Tables v5.0 Released!
Monday, October 25. 2010

It has been almost a full year since the last incremental update and a year and a half since the last major update to the tables on PokerRPG. In that time I have learned a lot, and today marks the release of the biggest update to the tables yet, v5.0. The poker, blackjack, and liar's dice tables all received a massive overhaul. Everything was reprogrammed from the ground up to be leaner, faster, and feature-rich. Highlights of some of the updates in this version:

- New, full 3D table art.
- Different color tables for Poker, Blackjack, and Liar's Dice.
- The ability to play and watch multiple tables at the same time.
- You can now choose your seat instead of being randomly placed in a seat (doesn't apply to MT).
- A betting slider has been added along with bigger and easier to read buttons.
- Realistic chip images have been added for the pot and bets.
- Animations have been added to all tables.
- New card images have been made that are easier to read.
- The dead button rule is now implemented.
- Improved screen update speed by greater than 60%.
- Hand descriptions at the end of hands now show what the winning hand was (ex: Two Pair, J's & 6's).
- Improved timer movement and accuracy.
- The fonts used should now be easier to read, and colors have been added to the Dealer chat to be easier to read.
- You can now see your hands won/lost for the current game session.
- Minimum and maximum buy-ins are now automatically set based on the blinds.
- Dramatically improved game speed and smoothness of Blackjack.
- It is now clear which set of cards you are on with a split in Blackjack.
- Added a raise sound that is separate from the bet sound.
- Added a sound for when someone gets a blackjack.
- If you are typing in the chat, your cursor won't jump to the bet box if it becomes your turn.
- The current table id and hand id are now shown on the top left of each table.
- 9 players can now play at a poker table, and 5 can play at blackjack and liar's dice.
- Improved support for mobile devices (sounds still won't work unless your phone has flash).

Extensive testing and refinement has gone into this new release, but with any major release like this there are bound to be a few bugs here and there lurking. If you find a bug please report it in a support ticket. If you see any suggestions please post them in the comments here.

posted by James :: Comments (31)

Poker Points Name Change
Sunday, October 24. 2010

To avoid naming confusion, Poker Points (which aren't the same as points), have been changed to Poker Credits. Nothing is different about them, they are just called something different now.

posted by James :: Comments (7)

Progress Update
Saturday, October 16. 2010

Work on the new Tables v5.0 is coming along great and is on pace for an on-time release. If no unexpected bumps in the road come up, you should expect to see the release of updated Hold'em, Blackjack, and Liar's Dice in early November, or at least some beta testing of all three.

If you were wondering why there haven't been updates lately, this is why.

posted by James :: Comments (6)

Community Challenge Update
Friday, September 24. 2010

The Community Challenge has been updated to be more attainable. The main goal has been lowered from 500 to 250, and only 2 referrals are needed to get the extra 100 points if that is met. Also, instead of the 250 sub-goal, everyone that refers just 1 new user that reaches level 5 will get 25 extra points if we reach at least 100 new users.

posted by James :: Comments (8)

Poker Point Fridays MT
Thursday, September 23. 2010

A new MT has been added to the slate. This MT is called Poker Point Fridays and is run once per week on Friday. Signups start 2:00 PM and the tournament starts at 3:00 PM. What sets this tournament apart is that you don't have to invest any chips into the tournament. The buy-in for this MT is 100 poker points, and the payout is in chips, the same amount as if it were a 10,000 chip buy-in.

posted by James :: Comments (13)

Always Open Tables
Wednesday, September 22. 2010

There are now 5 default Cash Game poker tables that will always be in the list on the Play Poker page, regardless if anyone is at the table or not. They have various blind structures and make it quicker and easier to join cash games, especially for newer players that don't realize they can or don't want to make their own table.

posted by James :: Comments (14)

Community Challenge
Monday, September 20. 2010

In an effort to expand our great community and get more players at the poker tables, I'm starting a community challenge that begins immediately and goes through October 21, a month from now.

The goal is to reach at least 250 new active users, but hopefully 500 new active users. The community should work together to reach this goal within the 30 days, and if the goal is completed, everyone that participated will be rewarded. This isn't a competition, it is a collaboration.

Click here for details on the challenge.

posted by James :: Comments (15)

Card Update
Thursday, September 16. 2010

A text representation of what cards you have in your hand at poker tables is now shown behind the images of your cards. Sometimes browsers will mess up and not load the card image correctly, so if this happens to you, you can still see what cards you have in your hand.

posted by James :: Comments (14)

Pad Level Names
Thursday, September 16. 2010

The names you have given to your pad levels now show up on the drop down lists on the Customize Pad page as well.

posted by James :: Comments (4)

Item Image Optimizations
Wednesday, September 15. 2010

I optimized the item images a few weeks ago, making page load times faster (especially for pads). I have now been able to optimize them about 30% smaller without losing any quality, so they should now load even faster.

posted by James :: Comments (7)

Loan Bug Fix
Tuesday, September 14. 2010

A bug that sometimes caused loans that went to collections to not show correctly has now been fixed. They were paid correctly, it just didn't update the loan slot and kept it locked so that you couldn't loan out more.

posted by James :: Comments (7)

Bug Fixes
Tuesday, September 14. 2010

Fixed bug that caused incorrect usernames to show up in the game log on Liar's Dice tables.

Watching Liar's Dice tables now works correctly.

Players that get knocked out of a Liar's Dice table will now be automatically removed from the table, which fixes a few other bugs associated with players staying in when already out.

posted by James :: Comments (5)

Liar's Dice
Monday, September 13. 2010

A new game type is now playable from the Play Poker page - Liar's Dice. This new dice game can be played just like a regular SnG (to create a Liar's Dice table, click on the create SnG link). It is winner-take-all and 4 players are always at a Liar's Dice table. If you don't know the rules, they are quite simple and are posted on the Liar's Dice table in an information popup (just put your mouse over the question mark icon). Please post any bugs or suggestions that you may find/think of.

You can play at a Liar's Dice table at the same time as a Poker or Blackjack table.

posted by James :: Comments (21)

Losing Chips Bug Fix
Sunday, September 5. 2010

There was a bug that kept you from getting your chips back from a CG when you sat out and then closed the poker window without pressing the Leave button. This has now been fixed.

posted by James :: Comments (5)

MT Start Time
Sunday, September 5. 2010

If the last person to join a MT joins in the last 3 minutes, 5 minutes will get added to the start time of the tournament to give everyone time to join before it starts.

posted by James :: Comments (3)