without having to switch it off and on again. The shortcut for this will be CTRL-3, or you can use 'Apply Active Layout' from the 'View' menu, also accessible directly from every table.
* Rearrangement of Title bar for Tournament Tables – The title bar of tournament table windows will now have the most important information (Tournament name and blind information) appearing at the front.
* Option not to Steal Focus when Typing in Chat or taking a Note – Following up on the update for Detached Chat in the last build, an option in 'Options' > 'Advanced Multi-Table Options' called 'Don't steal focus from chat and notes' has been added. When this checkbox is enabled and a new table pops to the front, the focus will remain on the table where you were typing.
Note that enabling this option might affect third party tools such as hotkeys, since the table which has keyboard focus is not the table that needs action, but the table where you are taking a note.
April 2011
* Column Settings – The lobby's 'Column Settings' dialog box allows you to choose which lobby columns are displayed in the list of games. You can now also resize the width of individual columns. The 'Column Settings' dialog is accessible via a small icon to the right of the last column.
This means that if you want to, you can now remove the "H/hr" column or the "ID" tournament column and make your lobby simpler. Another part of this feature is the ability to lock the sort of the columns – so if you mis-click a header, you won't lose your advanced sort as a result.
* Chat Bubbles – Chat Bubbles make it more obvious when players are talking, to tell who is talking. If you don't like this feature, you can turn it off at the table by mousing over a chat bubble and using the drop-down menu that will show in the right of the bubble. Alternatively, you can also disable Chat Bubbles in 'Options' > 'Table Display Options'.
* Easier Note Taking for Detached Chat – If you are using Detached Chat and are in 'Merge All Detached Chat Windows' mode, other tables will not interrupt your chat and note taking. If you are taking a note on one table and another requires action, the table will come to the front but the Detached Chat window will still retain the information about the previous table and the selected text area will stay focussed. So now you can finish your chat or note safely.
* Show List of Registered Players in Lobby – You will now be able to see the list of players that have already registered for Heads-up and Single Table Tournaments directly from the main lobby.
* Add Recipient's Avatar when Confirming a Transfer – After the City to Country change, players expressed concerns that displaying the recipient's country is not enough in order to be sure that you are transferring money to the right person.
We have now added the recipient's avatar in the confirmation screen as well.
* Recurring Home Games Tournaments – If you run a game every Tuesday night (or whenever, the feature isn't limited to Tuesdays) at 21:00, this feature will make it much easier to run your club. Options will be available to run daily, weekly and monthly tournaments and are clearly accessible from the create a tournament dialog.
* Hide Hole Cards (Ctrl+H) – If you want to see your hole cards face down, and only peek at them occasionally, now you can. This feature is mostly aimed at players in Home Games playing in the same room as their opponents, but you can use it outside of Home Games as well. To look at your hand, simply move your mouse cursor over it.
March 2011
* Changes to the Update Rules to the Lobby Lists of Games – The biggest change in this update is that we have improved the update logic for the list of games in the lobby to provide a much smoother experience. 'Jumps' in the list of games has been a common complaint by many players, experienced and new alike.
The new update logic eliminates to a large degree the feeling of 'jumps'. As a result, finding the games you want should now be easier, even in the very busy and constantly updating PokerStars lobby.
* Customize VIP Club Progress Bar: Daily VPP Goal Option – We have added a daily VPPs goal option to the Customizable VIP Club Progress Bar. To choose this option go to 'Options' > 'Customize VIP Club Progress Bar' and choose 'Daily' from the drop-down for 'VIP Player Point (VPP) Goal'.
February 2011
* Displaying Country Instead of City – Whenever the location of a player needs to be displayed in the client, it now shows the player's Country rather than City.
* Custom Layouts – This change affects players who are using custom layouts and have the 'Remember Table Positioning' option turned off. We changed the behaviour of where new tables would open after you close a table which you have manually moved out of the layout. Now, the new table would open in the next available spot in your layout and not at the location where the last table was closed. This should make the experience of using custom layouts smoother.
* Home Games Improvements
- Inviting Members to your Club: We've made it easier to let people know about your club through Facebook and Twitter. You'll see icons for sharing Home Game information with your friends in various places throughout the client.
- Custom Lobby Message: You can now define the lobby message for your tournaments.
- Observer Chat Restrictions: Observers are now allowed to chat in all club events.
- 15% 9-Max pay structure: We added a tier to this pay structure with 2 players getting paid.
- Other small improvements.
January 2011
* Home Games – Home Games is a brand new featured section of the PokerStars game client, unlike anything else in online poker. It's designed to let you create and manage your own private Poker Club, where you play the ring games and tournaments you choose, with just your friends, at the time you want. All you need to do is visit the new 'Home Games' tab in the lobby and open your own club or join a club created by one of your poker buddies. Then you can schedule and play your very own online Home Games.
For more information, see the Home Games web page.
* Customizable VIP Club Progress Bar – We have rebranded the VIP Stellar Rewards progress bar as the 'VIP Club Progress Bar'. You can choose between Stellar Rewards and Milestones, VIP level, or monthly or yearly VPP targets. To access the customization menu, go to 'Options' > 'Customize VIP Club Progress Bar'.
* Automatic Seating when you Accept a Seat from Waiting List – When you accept a seat from a waiting list you will now be automatically seated and will immediately see the buy-in dialog. As a result, you won't have to click on a reserved seat anymore. If you have Auto Buy-In enabled, you will be instantly bought in as well, without needing to make any more clicks. We appreciate that some players might not like this, so we've added an option to keep the old behavior. If you still want to click on a specific reserved seat manually, please uncheck 'Options' > 'Advanced Multi-table Options' > 'Auto-Seat Me after accepting reserved seat'.
2010
* Seat Me – When you select a table that has empty seats in the ring game lobby, you will notice a 'Seat Me' button below the 'Go to Table' button. Clicking 'Seat Me' automatically opens the table for you and sits you in one of the empty seats on the table. If you have Auto Buy-In enabled, you will be automatically bought in for the desired amount; if not – the usual buy-in dialog will appear. In this way taking a seat can be a single-click process from the main lobby.
* Find Seat – Building on top of "Seat Me" we are introducing "Find Seat". When you select a full ring game table or a table at which you are already seated, a "Find Seat" button will show where the "Seat Me" button is displayed. The "Find Seat" feature looks for an empty seat at another table of the exact same type as the currently selected one and reserves it for you.
We have also added this feature to the "Session Options" menu:
- Seat Me at a Similar Table: We have also added this feature to the "Session Options" menu, so with two mouse clicks or by pressing Ctrl+S you can be seated at another identical table without even having to open the main lobby.
- Register to Similar Tournament: Sit & Go's have a related change – the "Session Options" menu will have a new entry – "Register to Similar Tournament (Ctrl+S)" – this has the same effect as "Register to Any" from the lobby.
* Bet Slider Options – A "Bet Slider Options" menu has been added:
- The mouse wheel can now be used to move the bet slider without having to select the table first. Simply hover the mouse pointer over the bet slider and any scrolls will affect the bet slider beneath the pointer, regardless of which PokerStars table currently has focus.
- There are several options that adjust the bet slider behavior. You can choose to increment in small blinds, to invert the mouse wheel behavior, and to jump the slider to the clicked position instead of incrementing by a small or a big blind.
- Last, and most probably best, we have given you the ability to customize your own bet sizing shortcut buttons. Those are small buttons above the bet slider which have pre-set bet amounts, which you can choose. Those buttons are off by default since not every player wants them, but you can enable them by going to 'Options' > 'Bet Slider Options'. You can configure different buttons for pre- and for post-flop action. Pre-flop you can specify number of Big Blinds and post-flop you can specify % of the pot among other options, including betting the "Pot". You can have anything that will fit your playing style – it's all up to you to customize.
* Detached Chat – Moving this out of Beta, we have improved the design and also added several additional features. There is an option now to automatically detach the window for newly-opened tables. We have also implemented 'Merged' mode (by default) when you are playing at more than one table. In Merged mode there is only one detached chat window shared among all the tables that are currently open. As you switch tables, the visible chat changes too, in that one window.
* Auto Buy-In – Auto Buy-In allows you to instantly buy in after left-clicking Seat Open without any intermediate steps. Simply set up your buy-in preferences once, and the next time you sit at a table you will automatically buy-in. Auto Buy-In can be set up through 'Options' > 'Auto-Buy-In (Ring Games)...' or by clicking on the link in the traditional buy-in dialog. You can choose the number of "big bets" you want to buy-in on all Fixed Limit tables, and the number of "big blinds" to buy-in for on various types of No Limit, Pot Limit and Mixed Limit tables. Want to buy in as an exception for a different amount? Simply right-click on 'Seat Open' and the traditional buy-in dialog will show up.
* Session Options – With this release we introduce an integrated platform that easily allows you to manage your state during a session. When you are playing, you will see a small additional icon on each of your tables that gives you easy access to the Session Options menu. From there you can Sit Out on all tables, Sit out next big blind on all tables, Resume play on all tables that you are sitting out on, and end your session gracefully – Sit out next big blind on all tables and close them.
For immediate feedback about the state of your session, the table icon will change from a green play sign when you are sitting in on all tables, to a yellow play/pause icon when you are sitting in on some and sitting out on other tables, to a red pause icon when you are sitting out on all tables.
If you have any questions about any of PokerStars features, contact support@pokerstars.com.
