Americas Cardroom user complaints, part 2 of 2

In yesterday's post I crossposted six criticisms of the software from members of the 2+2 poker forums.  Today, I am crossposting my solution, which I know will not be heeded:

I was a computer science major for three semesters in the 1980s, before my college had a modem. We learned to write good code that had been extensively tested, and it was hammered into us over and over that the code had to do what it was supposed to do, and it MUST be both user-friendly and idiot-proof. I am certainly not up on current languages or coding procedures, but once I understood the language, I would like to think that I could find the reason that the 5-minute tournament break countdown clock often starts over a minute before my table finishes, leaving me with a break of something like 3:35. There should be code that says something like this (pardon my possibly ancient psuedocode): IF (all tables finished) = TRUE THEN (start coundown clock) Clearly that hasn't happened, unless it's in the update (my computer is in the shop so I haven't played in several days.) Why? Writing the code to solve this may be a lot harder than I think, but the concept is simple. There have been so many things. What is wrong with the table-balancing subroutine which occasionally puts me in a hand heads-up with 200 players left in a MTT? The only possibilities that I can think of are: 1. There is a problem with the code that moves players to balance the tables. 2. The table balancing code is OK, but players are moved too slowly, taking up empty spots one by one while I am playing the heads-up hand. User friendly? No. Solvable. It should be. Basic fixes like this should be priority #1 before adding new games, table themes, bigger cards, or anything else. There is no reason that players have to sit and watch while their blinds are stolen. That, like so many of these lingering issues, is totally unacceptable. If it was my call, I would seriously consider apologizing to all the players and announcing that: 1. Effective immediately, no more tournaments will be started. 2. When the last tournament is finished, all games on the Winning Poker Network will be shut down. The network will remain open for those who wish to make a withdrawal from their poker account. No new sign-ups will be taken during this time. 3. All possible resources will be devoted to fixing these issues which affect the integrity of the games, and if necessary, we will call in outside consultants to help us do this as quickly as possible. 4. In the future, more resources will be devoted to fixing anything that might give certain players an unfair advantage, or that might otherwise affect the integrity of the games. 5. ACR will post daily updates on 2+2, updating players on our progress. 6. As soon as these issues are resolved, the site will be back up. 7. To help make up for income lost by players, when we return we will offer [double-rakeback days, or some other significant benefit] to those who are currently reigstered on this site. Only players who are registered on the Winning Poker Network when we resume full operation will be eligible for this benefit. ----------- There are of course things that would have to figured out, such as how this shutdown would affect time-lmited contests such as rake races or leaderboards. But I think it's the way to go.

Americas Cardroom user complaints, part 1 of 2

HOSTAGE UPDATE:  It's 1119 on Wednesday, and I'm still waiting to get my computer back from Crashmasters.  Last Friday they said that they would try to get it back to me that day.

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Americas Cardroom is a mess, and the players know it.  But it's still one of the best available options, because as bad as it is, when players want to make a withdrawal from their poker account, they get their money in a timely manner, usually within a week if they request a paper check, faster if they use a special debit card.

The other sites available to American players may work better and provide more options, but players have reported waiting as long as a month to get their money out.  So players on Americas Cardroom (which is actually a "skin" on the Winning Poker Network) hold their noses and put up with the other problems, knowing that at least they can get their money out when they need it.

In this blog entry I'm cross-posting some of the user complains posted on twoplustwo.com.  Part 2 of 2 will be a reposting of my opinion of some of the problems, as well as my proposed solution.  Most of the comments are fairly short.

Six users speak:

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HAVE THE TIMEBANK KICK IN AUTOMATICALLY FOR GOD'S SAKE. GROW A BRAIN AND STOP MAKING THINGS WORSE.

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I've had my blinds stolen when I late registered for tournaments several times. Generally what happens is I get put at a table with only 1 or 2 other people and for some reason I'm sitting out for just a brief moment, allowing the other players to steal my blinds while I am forced to auto-fold my hand. Generally it's only 30 chips or so but just based on principle it is incredibly annoying.

To the Rep, you asked me which tournament the auto-add on function did not work in. The answer is about half of them. The option simply goes away even when I had it checked. Other people in the chat complain about it too, so this is not an isolated incident. It only started happening after your update.

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You guys are on the right track whenever you carbon copy anything pokerstars does (rewards/cashout times/active in community/good support), but fail miserably in areas where you go off track (bbj/beast/bad software/timebank). Three of thesee things can be fixed without much hassle, and new software is on the way. WPN is close to exploding, and you guys are fumbling the football ten yards from the goal line with no defenders in sight. You guys need to rethink some things, and fast.

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If you think things are bad now, just wait until this "Online Super Series II" starts.... Jesus. I can already see the madness now.

They better get all of this shi* fix ASAP.

 

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I just asked a rep to use some of my combat points to get into a SNG and she told me that I have to go through the store to do this now... Well clicking on the store link results in a

SERVER APPLICATION / ERROR.

Tested on multiple computers, multiple browsers etc.

I tell her that there seems to be an error with the store link, and she tells me "no errors on our end. It must be your computer"... Riggggggggggggggggggght.

Sheesh.

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I'll end with the following user comment, remembering that this site/network is considered by many to be the best option for US players:

I made the mistake of not signing out of my account before I left for the holidays, and when I just tried to sign on, I was notifed of another open session and to contact customer support for resolution. Read the below gem: 21:01Taylor D: Hello! Welcome to our Live Chat Department, my name is Taylor, how may I help you? 21:01chris: I forgot to log off on my home computer and now I cannot login from my current location. 21:02chris: username = 21:02Taylor D: Please note that unfortunately we do not have access in our system to log out players manually 21:02chris: Are you serious?!?!! 21:03Taylor D: Yes Sir 21:03chris: so I am screwed for the next 3 weeks? 21:03chris: i am out of town for holidays/business 21:03Taylor D: Is there any body back there that can help you with ? 21:04chris: umm no. lol. how can you guys not manually log me offf?????? I am going to miss the OSS2 because of this 21:04chris: unacceptable for a poker site 21:05chris: the error message told me to contact customer support for help on the issue 21:06Taylor D: I wish I could help you, but we do not have access in our system to do something like that 21:06chris: goodnight

 

 

Computer is STILL down

I've been doing some studying and reading, but to be honest, it's been hard to get motivated when I'm unable to play day after day.  There are times when I feel a little burned out, but on the rare occasions that I go two straight days without playing, I get antsy and can't wait to play again.  (Anyone reading this who thinks that poker players are all degenerate gambling addicts, I just gave you your ammunition.)

My wife asked me yesterday whether I wanted to download Americas Cardroom to her laptop (on which I am currently typing.)  I said no, because there is so much other information that goes with my poker playing which is on that computer (Pokerstove, a program used to to compute equity in different hands and situations, spreadsheets where I track my hours and results, and various other information and programs.)  But this time, I haven't played for 13 days.

If I had known that it was going to take this long to get my computer back, I would have put Pokerstove on the laptop by now.  Last Friday, I was told that they would try to get it done that day, but it would definitely done by Monday.  On Monday, Christmas Eve, they said it was "on the final scan,", but I didn't get it back then.  Tuesday was Christmas.  I certainly hope that I get it today.

I know that poker is tough, and that tournament poker especially has huge variance.  I also know that even given that, if I'm not making money at it yet (even though I have in the past), I must be doing something wrong.

Still, it seems like I can't catch a break.  The quality of, and the options with, Americas Cardroom, is getting worse, not better.  Players are using words like "horrible" and "a mess" to describe the recent update (which I have read about, but not yet seen.)  Some language that has been used by current players is such that I won't use it in this blog.

Worst of all, at the best possible time to play, when recreational part-time players are putting their Christmas bonuses online, and college students who think that they can be the Next Big Thing in poker are ready to donk off their money, I've missed a lot of those days already.  That really hurts.

My computer is down again.

I'm typing this on my wife's laptop.  Once again, my computer is in the shop because I won't pay whoever locked it (supposedly the FBI) $200 to have it unlocked.  The last time that this happened it was the Department of State.  I never figured out what power Hillary had to fine me.

It's hard to believe the anyone falls for this and actually sends the $200, but I suppose that they wouldn't keep doing this if it didn't work.  When I took it into the shop this time, the guy said, "Oh, another one of those."

What we have here is a classic arms race.  Every time the antivirus companies come up with a defense for this, the criminals change the code slightly and do it again.

It's getting tiresome, not to mention expensive.

December tournament selection

In my previous post I said,

"To miss late December MTTs, which are full of weak players as during no other time of the year, is almost unforgiveable."

For now I'm sticking with my strategy of playing only SNGs, but if while doing that I grind up my bankroll significantly by Christmas, I might take a few shots at the MTTs that give me the best chance to cash.  I'm about dead even so far this month (-$2.42), but there's time to open up a window big enough to take a few MTT shots after Christmas.

Playing only SNGs is the right move for now, but they definitely aren't a long-term solution.  The players that grind SNGs relentlessly and make a decent income do a huge volume while multitabling, sometimes playing 100 a day or more.

I'm not capable of doing that.  It's way too much on which to concentrate, and with my memory issues, there is no chance that I would remember how certain players played, and be able to use that information if I played against them again.  I take notes, which helps a little, but I could never play a bunch of tables, take notes on players, and keep track of everything that was going on.  If you've seen the sci-fi movie "Scanners," which features human heads exploding after telepathic attacks--that would be me if I tried to play 100+ SNGs a day.

It would help a lot if  Holdem Manager would add the Winning Poker Network (which includes Americas Cardroom) so that I would have some tracking information to go on.  They keep saying it's coming, but they were saying that six months ago.  Tracking software wouldn't make me capable of playing 24 tables, but it would help, regardless of what games I was playing.

Ultitmately, the goal is the same--to get my bankroll high enough so that I can ride the MTT variance roller coaster and generate a decent income from a few big scores during the year.  In fact, even though the players get better as you move up to more expensive tournaments, in some ways it is easier (once one has the proper bankroll) to play at higher limits.  More about that in a future post.

November 2012 Results

It wasn't great.  I had two winning weeks and two losing weeks, finishing the month -$17.75.

That's not a big loss, but in general I've been on a long slow downslide, and I started December with a bankroll of just $30.  I'm up a few dollars this month playing only SNGs, but it's taking way too long to get anything going.

I have some difficult decisions to make at the end of this month.  My bankroll is so low that I don't have any business playing MTTs, most of which go off for at least $5.50.  Of course, starting off on a new site with a $50 deposit, I have never had the requisite bankroll of $550 that I should have started off with to play multi-table tournaments on this site.  I had no idea that the tournament choices on Americas Cardroom would be so bad.

The obvious solution would be to forget about MTTs and build a bankroll of $550 playing $1 SNGs.  That would certainly take a long time, but there is another issue.  The best time of the year for any online poker player between is between Christmas and New Years Day.  A lot of workers, college students, and even 18-year-old high school students are on vacation.  It's a once-a-year opportunity to play against players who don't play much, aren't very experienced, and in general aren't very good.  To miss late December MTTs , which are full of weak players as during no other time of the year, is almost unforgiveable.

I always say that there is more than one solution to a problem, but I seem to be stuck in a box with no easy way out.  I'm not going to give up, but it definitely gets discouraging at times.

Clarification of my previous post

In my last post I said that one of the reasons that I'm switching from primarily MTTs to all SNGs, at least in the short term, is because I have a new (and much better) monitor.  I wasn't clear about the connection.  The main reason that I'm switching to SNGs is to reduce variance while my bankroll is so small.  Having a good monitor makes it possible to multitable SNGs, which I couldn't do before, and that makes that makes the switch more practical.

On America's Cardroom, the traffic in both SNGs, and in playable MTTs, is spotty.  MTTs are scheduled for certain times, but the ones that are playable are sometimes several hours apart.  Sit-n-goes, as the name implies, go off whenever enough people sit at the table to get one started, but depending on the time of day, that can take anywhere from a few minutes to (more often) 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or even longer to get started.

Now that I have a decent monitor I can multitable, which matters when I can get two or more SNGs running at the same time.  Usually there is is only MTT at a time that is worth my time to play, so multitabling is much less relevant.

Also, since SNGs go off as soon as they fill up, I can register for two or more at a time, and if one fills in 10 minutes, and the other fills 30 minutes later, then I'll just play both at the same time until one is finished.

I hope that clears things up.

A humbling change in bankroll strategy

In my previous post, I said,

"One of the problems I've been having with poker is that I'm doing it on a shoestring. I haven't had some things that would help me a lot. I started with a $50 deposit to America's Cardroom (which is very inferior to the site on which I played post-Black Friday.) Since I should have a minimum of 100 buy-ins to play MTTs, and most of them have an entry fee of at least $5.50, that's a big problem. I know that I should just play poker and not worry about the size of my bankroll, but it's hard not to factor it in when I'm making decisions about how much risk to take in a tournament, or which one I should enter. I'm careful and tentative, and as much as I try to fight against that, I guess it's natural in my situation. More about that in the near future."

I have considered grinding my way up with SNGs with an entry fee as low as $1.65, and I have played a few, but that wasn't a real option, because there were so few SNGs running that I might wait half an hour, or longer, for one to fill up.  Two important things have changed since then, and one has changed a little.

First my bankroll is getting really low.  Currently it is $31.40.  To play $5.50 tournaments with that bankroll is absolutey ridiculous.  If I get a run of bad cards (or any other kind of negative variance) I will be broke in a few days.

Second, I have a monitor that actually works.

Third, SNG traffic has picked up a little, but there are still times, for example, around 5 A.M. weekdays, when nothing is running.

It's time to bite the bullet.  I need to play nothing but $1 SNGs for at least a week while I grind my bankroll up a bit. Once I have some wiggle room, I might move up to $3 SNGs and mix in an occasional $3 or $5 MTT if the structure and prize pool are especially attractive. It's humbling to have to drop back down to $1 SNGs--on PokerStars I had a 14% ROI (return on investment) playing $10 SNGs. I'm frustrated and embarrased that it's come to this. But it's my only option now.