What do you look for when joining a poker room?

[b_poker]

Hey guys,

I'm thinking of building my own online poker room. I was wondering what do you guys look for in a poker room? What would make you join mine, if i built one?

Is it the graphics? Money give aways?, etc.

thanks,

b_poker

 

[realwtfsup]

Fast tables - ability to play 4 tables. The table should not be too cluttered and make sure bets are put right in front of the players. 4 color dech is important too.

A good bonus plan to reward players. Reloads and the like with reasonable ability to clear quickly.

MTT. I like to play in speical MTT tourneys for people who play on a site alot. Freerolls I play sometimes also.

A secret button that will send out a enormous shock to other players when they suck out on you. If you add this I will only play there.

 

[b_poker]

Yes.... i'm thinking...well all the promotion stuff is the same and tournaments, etc.....so i would enhance the feel of the game....like animations and stuff ... like in a bad beat...soemthing happens .... or if someone goes all in the dude stands up ... hehehe....
What would you guys think of a video chat screen? a web cam of some sort.... i dont' know if this is doable...cuz it'll probably slow down the game and probably people with high speed will only be able to play

 

[realwtfsup]

I had an idea after recieving the 100th email from Royal Vegas about there Bounty tourneys.

Select a few random members of your pokersite. Offer them a free entry into a tourney called something like "The Hunted" Tourney . Something like that.

Anyways, They get a free entry for being a bounty whoever kncoks them out gets liek $50 bucks or something.

 

[nafanny29]

Yes.... i'm thinking...well all the promotion stuff is the same and tournaments, etc.....so i would enhance the feel of the game....like animations and stuff ... like in a bad beat...soemthing happens .... or if someone goes all in the dude stands up ... hehehe....
What would you guys think of a video chat screen? a web cam of some sort.... i dont' know if this is doable...cuz it'll probably slow down the game and probably people with high speed will only be able to play

I have to say I prefer no animations when I play, especially when im 4 tabling. Party poker and its characters put me off because when players change my brain still associates the character with the previous player and this confuses the hell out of me. At least on the other sites you notice the persons name change and adjust your play if and where necessary.

All I want from a pokerroom is to clearly see the pot amount (unlike boss medias crappy pokerroom!!), whos bet what, and whos raised. I have to say out of all the rooms I have played at good old crypto is the easiest one to see whats what

 

[b_poker]

yes...that's why i have thought up of options for the player.....forexample ...there will be 3 types of downloads.... just chairs, with avatars, avatars w/ animation ... or be able to set them on the software by the user.... i was thinking of the 3 different types of download would be better because this the user maynot have a fast internet connectino ...so can split up the download...or in your case...just don't want it

 

[jmildstone]

I

All I want from a pokerroom is to clearly see the pot amount (unlike boss medias crappy pokerroom!!), whos bet what, and whos raised. I have to say out of all the rooms I have played at good old crypto is the easiest one to see whats what

True

 

[Chatmaster]

I think you are looking at this from the wrong angle. When you wish to design your own online poker room, start at what do I need to make the experience as safe and secure for whoever is playing there. Anti-colusion etc. For example I recently had a discussion on another forum with regards to software that assist you in coluding. It has been discovered that Pacific Poker is one of those poker rooms that can be cheated with this software. You should rather look at how you will handle these kind of things before developing a poker room and then find that security issues is biting you in the bum!

 

[b_poker]

Good point ..... i think this belongs in a new thread ... but anyway .... security and colluding is ever growing .... there will always be security breeches and colluding will always occur. I don't want to start the conversation here ..cuz it's obviously going to be along one ...and not at the right thread

 

[Aindreas_Daoc]

I think you are looking at this from the wrong angle. When you wish to design your own online poker room, start at what do I need to make the experience as safe and secure for whoever is playing there. Anti-colusion etc. For example I recently had a discussion on another forum with regards to software that assist you in coluding. It has been discovered that Pacific Poker is one of those poker rooms that can be cheated with this software. You should rather look at how you will handle these kind of things before developing a poker room and then find that security issues is biting you in the bum!

I am EXTREMELY happy to see a Casino representative come out and say this. Too many online rooms do not care about this nearly as much as they should.

:notworthy

 

[pokeraddict]

A good bonus plan to reward players. Reloads and the like with reasonable ability to clear quickly.

IMO this is extremely important. There is nothing worse then making a deposit and then because of lack of games or some other reason this deposit cannot be cleared.

I have to say I prefer no animations when I play
Yes I HATE animation and those that do not turn it off slow the table down for everyone else.

Party poker and its characters put me off because when players change my brain still associates the character with the previous player and this confuses the hell out of me
Under option/Video options/characters on/off you can get rid of these. Also if you search 2+2 you will find many mods for this that eliminate chairs, change background colors etc. If you cannot find them let me know I will get you a link.

To me speed of software, reasonable rake, frequent reloads and speed of cashouts are the main things I look for. I can deal with poor support if several of the above are offered in a room.

 

[paul1]

To me speed of software, reasonable rake, frequent reloads and speed of cashouts are the main things I look for.

Can't beat Paradise. Of course, they could stand to have more frequent reloads. But all in all, they're great. Fast, smooth software. Great game selection. Great Support. Fast cashouts. A great poker site.

And they don't mind if I order a cocktail and light a cigar.

 

[Chatmaster]

The complete project needs to be planned ahead, before you start doing the actual programming to create the site. From a design perspective I believe that you should look at small detail as well. By awarding player bonuses immidiately, have support directly and immidiately available from the software by means of a chat and look at integrating a loyalty program into the software fully automated. The fact of the matter is that, with so many poker rooms out there you have to spent some time in planning this project in detail before designing the actual program in order to be better and different. Also ensure that you have the applicable resources to continiously test your software as you develop it. Errors will be completely unexceptable.

 

[jmildstone]

1. Game selection - Hold'em - Omaha - Omaha Hi/Lo - 7 Card Stud - 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo. Few sites online have more to offer. PokerRoom has Chinese poker - Popular Poker has 5-Card Hi Lo - Tiger Gaming poker has Pan. Statistically speaking, the percentage of sites with unique games is small compared to the total sites online.

2. Action -(more fish then sharks )Paradise Poker being #1 in the world averages about 150 real money tables per night. #2 Party Poker has about 110. Both are impressive numbers. It's estimated that online poker deals roughly 110 hands per hour. Rake (commission made by the site for hosting the game) is capped at $3 per hand. Do the math...Both sites mentioned above are doing very well.

Chip Purchase - simple way to purchase chips and even easier means of cashing them out.

Reputation - i Visit the poker forums. Poker players are loyal. Earning poker players loyalty/business takes MUCH more then a catchy "We Pay Fast!" speech.

Software - an appealing interface. After all, poker is a game of patience. Money is not won in a hand. A single winning session might last up to 6 hours at a table. With that said, you're going to be better off if you're playing at site which has nice graphics.

CSD - Believe it or not, Paradise Poker does not have an 800 number. Same applies for some of the larger sites. I personally would not post-up with anyone unless I have a number to call.

 

[Mugwump]

A secret button that will send out a enormous shock to other players when they suck out on you. If you add this I will only play there.

Sign me up!!!!

The button doesn't even have to be secret.

Think about it, you don't even have to set up a bad beat jackpot! Get a bad beat (definition: sucking out without having pot odds for the draw) and you get to zap the player who gave it to you. Thats plenty for me if I'm playing at a 2-4 table or less. If they suck out on at 5-10 or more, maybe they should let you see them get shocked on a web cam or something.

 

[Mugwump]

My advice: If you are going to design poker software, first of all you need to have someone who plays poker work with you help, if you do not yourself play already.

That said, my criteria, in order of preference is:

1.) Activity - Party/Empire is the king here with 15K + users on at any given time. (www.pokerpulse.com for industry stats)

2.) Weak/New Players - Pacific poker is the king here, with some of the wildest games I've ever seen (5/10 80% view flop percentage is not unheard of) I think part of the reason for this is their regular "Showdown Survivor" promotion.

3.) Efficient Deposits/Cashouts - Although I loved playing at pacific poker, I stopped due to their 1 week withdrawal policy. Inexcusable

4.) Hand history Importable into Poker Tracker II software. (great stuff if you want to improve your game. www.pokertracker.com)

5.) Comps and Promotions - Give me player points that I can use to purchase logo'd products with and provide you with free advertising. UB's Player point system is pretty good. Tourneys with and for player points is also a great feature. Offer deposit bonuses regularly. I, personally, don't get too excited about freerolls, but they are a great vehicle for attracting players.

6.) Software quality - This really is the last thing I worry about. My preference would be a mishmash of the following:

Game Selection/Lobby - Most companies are fine here. Party Poker displays insufficient game information in the lobby. Party Poker does have a VERY good game/player search function though

Statistics - The best user statistics display I've ever seen is on the downloadable client for pokerroom.com

Hand History - Should be easy to view and retrieve. Party Poker's is pretty good

Game variety - You need at a minimum: Hold 'em, Omaha, Omaha/8b, 7-stud, 7-stud/8b. Anything else is gravy, but would differentiate your software

Tournaments - Multi-table and sit and go's. Limit/Pot-Limit/No-Limit for all games that you offer. Pokerstars.com runs these very well, and has a great tourney information screen.

Private tables - Definitely allow players to create private tables, and private tournaments. Nothing like your having own poker tourney with old friends from college, now scattered across the globe.

Graphics and Sound - There's a lot of good places to get ideas from. True Poker has very innovative graphics, fulltiltpoker is pretty good too. Not a huge thing to me, but it doesn't hurt. Most places do adequate on sound. Just make sure you hear chips click and cards shuffle and dealt, not sure what you could do that was special here. Built-in microphone support or mp3 player maybe, perhaps an integrated internet radio?

Multi table support - You should support play at at least 4 tables

General Quality - I take lack of bugs, security, reliable Client/Server communication, and anti-cheating/disconnect/collusion algorhthms for granted. If these are a problem, you aren't going to get off the ground.​

A final thought: You should seriously consider developing the software in java. There are very few poker rooms available to mac and linux users, and I imagine that these poker afficianados are screaming for more options.

 

[b_poker]

Hey

Thanks a lot for you suggestions!!! keep them coming!!

Thanks guys,

b_poker

 

[jmildstone]

Also about the software i think the interface should be very simple. IMO Pokerstars is a very nice software.

Though they are not necessary, I like the customizable icons. For one thing, I am more likely to remember a player by their avatar than by their name. I like how you can mouse-over a players av and see if they are actually disconnected (or having issues) or just awol from the table.

I prefer no allin's, though they have saved me several times when I had money in a pot (and good pockets) at both wpex and party. Wpex is more likely to crash, so I guess allin's are ok there. Since stars is more stable I like it that there's no allin's there since some people abuse it. Maybe 1 all-in. I don't think 2 or 3 are necessary.

A "find a player" feature. Whether you want to dog a certain fish (I would never do that) or watch a friend in a tourney, it's nice, especially at large Poker rooms where the tourney list can be very confusing.

I hardly ever play in the big multi's at stars or party because the lists are so huge and confusing. Maybe a customizable list where you can remove the tourney's and rooms that you are not interested in.

I like pokerworld's feature that says how many hours til game time when you click open any (multi) tourney on the list for details. But.. I don't like military time at all, time zone should be customizable.


Player 2 player transfers will be a nice feature

 

[chalupa]

If you are really looking at developing your own software (a huge task), and in particular Java-based... take a look at the relatively new Check-n-Raise poker site at Link Removed ( Old/Invalid)

It is Java based (with all the plusses and minuses of that). They have invested a ton of money and time, and have struggled with (and continue to struggle with) myriad development issues.

They have some nice features not found elsewhere, , some excellent deposit bonuses... and have managed to attract... oh... about two dozen players at any given time.

Eek.

I think it would be very difficult to write a realistic business plan for a custom software poker site that made much sense in the current highly saturated environment.