Partypoker begins ecology overhaul

Partypoker has today rolled out the “most significant” set of changes to its player ecosystem yet as the bwin.party brand looks to “level the playing field” and attract more casual players.

The changes, first announced by eGaming Review at the start of the month, include restricting the use of tracking software such as HUDs, seating scripts and the sharing of hand histories.

The overhaul will complete in two stages; from today players waiting to join a cash game will join the room-wide waiting list and will be randomly placed when a seat matching their preference is available.

Also, players joining a cash game will see the names of their opponents only once their first hand has been dealt.

The second phase of changes, to be introduced in the coming weeks, will see that hand histories are no longer be available for download but will be viewable only from within the partypoker software.

“Since we announced our plans to restrict the use of third party tools on our software we have been delighted by the response of the poker community, Golan Shaked, bwin.party director of games,” said.

“Today we are pleased to be introducing the first of those changes which will level the playing field for all players,” he added.

Partypoker’s decision to overhaul its poker economy comes just months after Full Tilt announced a raft of changes to its ring game lobby and rewards system in a bid to attract more casual players.

What will become of partypoker following GVC Holding’s £1.1bn acquisition of bwin.party remains to be seen, with some expecting Amaya Gaming to snap-up the brand and platform.