Cheehc

Phil Galfond will there ever be 2NL level as well? And a lower level for PLO as well?

I am still excited to come play but after I downloaded the software a few months back i logged out..

The reason being was not for lack of wanting to play, or that the software didnt look top notch. It was that the Entry level was set way too high at 10 euro for 1 NL buyin..

I want to muck around for a while and get comfortable but setting the initial buy-in so high makes me not want to start playing. I would want 2NL and 5NL as options. But 10NL makes me uncomfortable to need to put such a large 1st deposit, that I just didn't.. 2NL and 5Nl are micro stakes and sudo play money tables and new players (i think) would do this.Too me these levels are needed to feed the higher levels and without them i think traffic just won't be there.

If/when you add these lower buy-in levels I will be there the next day.

As a rec I like the idea of splashed pots more than rakeback - the optics are bang on about what a rec would rather see if 'net rake' is the same.

So I like that but at the same time I wish the reward structure had a bit more depth than just 1 reward programme of splashed pots (well and StreamR which doesn't apply to me at all).

Wish the raked money pool was put a little less into splashed pots and more of it put into something else that would make recs like me want to come back everyday. I can see me playing for a week and if i am losing, not having a draw to come back and deposit... (other than my respect for Phil).

So I can see a future problem will be keeping recs like me wanting to come back each day, especially after a losing day.. because the current reward programme is too random and not a progression reward system.
Let me earn achievements through 7-2 offsuit missions or somethingmore innovative ... and give me some RIO points. I think us casuals need more carrots in poker sites (for the dopamine :p), especially now that in this day in age you are competing for players attention against things such as mobile gaming (that didn't really exist 10 years ago) .

I am wishing you all the best and will try be there Wednesday!

Really liking the look/feel of the software. There are a lot of little thing I love that add up to make a big difference. 

Few thoughts on animations/look and feel:
Good:
- Dealer button moving slowly to next player after a hand is nice.
- The chips splashing together after each street is cool
- I like the deck on the table, 3 cards dealt face down and then all flipped up on the flop.
- Flashing white surround of avatar when it is the persons turn to act is clear and easy to understand who the action is on at a glance

Bad:
- When the hand is over the pot goes back to $0.00 while the showdown is still happening. I think the pot should only go back to 0 once the showdown has ended and next hand has begun to be dealt
- Tilted cards (I know you know) but seemed difficult to see on a big screen let alone one day on a mobile device…
- The betting buttons should be all similar sizes, the fold button is a lot smaller than the bet button. Seems to have dynamic widths based on the text in the button. Really think they should have standard widths. Maybe Change ‘Raise to” to just ‘Raise’ to help this.
- Did not see an option to view last hands – does this exist and what does it look like and function like.

If I get Beta access I will give better thoughts around avatars ;)

Cheers,
Che

I know this is not related but after you have launched with NL and PLO what is on the top of the backlog in terms of new formats to add?
With 6+ Holdem/Shortdeck getting a lot of hype (Triton games-Phil Ivey, Dwan, Jungleman etc) and no other site is offering this format, it seems like a huge point of difference that ROI could have if it was first to market with this game type and pushed it. As a casual player, I want to play this soo bad (as NL and PLO are stale to me) and have been looking around sites to play it on, only thing I could find was an empty table hidden on an Ipoker site..
It just seems like a Poker Boom 2.0 game... when we see the top pros playing it in million dollar cash games, it brings back 'the dream' feel to poker.. which has been dead since black friday really..

I liked the 4 table option for a few reasons;
1) I liked your argument that it was better for casuals, game quality and deters bots.
2) I only play to a max of 4 tables anyway.
3) The site is only offering cash games at launch. Maybe 6 tables makes sense if/when tournaments are added? or actually maybe in a different way
- Ie being allowed to register for up to say 2 upcoming tournaments/sitngos while playing 4 cash tables currently. When a tourney starts, you are prompted to leave one of your cash game tables before taking your tourney seat. you cannot register for more than 4 tournaments/sngs.

I know ROI training is out of my price range and the content is super advanced but I would guess it could be easy enough to do VERY Basic tutorial and beginner type videos for ROI poker players that would be free and released after completing challenges. Could serve as a bridge into ROI subscription training site. Fundamental lessons around rules, hands, ranges, bankroll management, pot odds, implied odds etc etc.

Full Tilt had probably 20 videos just explaining the pure basics of Holdem that were tied to different challenges. In terms of ones that wouldn’t require to much difficulty to implement would be things like;

Watch video of Phil explaining Holdem rules.
Play 500 hands of Holdem full ring
Reward - X ROI points (assuming you have something like point reward systems). And new video of you explaining Omaha rules and then 500 hands of that challenge

Here is a list of semi-easy to implement challenges
• Play X hands of Y game with Z table size
• Buy-in X game with Y% of your total bankroll or less (to teach bankroll management) and realise a Profit of Z%
• Increase your bankroll by X %
• Double/Triple/Quadruple your initial buy-in in X game
• Earn a profit in a PLO session where the session lasts 60 minutes or more and no ‘sitting out’

To be honest though the most fun things are challenges that require hand tracking type challenges
Here are some examples from full tilt academy that were probably ‘-EV’ but were fun and got me bluffing, heart pumping and excited to keep playing..
• Win 10 consecutive pots from the button
• Win 3 pots without a showdown within 5 consecutive hands
• Defend your Big Blind 5 times in a row by winning the hands.

As a rec I got to the point where poker(holdem mainly) started to feel like a job/chore more than fun. So having these challenges and making me do weird things but playing in the same game (same liquidity pool for ROI) I think is good. Holdem can become stale after awhile and you can get burned and lose interest. So reward systems and things like challenges to keep the experience feeling fresh are important for me personally.

Cheers,
Che

I love all this. As a rec I obviously want to still try win but if I am losing but can still have a positive experince then I will likely come back. For instance when Full Tilt had their poker academy training videos and associated in game challenges, I didn’t mind if my session didn’t exactly turn a profit because I was progressing in other ways. Ie Learning new concepts, formats, maths, positional moves, ranges etc, as well as earning ‘academy points’. I think it made me better than I was. So even though I may have been losing, I still felt that sense of progression and wanting to come back. Tying Run it Once training into Run it Once poker would be something that interests me for instance.

'No way to ban huds'
1) ROI is taking away the need to use HUDs by not giving hand histories in real time, having dynamic avatars as a ‘hybrid HUD’ and giving people aliases so you can’t use Hand histories on previous sessions against someone because they have different usernames each session..

'Huds are a skill'
2) Sure, it is a skill. But to me it’s a different game of poker. ROI are choosing to be different and not allow that type of online poker game and offering a different option. If you want online poker with HUDs, you can play that version with those who enjoy that version.

'You are taking away the skill aspect and making it more luck'
3) Well you need less skill to win if ROI has lower rake than the other sites. So maybe that balances it out for you?.. if ROI have lower rake that is..

'Why no hybrid HUD and you can't enforce a Hud Ban anyway'
4) Dynamic Avatars is a hybrid of a HUD. And as Phil explained that they will still enforce it but they have worked more on prevention by how they have designed the policy’s - aliases, avatars, delayed hand histories - all so you can’t bumhunt me :p .

Awesome, Thanks for clarifying Phil :)
Can’t wait to hear about the reward structures!

While I like all of the changes I do have one thought around the avatars.

Like most video games and poker the biggest thing that draws players to come back are progression systems. In poker that normally means increasing your bankroll. However that is not enough of a progression system for recs (like me) to constantly draw you back in.
Challenges, ‘leveling up’, achievements, cosmetic rewards, loyalty rewards, rake back, random rewards(jackpots), slowly released rewards etc
Now when we progress in these reward systems we are psychologically linked to our character/account and in poker (on other sites) that has been with our username/avatar/picture. Progression systems also helps combat 'loss aversion'.

I feel that with avatars you need to still give players a feeling of connectedness with their account that also encompasses multiple progression systems. Otherwise you risk a player feeling disconnected and there might be a feeling of lost progression when you switch avatars each session.

To combat this I purpose that you allow a user to set their own fixed avatar and (maybe) their own screen name/login so that they always see that avatar when they play on a table.
However no other player will see that avatar/screenname. Other players will see the random ones that ROI assigns each session.

Cheers,
Che

WOW! Well as a rec player and a 'poker enthusiast' i am super excited about these changes!!. This 'safe' environment is what I want!! I honestly didn't think that you would ban Huds (when you have your training site as well that discusses them a lot probably)... but i am super happy with this! a more level playing field. HAPPY!!

Poker with HUDs is a different game. Receiving data/information/hand histories that are processed in real time via software and displayed to you in a way to give you a read/edge on your opponents is maybe not unfair, but a version of poker in which I do not want to play.
You get to have real time analysis on a hand that went to showdown
that now importants a range of info like what they did with those whole cards preflop and every street, so your tool better understands that persons range/tendencies to help you make make better decisions in future hands... all while you were playing 6 other tables and did not pay any actual attention to that hand on table 1..
I think other recs have also tired of this (once they know about HUDs).

Using HUDs against others also using them and knowing how to use these tools better than your opponents is a skill and level playing field and its own version of poker (in my mind).
I don't want to learn how to use a HUD better to be a better online poker player because that is not the version of poker I enjoy or want to play... and so i don't...

Thanks for the response Phil. I just want poker to draw me back in and I hope ROI does that! :)

I am excited for this as someone who stopped playing poker since full tilt/black friday and have played every now and then on pokerstars but I don't enjoy it. As a non-reg/'fish' my hopes are for the following:
1) Games to be a level playing field - That means I want to have a game mode that does not allow HUDs! Having a HUD makes online poker a different game and gives an edge that i don't like when all i might want to do is play on my phone for 30mins. Knowing that regs on a desktop have tools like HUDs makes me not want to play as i ffel unprotected and at a disadvantage before i start playing (so rarely play). If there was a way to split the liquidity and have mobile players only play other mobile players i would like that.

2) Challenges - I remember full tilt academy which gave some ridiculous challenges and we earned points if we completed them. Then we could spend the points in a store. It made the game so fun! 'win with 7-2 offsuit 3 times in a 6max cash game', 'win from the button 5 times in a row in a 9 max cash game'. doing these dumb '-ev' plays was fun and got my blood pumping. I would think 'just complete one more challenge' that's the kind of mentality you what from us rec players...I got a full tilt academy jacket that probably cost me $200 in rake.. but it was worth it :p

3) New game modes - holdem has become boring and stale. It was huge 10 years ago because it was exciting and new. But playing the same game 10 years later just feels like a chore and does not make me want to come back. I tried 'split poker' on pokerstars and that was the first time in a while that i enjoyed poker.. but even i know that rake in that game was terrible. new exciting game modes. Maybe you could have a new game mode each week - ie this week 'split holdem', then the next week it changes into 'split ohama' and they do not be two different games modes on offer at the same time. It wont split the player base, just give something new and exciting each week. - See Hearthstones Tavern Brawl system..

I am excited for what is next

Cheers Phil,
From a guy in New Zealand who wants you and poker to succeed.