The world’s biggest poker site PokerStars goes gets analysed by PokerPlayer magazine
PokerStars treated a small selection its players to a taste of the good life last weekend at its first-ever VIP Club Live event in London. Taking place in a glammed up London Film Museum, players, who could buy-in using their FPP’s, enjoyed a day of fun, free-drink and football. But the main reason behind the event was the world premiere of PokerStars’ brand new client, ‘PokerStars 7’. Incredibly, it’s the first time ‘Stars has ever officially updated its software in its ten-year history.
Around two hundred players descended on the capital from all over the country with a mix of micro-stakes part-timers, mid-stakes grinders a handful of SuperNova’s and even a few super-hungovers all making the trip.
Armed with a glass of champagne the early-risers had the closed-off museum all to themselves and were given free roam to wonder the endless corridors and rooms, packed full of film memorabilia.
Once everyone had arrived there was a short presentation about the new client, hosted by PokerStars legend Lee Jones and all the players were treated to a first glimpse of the software. ‘The main goal was to make the new client as newbie friendly as possible’ said Jones. ‘We wanted to minimise the amount of mouse clicks between a player logging on and being dealt cards.’
Most of the changes can be found within the new-look main lobby where there are now a host of different ways to select your table. One that is sure to prove popular (especially with new players) sorts whole groups of tables by either stake or table type and you simply can select a group and be seated at the first available table. But our favourite option (shown above) displays the table groups similar to how they are currently, but with an added real-time image of the table where you can select your preferred seat and get straight into the action, directly from the lobby.
The whole sign-up process will also be much simpler and faster and there will be “Quick Start” option in the lobby so you can be seated at your favourite games as soon as you log in. PokerStars has finally done away with those annoying pop-up filters too, which are now integrated into the main lobby window.
The “Live Events” tab has been completely re-designed and will allow players to register for PokerStars sponsored events in brick-and-mortar casinos directly or if you want to take the cheaper route, it is now much easier to find upcoming online satellites. You can even tell PokerStars your current location and it will keep you up-to-date with live events happening near you.
There are a few changes outside of the main lobby too; the most exciting being the addition of an ‘App Bar’. This will constantly be updated with new ‘Apps’ specifically designed to improve your poker experience. Plus, there is a much more detailed and in-depth news section and there’s are plenty of tutorials showing you how to get the most out of the changes.
With the presentation over, attention switched to the football where players were able to enjoy a live Premier League match on the big screen with three UKIPT Season 3 packages up for grabs depending on the outcome of the match. For those not interested in the football there was a games room next door filled with all the arcade classics and each top scorer earned themselves a $215 Sunday Millions token.
With the sun setting on the first ever PokerStars VIP Club Live the last few players left the London Film Museum either making their way home or opting for the shorter trip over to the Fox Poker Club for a bit of live action against their online foesand new-found friends.
Closed Beta testing of the new client is scheduled to start later this month with the tried and tested version following soon after once all the glitches and flaws have been ironed out.
