Full Tilt:
New in today's update:
A. New FTP Calculation: It's been pointed out a few times in these threads that the way we awarded points favored the full ring player over 6-max, heads-up, and tournament players. They were able to "pay less" for each FTP they earned, and getting things like Iron Man every day was much easier for them than, say, a heads-up player.
Well, those days are over. Instead of giving 1 FTP per $1 raked (or 7 FTPs per $1 in tournament fees), the new calculation is this:
For ring game players, 10 FTPs are awarded to the *table* for every $1 raked and then divided equally among all players dealt into that hand.
So, for example, a 5 handed table plays a hand that gets raked $0.50. 5 points are awarded to the table, and each player dealt into the hand gets 1 FTP. Now a heads-up table gets raked $0.50 and the same 5 points are awarded to the table. Since only two players were dealt into the hand, each player now gets 2.5 FTPs (in the old system they would have gotten 0.5 FTPs).
For tournament players, instead of 7 FTPs per $1 in tournament fees, you now receive 10 FTPs per $1 in tournament fees.
One change that you'll be interested in because of this change is to the Iron Man program. The 50 FTP day is staying as-is, but because it's so much easier to get points now (5x easier for heads-up players!) we've increased the requirements for the 100 and 200 FTP days by 25%. So now you need 125 FTPs and 250 FTPs for those days. Keep in mind that for most players, it's actually easier to get 250 FTPs today than it was to get 200 FTPs yesterday, though.
For example, a $10 + $1 SNG player had to play 29 SNGs yesterday to get 200 FTPs. Today, he only has to play 25 to get his 250 FTPs.
I realize this isn't the biggest news of the day (although still pretty significant), but I had to mention it first because it obviously affects greatly the next item, making it fair to attain no matter what games you play...
B. The Black Card:
http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/black-card
Most of you have already heard about it and have seen the "preview" site describing in general terms what the program is about. The pages have now been updated with more details, so I won't get into the basics here. Some answers to questions that might not be on the web site, though:
- The 500 FTP average is base FTPs only, like Iron Man. "Bonus" points (from promotions, the Black Card itself, or Happy Hour) don't count towards the rolling average.
- If you're a Black Card member and are playing during Happy Hour, you get 3x points, not 4x points (the two promotions add together, they don't multiply).
- The Black Card store is very much a work in progress. Many more items are expected to be added over the coming weeks, and if you're already a Black Card member you can help us out by suggesting items you'd like to see in the store.
- Iron Man Plus is no more. It was too close to the Black Card and was really redundant. Sorry about that, Iron Man Plus fans, but hopefully you'll agree that the Black Card is a much better program.
- The first Black Card only tournament will be this Sunday at 16:00 ET, and will be a satellite to the $750K Guarantee with 25 added seats.
- If you have rakeback, the MGR hit for the Black Card bonuses happens as you clear the bonus, not when you purchase it from the store.
C. New Rake Calculation Method: This only directly affects players with rakeback, but as of tomorrow, October 1st, we're moving from the "Dealt" method of calculating rake to the "Weighted Contributed" method. This means that instead of everyone who gets dealt into a hand getting an equal share of the rake credited to them, it's only the players who put money into the pot that get any rake credited. The credit is split by what % of the pot you contributed.
For example: The total pot is $100 and you put $40 in, player B puts $40 in, and player C puts $20 in. $3 gets raked. Both you and player B get credited for $1.20 (40% of $3) and player C gets credited for $0.60 (20% of $3).
Note that this change also only affects ring game players not playing heads-up. Heads-up and tournament players will see no difference.
We feel that this change is needed because the Dealt method unfairly punishes the more active players by giving them credit for less than their fair share of the rake (since it's only active players in a hand that actually contribute rake to that hand). Much like the points change, this was the most fair method we could come up with. If it wasn't obvious with the various changes we've been making this year, we're big into fairness over here.
D. Bonus Dialog Changes: To make bonus purchasing a smoother affair, you can now view all bonuses in your account on the Bonus Dialog. Before, you could only see one. If you have two or more "active" bonuses you can now re-order them and clear them in whatever order you like (you can still only clear one at a time).
This also means we're able to work on automating the Iron Man Store bonus purchases as well (it's still manual for now, though).
E. Visual Indication for Ring Game Waiting Lists: Only for Individual waiting lists (doing it for global waiting lists would look pretty bad, and wasn't technically possible). Any tables you're on the waitlist for now will turn purple.
F. Waitlist Number in Player List Widget: In the ring game Player List, it will now show how many players are on the waiting list without having to click over to the Waiting List tab of the widget. It's still not quite as fast as the column was, but much faster than before. The column still isn't coming back, sorry.
G. Improved Notes Icon: Nobody liked the new style of note on the pods with badges, so they've been changed. Hopefully for the better. Check them out again if you turned off badges only because you didn't like the note icon.
Questions:
1. the sound when you are next in line on a waiting list is ridiculously loud compared to all the other sounds and it's really tilting. hint: you could fix both this and the fact that the sound gets played twice in one wash.
- The double sound should be fixed as of today. The loud part isn't, sorry. The volume was actually changed because we had people complaining it was too low, and it's such an important sound (you might miss your table if you don't hear it). It's possible we over did it a bit and can find a happier middle ground, but see if it's okay now that it isn't doing the double sound.
2. shortcuts for noteboxes pls, one for save and exit and one for abort
- The escape key should work for "abort." I'll look into a save and exit (maybe ctrl-s or something).
3. Any update on opening registration for non gtd tournaments earlier?
- No update. It's a very manual process, and the tournament team just needs to find the time to change that many tournaments. We haven't forgotten, though.
4. $216 rush turbo with a 200k guarantee that starts on sundays at 13:00
- I do like the idea of a bigger weekly Rush tournament. I was thinking it might work well on Saturday, though, since Sunday everyone has so many tournaments up already and Rush tournaments are a little tricky to multi-table with a bunch of other tournaments effectively.
5. Any plans on making the Single table sats (buyin : full tilt points or tickets) less topheavy? (most of them are only paying 1st/9)
- We sometimes have them pay 2 or 3 seats, but we can look into doing that more often.
6. A $5-10 REBUY, RUSH, KO, SUPER TURBO PLEASE
- Rebuys and Knockouts don't go very well together. Pick one!
7. Any chance for a "SNG Madness" type promo for MTT sngs?
- Somewhat unlikely, but some other kind of promo is always a possibility.
8. make the damn popup window disappear after you register for a SNG
- Which popup are you talking about? The one that says you are registered? Isn't there a "Don't show this again" checkbox for that popup?
9. I, along with many others, are very excited about draw games coming to Full Tilt. Is there any change you could tell us what games in particular are in development / going to be launched?
- I could, yes. I won't, though. (I like my job.)
10. A $200 turbo needs to be put in the schedule on Sundays. It's a super popular format and I think it would get at least 500 runners every Sunday if put in the correct timeslot.
- What's the correct timeslot?
11. I'd also like to see the $256 Brawl on Sundays alternate to 6-Max every week.
- 6-Max is consistently less popular in tournaments than 9-handed. I'm not saying it will never happen, but it's probably more likely we'd add an additional 6-max tournament than switch our second biggest tournament of the week to alternate between the two.
12. Any chance we could get the notes stored server side? I have a laptop and a desktop I play on and if I play someone on one, the notes aren't stored on the other.
- Not any time soon, but it's possible eventually.
13. If you get disconnected and manage to reconnect in the same orbit, do not ask to post blinds or wait.
- We're looking into this.
14. My widgets have detached from the lobby. I have opened and closed them, changed lobby view, closed and reopened the client. The widget window does not tether to the main lobby window no matter what.
- I think you have to drag the widgets close to the lobby and they will "snap" into place to dock. Are you still having the issue?
15. CAN YOU PLEASE ADD A NEW LEVEL TOT HE IRON MAN MEDALS SINCE SOME PEOPLE ARE NOW WAY PAST THE MAXIMUM LEVEL?
- There are no plans for this at the moment, sorry.
16. Please can you add 36+3 90 mans. The 48+4 never fill up any more, shouldnt be hard to add this
- The worry is that they'd hurt the $24+$2s too much since they're so close in buyin.
17. I have auto post and wait for BB checked in the options. The bug occurs when the person who is supposed to be the BB is on my direct right and they sit out instead of posting their BB. Instead of auto posting the BB for me nothing happens and I time out meaning I have to wait another round to post.
- We're looking into this as well.
18. Approximately every 15 mins the client will freeze up and Ill time out on all tables.
- Is this still happening to anyone?
19. please add a $24+2 Matrix non turbo SnG
- We'll think about it. It's a little weird since usually it's a "better deal" to play turbo and super turbo sngs, and this would make regulars and turbos the same deal. On the other hand it would encourage more Matrix play, and we like that.
20. Can you confirm again that the FTP software doesn't monitor your computer with a keylogger and screenshot-taker?
- Sure. FTP doesn't monitor your computer with a keylogger or screenshot-taker.
21. if I block myself via responsible gaming, will I be able to receive RB? Or will I get RB once I'll get unblocked?
- You will still get the rakeback you had earned up to the point of self-excluding and it will be available to withdraw at any time.
22. Wouldn't it be nice if the client had a button "attempt reconnect now"?
- Yes it would.
23. Any chance for heads up rush?
- The idea has been tossed around, but as of right now, no plans.
24. Is it true that FTP client can not track running applications?
- No, that is not true.
25. How about turning off your chat feature...permanently.
- Sorry, we like our slogan.
26. Do you folks view Rush Week as a successful promo, and can we anticipate the return of it/similar pro-rush promos in the near future?
- Yes, and yes. That was one of my favorite promos in terms of how poorly it was received by tournament players at the beginning of the promo and how much most of them ended up liking it by the end.
27. Can both a husband & wife play at FT or is this against the T&A? Obviously we will NOT be seating at the same table (SNG's).
- Yep.
28. why does it take so long for your customer service people to get back to their customers
- Response times have improved fairly dramatically over the last 18 months or so. Some issues (usually security or cashier related) can still take a long time, but that's because more information and potentially an investigation is needed. Regular day to day questions about promotions or rules or whatever, though, should be getting pretty snappy responses these days. Can you specify what kind of issue you feel is taking much too long to get a response about?
29. Please keep 2/4 rush.
- Kept!
30. and add 2/4 6m rush as well...
- If it keeps growing we'll think about it, but right now it would probably split that player base too much and hurt both games.
31. Requests -> Find player - when you start typing a players name who is already on ur list, auto-complete fills it in, nice! - except when you hit enter it doesn't search
- If you hit enter twice it will do the search (the first time you hit enter it just finishes the auto-complete).
32. An "Open Additional Table" checkbox underneath the "Discuss Deal" checkbox. When both players check this option, another table of the same type would open.
- It's a good idea, and it's being discussed. Thanks.
33. i know this isn't your #1 priority, but could you please do something about the sit out vultures at 6max? by this i mean:
1) people who sit out when fish sit out
2) people who join HU games and sit out to ensure seats if the game improves but do nothing to contribute
- We're kicking some ideas around, but it's not a trivial problem to solve (and in some cases we wouldn't want to "solve" anything). The one idea about forcing it to be an all or nothing thing (sit out all tables if you want to sit out at one) doesn't really work. If anyone has other ideas, or a better explanation of exactly how players are abusing the current system, let us know.
34. Is there a security key generator app being made for android phones?
- Yes, but I'm now hearing it won't be ready until December. Sorry about that.
35. Why is no confirmation email sent when a bonus is purchased from the iron man store?
- Oversight, I believe. I don't really know. I know it's going to be worked on, though.
36. Add run it twice for high stakes mixed games
- This is likely (just for the big bet games in the mix).
37. Add auto bring it in option for stud hi and razz
- It's a definite possibility, but not a very high priority.
38. Add auto time bank feature
- This is very unlikely to ever happen.
39. "put me here" function for RUSH tables
- The "Slide" animation looked terrible in any other seat position, so "Put Me Here" wasn't included in the original release of Rush. I think if we just forced you to be in "Fade" if you want to move position that would work fine. I'll look into what it would take to add that.
40. auto add-on option for rebuy tourneys
- This is definitely coming, I just don't know when.
41. Once you start a SNG and cannot unregister I don't see why the points are awarded after it's done. If I want want to meet my daily ironman quota and one or a few of my games go past midnight then the points will not count towards the day and will count towards the following one.
- This is just a technical limitation. We do have a project (that's always been a low priority) to address this and give points when a tournament/sng starts instead of when you bust, but I have no idea when it will get any traction.
42. make the addon in rush rebuys bigger (5k)/allow for double addons. at this point, a 2k addon at 170/340 is useless.
- I think that's a good idea. You don't think 5K is too much, though? You'd be buying a whole lot more chips for the same price as a 1500 chip rebuy. I was thinking maybe 3K would be more appropriate. The rebuy period ends at 100/200 for non-turbo and 120/240 for turbo by the way, not 170/340.
43. why must the "knocked out a pro" tshirts be so so terribad?
- Actually, that's a pet peeve of mine as well, I'll follow up and see if we can do a redesign.
44. what happens on FTP when both players agree to a deal but other player disconnected while deal still in process....
- Both of those things can't be true at the same time. If both players agree to a deal, the deal is done. If they agree to start talking about a deal (so the deal is still in process) and a player disconnects, the deal will never go through because all players need to agree to the final numbers.
45. what used to be a quick click when registering for 1800ftp for an old Step 2 has now turned into a multi-click journey through the store. And why do I need to give you a phone number over and over ?!
- Yeah, that's dumb that you need to fill in that information when you aren't buyin a physical item from the store. There's a project lying around somewhere to fix that issue, I'll see if we can get it done.
46. And are there any plans to add DON SnGs?
- No plans, no.
47. PLEASE for the love of $Diety (OR $Null) get rid of the system announcements until you fix it so we can opt out.
- Sorry, can't do it. There's a huge difference between tournaments that get announced and those that don't. We are working on adding the option to turn them off, though. I don't have a timeline, but hopefully less time than it took to come out with the Black Card.
48. Don't know if this has been suggested before, add ability to change player colour by right clicking on their name, without opening notes.
- Yeah, I definitely like this one. I'll try to move it along, but it's not a very high priority at the moment.
49. Dunno if it had been asked before, but what would be ftp stance concerning some 4 handed stt or mtt
- I'm all for it. It's down as a project, but I have no idea when any work will be done on it.
50. Would it be possible to get an option to replace this with "Sit out next BB" on all tables instead of just the deep ones?
- Yep, it's possible. We're working on a few changes in this area, including something like that.
51. Ideally, there will be the ability to have all four corners of a player's box colored at once
- Sounds crazy, and wouldn't be a high priority (most players don't even use the one corner), but I'll write it down and have at least one discussion about it.
52. Two things you said you hoped would happen by the end of the year, and the high volume plan seems to be just around the corner. Any hope that draw games are also ahead of schedule?
- Nope, not ahead of schedule.
53. is this 'black card' thing the 'new VIP scheme' we have been waiting for for years?
- I sure hope so.
Doug
PokerStars:
PokerStars would like to announce two changes to VIP Club Rewards effective October 1st. These changes are made after listening to input from players here on 2+2 and elsewhere.
Effective October 1st, VIP Reward Bonuses purchased from the VIP Store will instantly reward players with cash. In the past, players had to earn VPPs equal to 7 times the dollar amount of the bonus prior to the reward being credited to their account. This requirement will be removed.
Also, starting October 1st, NL and PL ring games at limits up to and including $0.05/$0.10 will earn VPPs at rates faster than other stakes. The new rates will last at least through December 31st, 2010.
$0.01/$0.02: 12X
$0.02/$0.05: 10X
$0.05/$0.10: 8X
These rates will be reflected at new tables created as of October 1st. Older tables awarding the previous VPP rates may still exist until the next server restart. Note that the 10X multiplier from the MicroMania promotion in July was continued unannounced and is still in effect, so the 'older' tables are awarding 10X VPPs.
NL/PL ring games at other stakes will continue to award VPPs as normal. All Fixed Limit games, including stakes that have been awarding 10X since July, will also award VPPs at normal rates. Some older Fixed Limit tables up to and including $0.10/$0.20 may continue to award VPPs at 10X until the next server restart. The normal VPP rates for ring games are:
8+ seats: 6X
7- seats: 5.5X
Thank you for your continued involvement in helping PokerStars to better serve their customers.
Todays Updates 
AART 
EIZER
