As many of you who follow this site know, PokerStars has been hard at work on a Mac version of their poker room. It seems like they’ve been working on it forever now (It has been about a year), but it looks like they’re finally closing in on a release date soon.
I’ve been staying in touch with the Mac PokeStars Beta team, and lately, more then ever, it seems like they’re getting to the final stages of releasing the software. Each new email from them is getting more promising.
In-fact, PokerStars could probably release a working real money Mac version now, but the quality wouldn’t be up to their standards. Other sites like Absolute Poker and Party Poker have rushed out Mac version of their software with Major features, like tournaments and sit&go’s, completely missing! PokerStars is instead working on all the details to make sure all aspects of their software are running great for the Mac launch.
I’m speculating a bit, but I think a September release is possible. If not this month, it shouldn’t be to much longer.
And thanks to everyone who showed their support for a Mac PokerStars version I know a few people posted that topic on various forums, and it gained quite a bit of attention. All those emails sent to PokerStars will certainly have an impact on their effort for completing the Mac version.
Here’s the latest email I received from the PokerStars beta team.
PokerStars never rushes out software changes. This may mean that we sometimes lag behind others in new features, but it’s also the reason why our software is so stable. We improve and test and improve, and deploy in stages.
So no, there is no timetable. I know there are still a lot of features missing, and they continue to add things. There are also things that happen behind the scenes, like database management and tech support. Our software is incredibly complex; you may not use all of the features when you play a game, but if you need to use one, you should have a reasonable expectation that it will be there and work properly. There are literally thousands of small things that the software needs to be able to do.
There are some staffers who hope we can deploy it in time for WCOOP, but that seems optimistic to me. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. (I’ve enjoyed overseeing the beta testing, but I’d much rather see the release myself!)
Regards,
Scott
PokerStars Support Team
I have been using the beta version for a few weeks now, and I am impressed to say the least. So far, outside of the play of the others there, I have had a great experience and have not had any issues with the software. Can’t wait for this to be released so that I can finally use just 1 laptop to play where I want to play!
Michael
Just came across Bugsys Poker Room. They have a new mac client up and running, currently getting my account setup so that I can get rakeback and all, once I get it setup and get some money there I will shoot a review out for others. Just wanted to pass this info on to my fellow mac players!!
Thanks, that would be awesome. I haven’t been to bugsy’s club in the longest time. Last time I was there, over two years ago, they didn’t have many games running and their software wasn’t to impressive in my opinion