The last entry, wrapping up Mac poker for 2006, showed how active the year was in comparison to previous years. 2007 should be even more fun! This will be a big year for Mac poker players and possibly a defining year for online poker.
What to expect
PokerStars for Mac – PokerStars support said they have a team of programmers working on Mac poker software. They will probably release Mac software during the first half of 07. If the Mac version is as good ad everything else they do, PokerStars will probably overtake Full Tilt Poker as the best Mac poker room. Both will still be a great choice though.
More mac poker sites – We will see a few more small to medium sized poker sites release Mac software, giving us a larger selection of sites to play at.
Clear interpretation of the US poker law – By the end of 07 we’re going to know whether online poker is going to be regulated in the US or not. So far it actually looks like they’re slowly taking to steps to regulate it. It can still go either way though.
What not to expect
Statistical Mac poker software – Although there’s a small demand for statistical software(like poker tracker) for Macs, there’s a very low chance of it being available in 07′.
Tournament lobby for party poker’s Mac software – I’m laughing while writing this, but i’d bet money that party poker won’t get around to making a tournament lobby for their Mac software in 2007.
Mac version of bodog – It’s not looking good for a Mac Bodog version. They seem to have given up the project, so I wouldn’t hold my breath. 2008 will probably be their year.
Summary
overall you can expect 2007 to be a great mac poker year with a few good and bad surprises mixed in. What would you like to see for 2007?
Well, what a fascinating idea that PokerStars has come up with. Jeesh, I’ve only been waitin’ for this for about two years. It’s going to be nice having PokerStars on my computer, and instead of having to use those Java Web browser.
Are there any further updates on when the release date is? I’d like to get it as soon as possible if that’s of a possible out-come.
-Syp.
Pokerstars is working on it. It’s currently in the ‘alpha’ phase of testing. I was able to get my hands on a copy, so i’ll post some screen shots when I get a chance.
News from PartyPoker
As my Mac version didn’t work anymore, I wrote to PartyPoker and
received the following answer on Sun, 11 Feb 2007
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Dear Player,
We would like to inform you that as of now we have stopped offering Macintosh compatible software. We certainly will take the demand into consideration and start working on it.
As of now, you may consider using a cross-platform application like Virtual PC to run our software on your MAC Machine. (…)
Alternately, you can play on our No Download version (Anywhere ý Beta). You can access the No Download version of PartyPoker from the below URL: www.http://www.partypoker.com/instant_play.html (…)
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The main problem is that the No Download didn’t work for the last three days:
” Service Temporarily Unavailable
The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later.”
Would you have any information on this problem ?
Thanks for the heads up, Pin. This is the first I’ve heard about this, but considering it’s Party Poker, I’m really not to surprised. I’ll look into this and write up a new post concerning the issue later today or tomorrow.
Thanks again,
Another solution for PokerStars on a Mac without having to run Windows is to get a copy of CrossOver from http://www.codeweavers.com.
The only things that don’t work (I’ve used it for about 4 months now) are:
1) can’t resize tables
2) can’t use the “rollover” to see where people live.
CrossOver uses the WINE project source code, which is a Macintosh clone of the Windows API. It cost me $79, which is less than Windows, plus you don’t make Gates any richer…