PLEASE, Save what we've started here!

[Gary_J]

This post is basically aimed at the owners and staff of HP but members please feel free to reply with suggestions. Please do not take this post as a slam to HP! I have nothing but good intentions.

It seems to me that over the past week or two, people have been getting very upset and even leaving the site, because of software problems. I am one of those people myself. As of Sunday, I cashed out everything except enough to play in the MWI one more time. I truly wish this wasn't the case but can't justify the chance of losing any more money due to a software glitch. What can be done?

Pokerroom is notorious for software problems, why did HP get involved with them in the first place? Is it possible to get hooked up with another site other than pokerroom? I feel very sorry for the HP staff that has to be working on these problems day in and day out. Is this time, money and effort all in vein? Why can't HP just purchase their own software and give us, (both staff and members) a great place to play poker? I do realize it will be very slim at the tables for a while but atleast it will be a great experience, not frustrating. I feel it wouldn't take long for the word to get out about the members and staff of HP. Soon it would be a hotbed of online poker with a great bunch of people. Maybe it could be like a dual site with HP software for our tables but still have access to the PR tables if one chooses to do that? On the other hand if the PR tables were not available, I think the HP tables would get more use.

The HP members are, "BY FAR" the best bunch of online poker people I have ever played with. It will be very depressing to me to not be associated with all of you anymore. I can only hope there is a solution to the problems soon?

HP staff, as you already know, if there is anything I can do to help out with anything, feel free to email me. If you ever decide to go on your own software and need help gather new members from other sites, I would be willing to help.

:sad:

[CJDavis1]

Hey Gary--I feel ya!

I lost a few bucks this weekend, top 20 pay in a tourney. A table with 10 players was stuck on level V....I lost my stack on like level X1.

Had that table not froze, I would have placed in the money. I went out at #27, but really I was #17, which paid in the money.

Someone at my table called PR support, and was told that table would be eliminated and refunded their money. The rest of us was in the money.

I was playing through Hollywood, and no money was credited to my account.
Tho it was only maybe $15, that's not the issue really. It could of been a larger stake tourney.

I'm with you, for now. My acct is at $1.00, I am not in any hurry to deposit more money here. I find the players here, and the site very friendly, but.....

It's about trust and the money.

Nice post BTW, Gary!

[RiverQween]

I don't know anything about software ... so I have no constructive suggestions, in that department.

I do know, that I play poker for enjoyment ... learning and fine tuning my skills ... to be with good people ... but I think any poker player would tell you, that ultimately ...
a poker player, plays to win.

You can read all the books ... learn all the strategies ... play like a pro ... play like a schmo ... practice, practice, practice, there is always risk, some things are left to chance, some luck ... in the end increasing risk (no matter what the reason) is NOT encouraging.
Like being booted from the table at the MOST in opportune moment, or worrying about when the next glitch might occur. Playing and betting guarded, in the end not playing properly because of distractions and fear of what will happen if you put your money in the pot ... odds are already slim and to thin them out at all, makes it no longer enjoyable.

We voluntarily put our money at risk when playing poker, I like to think that if you are adept at the fundamental skills of poker, you are taking "calculated' risks, not random gambling, but well thought out decisions based on odds ... behavior ... cards ... patterns ... instinct and yes, intuition. If however, those skills and risks are compromised with malfunctions in the software, the trust is gone and you feel betrayed and vulnerable.

Why wouldn't you just have the site down for repair or reconstruction, to spare our involuntary contributions?

The calibur of people and their character that I have encountered here at HP is impeccable and matched by none, I say that is worth saving ... but the play and the program have to be consistent for us, the players to have trust in the site. As a business owner myself I base my entire business on integrity, and excellence ... as a consumer I expect nothing less.

All of us have developed friendships that are rare, we all have a bond that would be sad to lose. I hope that the problems can be solved soon, or I fear that I will lose some very good friends.
Glitch or no glitch I want our core group to stay together

[Ean8]

I'd like to second Gary and RiverQween's posts here. What I *can* add is that I DO know something of computer operations and software development, and what is going on seems clearly to be a PokerRoom (PR) issue more so than HP issue.

This PR operation is a total "dogs breakfast". Either their software or computer servers are faulty (or both!!). And they don't even realize it as PR is too busy trying to convince themselves it is the users computers or something.

HP, any chance you can cut the tie to PR and go with someone else?? The best connections and software seem to be universally agreed to be PokerStars or PartyPoker, if you NEED an association with someone bigger to start with!! :D :D

I agree with RQ, I'd hate to see the group get broken up!!

[gladi8er73x]

I'm just sorry you all are having such problems. I enjoy playing with all of you. I think my finger malfunctions have cost me more than any site malfuntions. (note to self...check what the last bet was before calling; all in is bad with a marginal hand :mad: ) Is it tourneys that is getting everyone or ring games? I'd be willing to take a break to fix the site for the sake of everyone else, but I would like more clarity on what the problems are. I mean, the names changing and my auto play buttons not working are the only real glitches I've even seen. Well, those and the chat thing on download. Just let me know when and how long and I'll step outside while you and the orkin man get the bugs out. :happy: Everyone here has been good to me. That means a lot. See you all at the tables.

[Gary_J]

Hey Glad, Good to see ya buddy! All of my major problems have come from tournaments. Never seem to have a problem at the tables. Being that there is a different server for each, could be a clue as to where the problems are. I really do think the staff at HP are doing everything in their power to get this straightened out for everyone, i'm just wondering when.

I have noticed as i sign on lately to visit, there has been a few updates being installed. I sure hope it has! Would hate to lose the wonderful friendships we've all made here.

Good Luck and get your finger on the right track, buddy! :rolleyes:

[Michael Woods]

First of all, a big thanks to all those who wrote saying nice things about our staff. We sure appreciate it. We are being told the problems should be fixed soon, we have our fingers crossed that this is what will happen. As I stated in a previous post, as I understand it, and I'm not a programmer so bear with me, it involves going through lines of code. As you can imagine a program of this size has many many lines of code. I assume that you must find the exact line of code to repair it. All we can ask is you bear with us, we've only been running 3 months, and I'm sure you realize nothing is perfect. Support is doing all they can to remedy situations that occured during tournaments or otherwise. Again we apologize for the software problems and will do all we can in the future to make sure our players have the best and safest environment to play in. We are growing very quickly and we fully intend to make our site as technically sound and up to date as possible. Believe me, we hear you! Our players and their concerns are our number one priority. And always will be. These growing pains will be worked out as quickly and as efficiently as possible. We ask you to try and hang in there and give us the opportunity to get things working smoothly. I personally appreciate all the great folks I've met and played with since we opened and thank you for your great hospitality to me. I'll be here playing and hopefully you all will too. Again, the problems are being corrected and as quickly as we possibly can.


Thank you

Michael Woods

[Ean8]

Gary--things DO happen at ring games also at times. Yesterday, even after the lastest round of updates, a table I was at just up and totally disappeared! Totally, right in the middle of us playing it! I swear this is true, it was called Key West, $1/2 limit ring game, and I phoned support and they know of it. Now, I do believe they properly accounted our money back to us, but we DID lose out on points that were earned and they would NOT give any credit for those, which sucked.

Mike--we (I think I speak for most) really appreciate your coming in and caring!! Let me tell you, I *DO* know software, and this is more than just a simple matter of "finding a line of code". They appear to have more major achitectural or design choice problems, and it is not primarily even the Hollywood parts that are the problem! The WORST of the problems are inherent in the PokerRoom (PR) base software (and servers too, but that is another matter). And the worst part about PR is that they don't even ADMIT that they have a problem, despite the fact one can google and find ooodles of complaints about them. Yourself and Hollywood people have been very GOOD about being responsible and responsive, but PR is frankly NOT up to your standards in that regard.
Are you LOCKED into the partnership with PR?? If you are, then fine, it would be nice to know. But if not, or if maybe that contract or association with expire at a future time, you might do better changing it, you know??

Just my 2 cents....

[Mike]

To all our loyal players and fans,


As most of you already know, my name is Mike and I am the Player Manager here at Hollywood Poker.
First off, I’d like to apologize for not posting in here sooner. Please be assured that I have been at work almost 20hrs a day this week trying to resolve all of the concerns that have been brought up in this forum and in the support e-mails.

The CEO and I have been working very closely to work out these issues as quickly as we can; however, the developers are having a harder time than expected tracking down some of these issues. If you are running the download version, I am sure most of you have been receiving updates and starting to notice some improvements with the java. The updates for the java version appear seamless to the player.

I was informed early this morning that that issues with the disconnections have been tracked down and corrected now. I will include a little list of what improvements have been made this week.

I want to thank all of you for working through these issues with us. As you all know we are still a fairly new site and are trying to work out all these issues as quickly as we can. I know problems that affect GAME PLAY are most important and I want to assure you these are on the top of the priority list. Disconnections should be resolved already.

The next big issue is the fact that people can’t see their cards if they sit in the top four seats in the Java version. I am being told by the developers that this is going to be corrected late tonight or very early tomorrow morning.
Again I am truly sorry for this and I am very aware how this greatly affects game play. I encourage everyone that has any disconnection issues in the future to “Private Message” me here in the forum or e-mail directly at mike@hollywoodpoker.com. If I don’t respond that same day please accept my apologies in advance. I will get back to you regarding your issue as soon as possible. I ask that you include as much information concerning the time you played, table name, ring or tourney, and of course, the hand number if you happened to catch it.

Here is a little list of some issues that have been corrected in the download version of the software:

When people log in to join a tournament, they seemingly sometimes do not go right to their respective table. - FIXED

When you switch off avatars, you cannot see the cards of the person on the seat in the upper right hand side. - FIXED

In the lobby, the button for “My Account” automatically logs you in - FIXED

In the chat, there is often a huge delay of time before you can enter your next chat message. In the lobby, when you go to type, the words are grayed out. Also, when you try to click ‘enter’ nothing happens. - FIXED

The ”Forgot Password” button in the login window does not work. When clicking the button a browser is opened with no URL specified. – FIXED

Again please accept my apologizes. The entire team here at Hollywood Poker is working day and night to correct the outstanding issues.


Kind regards,

Mike
Player Manager

[Gary_J]

I truly believe you are trying your best to find the problems. Thanks for all the hard work, It is appreciated by most. Keep your chin up! ;)

Looking forward to a great experience in the MWI on Thursday! See Ya there!

[deuce_bebop]

It's very unlikely I'm going to play in ANY multi-table-tournament when I might be seated in a spot where I can't see my hole cards.

[tenpin300]

I'm new here and I just started playing at some of the free tables to get a feel for the site before going to a real table. Are connection problems a common thing here? Tonight were I was playing and the table locked up, also for about the last hour I can't get any of the tables to load and the table I was on still shows my me listed as a player. Does any one know what's up? Is this common? Are there any more reliable sites around?

thanks
tenpin

[Gary_J]

Tenpin, HP just made an update to the software that seemed to help some things but at the same time caused this disconnect problem. They are working very hard to fix the problem.

As you've read in my original post, I have been a victim of the disconnect problem. Since that time I have thought about it and chosen to be patient and wait it out. This site has a great member base that is the friendliest and funnest in the internet poker community, BAR NONE! If you are OK with playing with play chips for now while they fix the problem, you will not regret your choice once it's working properly. Meanwhile, have fun and visit the lobbies and chat with the people here, you'll see what I mean. Beware that there are many people that are getting upset because of the problems right now, but you won't have to look hard to see that there are great people here.

[Jumper2]

I've been playing here since December 04 and Gary is right, there is a great member base and the graphics/functionality is one of the best. ( the hand history function is below average since you can't export but I'm sure they are working on it).

I personally did not experience server issues for the first 2 months until it happened to me in the past week or so. It's the worst feeling when you're missing $$ from your account and it completely ruins your session/day since you don't know whether you'll get the $$ back. However, I will give the Support staff credit since I have been made whole within 24 hours but I know some that I've played with who are still out considerable amount.

Just make sure to write down your hand number, time, money you have in front of you, room name etc when the room does lock up and immediately send an e-mail to HP staff. I'm going to stick it out for now. Maybe I'll go chase some bonuses elesewhere until this clears up. Good luck all!!

[honey_comb1]

Tenpin, HP just made an update to the software that seemed to help some things but at the same time caused this disconnect problem. They are working very hard to fix the problem.

As you've read in my original post, I have been a victim of the disconnect problem. Since that time I have thought about it and chosen to be patient and wait it out. This site has a great member base that is the friendliest and funnest in the internet poker community, BAR NONE! If you are OK with playing with play chips for now while they fix the problem, you will not regret your choice once it's working properly. Meanwhile, have fun and visit the lobbies and chat with the people here, you'll see what I mean. Beware that there are many people that are getting upset because of the problems right now, but you won't have to look hard to see that there are great people here.

AWWWWWWW Gary, I'm so glad you made this post...because you know I luvs ya dearly....but I was about to kick that sorry buttocks of yours....for even considering......leaving here. You don't want this crazy texan after your hiney.....Soooooooo, I'm very glad your going to practice your patience. Now can you practice saying.."I will bet , call , fold to Honey" :silly: ;) Thanks for making me happy.

[Gary_J]

AWWWWWWW Gary, I'm so glad you made this post...because you know I luvs ya dearly....but I was about to kick that sorry buttocks of yours....for even considering......leaving here. You don't want this crazy texan after your hiney.....Soooooooo, I'm very glad your going to practice your patience. Now can you practice saying.."I will bet , call , fold to Honey" :silly: ;) Thanks for making me happy.

Thanks Honey! Its posts like this that make this site what it is and worth the wait. The people here are the greatest and you are one of them! ;) More importantly, I don't want the crazy texan Honey after my butt, so I'll chill for a bit! :silly: I'll practice for ya but I think it will be more like, raise, raise, raise! LOL Happy, Happy, Happy, we all will be.

[jozepy24]

I don't know anything about software ... so I have no constructive suggestions, in that department.

I do know, that I play poker for enjoyment ... learning and fine tuning my skills ... to be with good people ... but I think any poker player would tell you, that ultimately ...
a poker player, plays to win.

You can read all the books ... learn all the strategies ... play like a pro ... play like a schmo ... practice, practice, practice, there is always risk, some things are left to chance, some luck ... in the end increasing risk (no matter what the reason) is NOT encouraging.
Like being booted from the table at the MOST in opportune moment, or worrying about when the next glitch might occur. Playing and betting guarded, in the end not playing properly because of distractions and fear of what will happen if you put your money in the pot ... odds are already slim and to thin them out at all, makes it no longer enjoyable.

We voluntarily put our money at risk when playing poker, I like to think that if you are adept at the fundamental skills of poker, you are taking "calculated' risks, not random gambling, but well thought out decisions based on odds ... behavior ... cards ... patterns ... instinct and yes, intuition. If however, those skills and risks are compromised with malfunctions in the software, the trust is gone and you feel betrayed and vulnerable.

Why wouldn't you just have the site down for repair or reconstruction, to spare our involuntary contributions?

The calibur of people and their character that I have encountered here at HP is impeccable and matched by none, I say that is worth saving ... but the play and the program have to be consistent for us, the players to have trust in the site. As a business owner myself I base my entire business on integrity, and excellence ... as a consumer I expect nothing less.

All of us have developed friendships that are rare, we all have a bond that would be sad to lose. I hope that the problems can be solved soon, or I fear that I will lose some very good friends.
Glitch or no glitch I want our core group to stay together Here Here !! Well Said ,My hats off to you n Gary,...Hope all works out ..Joe:)