Poker Strategy, the online poker information site recently acquired by Playtech plc (see previous reports) appears to have the inside track on new developments at Playtech’s iPoker Network, reporting this week on a number of changes at the network.
* The network is to phase out the use of the US dollar in cash games after activity studies showed that in some stakes, Euro and GBP tables are equal or higher in popularity than USD tables. Tournament buy-ins will change to Euro as well.
* The number of table types is to be reduced to four from the current seven, in future offering “shallow, normal, ante and anonymous” tables with an 18 second action time limit. These will be accessible from a player-friendly and faster lobby.
* The network wil continue to pay close attention to market trends in order to constantly review and update the features and games to more closely match player demand.
* There will be more focus on protecting less skilled players from sharks, with iPoker monitoring and analysing “the loss per player for every stake” in order to identify specific problem stakes that may require review and possibly removal.