Internet Games Fall Apart

[amulet]

I find that people sit out often at internet poker sites and then the games fall apart. Therefore, i have written the below letter. i hope some of you who also hate switching games every 10 minutes will take this letter and send it to the sites you play.

Dear Partypoker,

I feel that a significant problem exists at partypoker in the area of game preservation. The real money games fall apart very easily and therefore, it hurts both the players and your business.

The players are hurt because we now have to look for a new game, sometimes putting ourselves on a waiting list. Then often entering a game that has new players that we must now learn how they play, and the new game may not be as “good” (different average). Frequently I have had two games fall apart simultaneously, then had to wait on the list for what seemed like a long time to enter two new games.

Party poker is hurt in two ways by the game falling apart; first, some players just leave the site when the game breaks, second, when a game falls apart and players are waiting on a list you are not making your rake from those players (or from the game that fell apart). Of course once they get into a new game, your rake continues, however, given how often games fall apart at partypoker I know that you are loosing significant moneys until the players all get into new games.

Since this hurts both the profit and enjoyment of the players, and hurts the number of players and your rake (therefore your profit), both the players and partypoker have an interest in trying to hold together the games.

I have a few ideas.

There seem to be two main problems:
1. Players who consistently sit out (and then the system kicks them out).
2. Players who the moment another player sits out they then sit out and then leave the game.

To address the first problem, the players who consistently sit out (and then the system kicks them out), I suggest you implement a system similar to your disconnect protection system. The current rules allow a player to sit out for 25 hands , however many players abuse this. If a player sits out without returning more then the set 25 hands repeatedly in a set period of time, then they loose the privilege to sit our more then let’s say 10 hands (10 hands still allows them to take care of personal business), but stops them from hurting the game as badly as they do now).

As for the second problem, Players who the moment another player sits out they then sit out and leave, I have not come up with a great suggestion to address this problem. I think you should institute some type of rewards program, for the players who stay in one game for a certain period of time thus encouraging this productive behavior. And this benefits you by making certain that you continue to earn your rake.

Additionally, John Feeney wrote a book entitled INSIDE THE POKER MIND. In that book there is an essay on game preservation. I am sure if you credit the book, Mr. Feeney would allow you to print that essay on your web site.

I hope you address this problem. As a regular customer of partypoker I find this to be a major disruption.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

[Hojglad]

What's worse are the people who sit at a table, sit out until the blinds get to them, choose sit out rather than posting.. and then just continue to sit there. I ran into one guy that was doing this on several occasions. I'm not sure what the motivation was behind it. I suspect that someone was testing a bot, though. Either way, this issue needs to be addressed. There's nothing worse than having your game fall apart because a couple of people leave. I hope your letter is received well and taken to heart by Party. We all stand to benefit from it.

[Arsene Lupin III]

The majority of table breaks I've experienced happen:

1) after a LAG or LP idiot tosses off his stack for the nth time and stops reloading.
2) after 1am on weekdays and 3am on weekends. Think sine waves or tides. You can't do anything about a daily cycle like this-- the games simply have to break.
3) when I sit out.

[balkii]

While you're at it you should mention that their high rake structure causes weak players to go broke faster, which is bad for the games. Also their jackpot is a bad idea because when someone makes a huge score for a quarter mil they usually remove most of that money from the poker economy.

I dont think they'll listen, though.

[amulet]

tehmatt, simce you agree, please also send a copy of the letter. ty.

[Arsene Lupin III]

[ QUOTE ]
What's worse are the people who sit at a table, sit out until the blinds get to them, choose sit out rather than posting.. and then just continue to sit there. I ran into one guy that was doing this on several occasions.

I suspect that someone was testing a bot, though.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't understand how you reached that conclusion.. I'll often waitlist for a bunch of tables at once when a bunch of good games are going on party nl50.. sometimes I'll sit and think about posting once or (rarely) twice and simply forget to leave "deal me out" checked as I wait to see if there actually -is- action at the table.

[MaxPower]

No. It is much better this way.

Would you rather it be like a casino where you don't get to choose which game you are put in and then you have to get on the table change list?

[Benholio]

[ QUOTE ]
What's worse are the people who sit at a table, sit out until the blinds get to them, choose sit out rather than posting.. and then just continue to sit there. I ran into one guy that was doing this on several occasions. I'm not sure what the motivation was behind it. I suspect that someone was testing a bot, though. Either way, this issue needs to be addressed. There's nothing worse than having your game fall apart because a couple of people leave. I hope your letter is received well and taken to heart by Party. We all stand to benefit from it.

[/ QUOTE ]

There is actually a very annoying bug (feature?) that causes this, and its happened to me countless times. If you have "wait for BB" selected on a table, then open another table/join another waitlist/etc, it will change you to "sit out" at the first table. If you cannot hurry up and hit "I'm Back" before your turn at the BB passes, you are screwed. I've started posting just about anywhere except UTG (I play 6-handed) just because this crap is so annoying.

While we're griping though, I agree that people shouldn't be able to sit out very long, especially at 6-max. 2 people sitting out will kill a 6-max game 80% of the time.

[daryn]

i have never experienced this, ever.

[Michael Davis]

Then you are running really well, or you never play a full game. Or in your case both.

-Michael