What to Expect From Online Poker Sites This Year

By Sean Gibson

PokerSoftware.com

Poker software came a long way in 2009. The online poker industry, contrary to the predictions of many, actually grew 35 percent during the year, and advances in software contributed to that effect. Let’s take a look at the poker software year that was and see what we have to look forward to in 2010.

General Trends of Online Poker Site Software

PokerStars made a few adjustments to its software client that improved the overall feel of the lobby. Although not much was made underneath the hood or cosmetically in the lobby or the tables, many feel that PokerStars has the best software in the business. One of the biggest additions came in August, when its developers released “Synchronized Breaks” that allow all tournament players to take a reprieve from the tables at the same time. Although the feature was first in place at Full Tilt Poker, the change was a welcome relief to many on PokerStars.

The second largest online poker site, Full Tilt, went through a much more extensive makeover. The new lobby has all of the bells and whistles that other sites have, and players can now customise their experience. Using pre-built “widgets,” players can add on to the lobby to display their Iron Man status, how many Full Tilt Points they’ve accumulated, and more. The “under the hood” framework was given a significant update and many of the lag problems of the past are now gone.

Full Tilt also matched the level of account security found at PokerStars through the use of PIN systems and Security Tokens that are in synch with the site’s server to generate new passwords every 30 minutes.

There were also big changes at the CEREUS Network. Ultimate Bet re-branded itself UB.com and both Network sites instituted PIN security measures and synchronized breaks. There were server issues and minor software updates for UB.com and Absolute Poker that raised the overall performance considerably.

General Trends of Mods

Many players look to modify, or “mod,” their graphic experience. The reasons for doing so include adding tables, a streamlined look to accommodate a Heads-Up Display (HUD) and the fact that they just like to see something more aesthetically pleasing. Mod sites became much more commonplace in 2009 and will continue growing in popularity in 2010.

General Trends of Third-Party Software

Tracking programs such as Holdem Manager or PokerTracker 3 continued to increase in use. Both programs import hand-history files and report results and game-play stats. Doing this is not against the Terms of Service of many sites, so many players are quickly adopting this software. In 2009, we finally saw full-blown support for Omaha for both programs.

With the increased use of tracking programs came the rise of data-mining sites. With more hands imported into a database, player tendencies become more accurate. A player can log onto a data-mining site, buy a million hands for about $75, and have reads on many fish and regulars after importing them. Some sites offer daily subscriptions for history files on top of the bulk purchases that many players take advantage of. Be aware that using data-mined hands may be against the Terms and Conditions of your preferred online poker site.

Also increasing in popularity are Table Scanners. These programs are integrated into tracking programs and will sweep the tables, comparing the results with your database. The juicer and fisher the tables, the better the rating will be during the scan.

Finally, we saw Mac software start to approach what we see on the PC side of things. PokerTracker 3 just released a beta of its Mac OS X edition software and many sites, including UB.com and Absolute Poker, released Mac editions of the software client last year.

Where We’re Headed in 2010

It was a great year in 2009 for poker software and we expect the landscape to change just as much in 2010. Poker sites will come out with new features, new buy-in structures and new tournament types.

What this means is that players will benefit from an always-developing industry.

Sean Gibson is a contributor to PokerSoftware.com, the industry’s premier source for poker software news and analysis. Video reviews of the game’s top software tools are available on the site.