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Poker Mavens 5.00 Released

Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 11:36 am
by Kent Briggs
Poker Mavens 5.00 Upgrade Pricing

New user license prices remain the same: $29.95 Lite, $99.95 Pro, $499.95 Gold. Existing customers who purchased (or upgraded to) a Version 4 license on or after March 15, 2016 will receive a free upgrade. Other customers who purchased a license on or after January 15, 2016 are eligible for a 75% discount. All other customers going back to version 2 are eligible for a 50% discount. Upgrade links and notices will be emailed later today. Contact me if you did not receive yours by the end of today.

New feature summary:

* Added 7-Card Stud, Stud Hi-Lo, and Razz to game options.
* Added support for mixed games like HORSE, etc.
* Table graphic redesigned to support new 7-card games.
* Added player notes and color code system to client.
* Redesigned mobile interface to maximize table size.
* Added "Lobby" menu for mobile mode tab navigation.
* Added ticket system for satellite tournament support.
* Added straddle and ante options to Hold'em/Omaha ring tables.
* Added Unicode emoji character support to chat.
* Added Site FAQ option to client help menu.
* Added "Summary" section to server-side hand history files.
* Added new house accounts for improved chip accountability.
* Added new fields to player accounts that automatically track their rake and entry fee contributions.
* Player accounts, system, and language settings now saved in SQLite databases instead of text files and registry entries.

Edit: fixed discount date (2016, not 2015)

Re: Poker Mavens 5.00 Released

Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 11:39 am
by Kent Briggs
Poker Mavens 5.00 Release Notes

Note: you will likely need to add the new PMServer.exe file to the Windows
Firewall "Allow" list since it will appear to be a new program to Windows.

Import Settings

Version 5 installs into a different folder than previous versions and has its own data
folder so it will not overwrite your existing data or accounts. To import your version
4 settings and accounts into version 5, download and run the applicable Import
Utility here:

http://www.briggsoft.com/docs/pmavens/U ... htm#import

You can run this either before or after installing the version 5 program but make
sure version 5 is not running when you do. System and Language settings are now
stored in SQLite database files instead of the Windows registry and account files
are all stored in a single database file instead of individual .dat text files.

Table Graphics

The table seat graphic has been redesigned to accommodate 7-card games like Razz
and Stud. Instead of a separate seat graphic and name plate, there is now just
a name plate with an integrated avatar. The avatar has been reduced in size from
48x48 to 32x32 pixels. The name plate cannot be customized except for new "Empty
Seat Opacity" and "Seat Opacity" settings that let you specify how transparent
they are over the table image underneath.

If you are using custom avatars then you'll need to manually resize them in your
own graphics editor. Since the communal avatars are all in a single image, that
is a pretty quick operation. Just change the height to 32 and maintain the same
aspect ratio to get the correct length automatically.

The table itself is now a more rounded shape compared to previous versions.
Although you can still use your older design (if you made one), it will not look
quite right with the new seating configuration. See the updated Table Template
page for details:

http://www.briggsoft.com/docs/pmavens/Templates.htm

System Tab Changes

Added a "Client" button to the toolbar which will load your default browser and
then load the player client from localhost (127.0.0.1).

The Import/Export functions have been removed from the Help menu since the
system settings have been moved from the Windows register to the System.db file
in the data folder. The data folder is no longer directly configurable but it is
saved in the registry if you really need to change it. A "Locate data folder"
command has been added to the Help menu that will load Windows Explorer and
point it to that folder.

In the Site Information group, the License Key setting will now only show the
first part of the number once you enter it for the first time. After that, it
cannot be displayed again. A new "Site FAQ" setting has been added that allows
you to add any type of frequently-asked-questions info that isn't suited to the
"Site News" setting. A corresponding "Show Site FAQ" item has been added to the
client help menu.

In the Client Settings group, "Empty seat opacity" and "Seat opacity" settings
have been added while "Seat graphic" has been removed. A new "Emoticons filter"
setting has been added that allows players to enter common emoticon characters
like : ) and have them display as Unicode emoji characters. Note that these are
not graphical symbols, just monochrome text characters. Also, a new "Tickets
menu" setting has been added that lets players see any tournament tickets
assigned to them from the client Accounts menu. The new ticket system is
described in detail below.

In the Log Settings group, the settings for "Log account events" and "Log rake
accounts" have been replaced with "Log player account events" and "Log house
account events". The Event Log will show house accounts activity in a new
"House" type, replacing the old "Rake" type. The new house accounts are
described in the Accounts section below.

In the server-side hand history files, the old "Deck" line which showed a raw
list of cards dealt in the hand has been replaced with a "Summary" section that
shows hole cards and each player's last action and net chips won or lost. This
section does not get written until the hand has completed and does not appear in
the client-side hand history. Previously if you wanted to reconstruct a player's
hand you had to back-trace the cards in the Deck line to the specific player's
position in the dealing order.

Ring Game Changes

New for ring games are the addition of Limit Razz, Limit Stud, Limit Stud Hi-Lo,
and Mixed games. There are no no-limit or pot-limit versions of Stud and Razz,
they are always played in Limit format. When the game type is set to "Mixed",
you must also set the new "Mixed" field, which contains a list of games to play
in rotation. The rotation is equal to the number of seats at the table so a
table with 6 seats will play each game for 6 hands before changing to the next
game. Any combination of the 12 game types can be in the mix. Note that Stud and
Razz tables are limited to 8 seats maximum to keep from running out of cards.

Stud and Razz require an ante so a new "Ante" setting has been added to ring
games. You can also use an ante for Hold'em and Omaha. If you have a mixed game
that includes either Hold'em or Omaha and Razz or Stud, the new "Ante all"
setting determines if the ante should also be applied to the Hold'em/Omaha games
too.

A new "Bring-in" setting has been added since Razz and Stud require a bring-in
bet to start the first round of betting. Typically this is about half the small
bet or less. Also "Small bet" and "Big bet" settings have been added since Razz
and Stud do not use blinds.

A new "Allow straddle" setting has been added. This only applies to Hold'em and
Omaha and lets players in the under-the-gun position post a double big blind
preflop to have the right to act last preflop. They can choose this option via a
checkbox on the table (just above the chat box).

Finally, the old rake system has been changed from a ratio system to a simpler
percentage system. You will need to manually reset your rake values because of
this change.

Tournament Changes

Limit Razz, Limit Stud, Limit Stud Hi-Lo, and Mixed games have also been added
to tournaments. For mixed games, the rotation is determined by the "Level
duration" setting. For example, if you have 10-minute levels then each game is
played for 10 minutes before changing to the next game. A new "Bring-in percent"
setting has been added that determines the bring-in value, express as a
percentage of the Small Bet for the current level.

Also new for tournaments is a tournament ticket system. Typically this will be
used to create a satellite tournament system such that winners in lower
tournaments can win a ticket that allows them into a higher tournament. Ticket
tokens are similar to permission tokens (both are 15 alphanumeric characters
max) except that tickets can be awarded as prizes using the new "Payout tickets"
setting. And when they are used to register for another tournament (as determined
by the new "Ticket" setting), they are consumed by the system and removed from
the player's account (but also refunded if unregistered). When a ticket is
specified, you can use the "Ticket required" field to determine if only ticket
holders can enter or if non-ticket holders can just pay the buy-in to get in
also. The "Ticket funded" setting determines if ticket holders get in free, pay
their own way, or let the house pay for them.

Note than players can hold any number of tickets but no more than one of any
particular ticket token. As noted above, tickets are removed on registration and
refunded on unregistration but once a tournament starts, they are not refunded,
even on manual aborts, system crashes, or no-show removals.

Account Changes

As mentioned above, accounts are now stored in a single Accounts.db SQLite
database file instead of individual .dat text files. For sites with tens of
thousands of accounts, this should speed up the initial load time and greatly
simplify your backup routine.

In addition, there are several new house accounts (in addition to the rake and
entry fee accounts that existed previously). These can be seen by clicking the
new House button on the toolbar:

The "Master" house account tracks the sum total of all house-to-player chip
transactions, including chips given to new players, free chips granted by
request, and manual player balance changes from the console and API calls. If a
player account is deleted, his balance is added back to the Master account.

The "Ring" house account keeps a real time total of chip stacks at all ring
tables. As pots are rakes, the raked chips move from the Ring account to the
Rake account.

The "Tourney" house account keeps a real time total of buy-in chips less the
prizepool chips as they are awarded. The entry fee portion of the buy-in/rebuys/
add-on goes directly to the Entry Fee account, as before. The Tourney account
can show a negative balance if prize bonuses are set.

Finally a "Players" house account keeps a real time total of all player
balances. This particular account is "read-only" and recalculates each time the
server is started and player accounts are loaded from the database file. The
other house account balances can all be modified here manually (and via the API)
and are saved in the Accounts.db file.

The Permissions button has been replaced by a Tokens button that contains both
permission and ticket token functions for finding and setting tokens for
selected players. Each player now has a new "Tickets" field for holding their
tickets.

Also added to each player's account settings are "ERake", "PRake", and "TFees"
fields. These keep a running total in real time of each player's rake and entry
fee contributions and would typically be used in some sort of frequent player
point or rakeback system, as implemented by the site owner. This relieves you of
having to scan every ring game history and tournament result file to compile
this information. The ERake field shows the player's rake contribution using an
equal distribution method, such that the rake collected for each pot is divided
equally among all players who were dealt into the hand. The PRake field, on the
other hand, shows the player's rake contribution using a proportional
distribution method, such that the amount credited is in direct proportion to
the chips he put into the pot. The TFees field show the player's cumulative
entry fee amounts paid into tournaments, including any fees paid on rebuys and
add-ons.

API Changes

An AccountsTicket command has been added to the API for adding and removing
tickets.

The API commands that previously dealt with the Rake and Entry Fee accounts
separately have been deleted and replaced with a single SystemAccount command
that handles all of the house accounts.

Also the SystemBalance command has been re-engineered to simply report all of
the house balances in one call.

Player Client Changes

The mobile interface has been re-engineered to maximize the table size and game
lists. The top menu was made thinner, the site name panel was removed, and the
table header was removed. The table menu displays on the top menu when there is
at least 1 table open. The login and game tab headers were also removed. To
navigate to the tab pages, a new "Lobby" menu was added.

Meta tags have been added to the HTML wrapper so that mobile users can launch
the client in full screen mode. To do that, they just need to use the "Add to
Home Screen" function built into Android Chrome and iOS Safari. Use the new
"Mobile icon" option in the Client Settings group to specify the icon that will
appear there.

A "Show tickets" command has been added to the Account menu that will show any
tournament tickets owned by the player. This will only appear if you have the
"Tickets menu" enabled in the Client Settings group. A "Player notes" command
has replaced the "Block chat" command on the Options menu. More about player
notes below. A "View Site FAQ" command has been added to the Help menu. The
contents displayed there depend on your "Site FAQ" setting in the Site
Information group.

Players can now assign a color (from a fixed list of 10) to any other player,
which will appear as a small box over that player's avatar. Each color can be
associated with a 20 character label, which will appear in the mouseover hint
for all players assigned that color. In addition, a 250 character note can be
written for any player that will appear in their mouseover hint. The letter "N"
will also appear over their avatar.

Chat block settings are integrated into the note editor dialog and all of these
settings are saved server-side so they are maintained for the players even if
they switch browsers or machines.

Colors and notes are also listed on the Logins grid in the client. The Real Name
column has been removed to make room for these. Real names can still be seen in
mouseover hints (when that option is enabled in the Client Settings). Selecting
"Player Notes" from the lobby window (button or menu selection) will show the
player a list of all saved notes, colors, and chat blocks, where they can be
edited or deleted. However, a player must be logged in or seated at a table to
add them for the first time. When a player is seated at a table, you can click
their seat and then click the "Notes" button to bring up the note editor. If
they are not currently seated, click their name in the Logins tab before
clicking the Player Notes button.

Changes are sent back to the server as they occur and saved in an SQLite
database file. Each time a player logins in, that database is queried for their
notes and then sent to them automatically.

Re: Poker Mavens 5.00 Released

Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 6:43 pm
by Kent Briggs

Re: Poker Mavens 5.00 Released

Posted: Wed May 18, 2016 4:32 pm
by Kent Briggs
Just added a "Tips For Mobile Users" page here:

http://www.briggsoft.com/docs/pmavens/MobileTips.htm

Re: Poker Mavens 5.00 Released

Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 12:12 pm
by zxzx10r
How can we choose a different folder for PM 5 data folder ?

i don't see this in the settings anymore.

Re: Poker Mavens 5.00 Released

Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 12:58 pm
by Kent Briggs
zxzx10r wrote:How can we choose a different folder for PM 5 data folder ?
i don't see this in the settings anymore.
That was removed as a user setting but you can still change it manually in the Windows registry:

Start -> Run -> regedit
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Briggs Softworks\Poker Mavens 5
DataFolder

Do this while the program is not running and then copy all of your .db and .xml files there before starting the server. Otherwise they will be recreated from scratch with no data or accounts in them. Note that if you just want to see the data folder location, select Help on the System tab, then "Locate data folder".

Re: Poker Mavens 5.00 Released

Posted: Wed May 25, 2016 11:28 am
by zxzx10r
Regarding the mobile, i`m using iOS and i see no real change, the lobby is still very wide and its really hard to see the tables,

am i doing something wrong ? do i need to setup a mobile switch on ? or something else ?

Also, will there be an actual Mobile version any time soon ? (we discussed this about 7 months ago and you said that maybe on V5) like with a small menu and better Lobby appearance etc. ?

Re: Poker Mavens 5.00 Released

Posted: Wed May 25, 2016 11:47 am
by Kent Briggs
zxzx10r wrote:Regarding the mobile, i`m using iOS and i see no real change, the lobby is still very wide and its really hard to see the tables
Did you see the instructions linked below on adding an icon to your home screen so it runs full screen?

http://www.briggsoft.com/docs/pmavens/MobileTips.htm
am i doing something wrong ? do i need to setup a mobile switch on ? or something else ?
Does it look like the second screenshot shown in this thread:

http://www.briggsoft.com/forums/viewtop ... f=7&t=2184

Those are Android but iOS will be virtually the same.
Also, will there be an actual Mobile version any time soon ? (we discussed this about 7 months ago and you said that maybe on V5) like with a small menu and better Lobby appearance etc. ?
There won't be any native apps soon, especially not with iOS because since it's a closed system and site owners would not be able to put their own branded client in Apple's app store. I will keep tweaking the mobile interface over time to make it more "finger friendly".

Re: Poker Mavens 5.00 Released

Posted: Thu May 26, 2016 9:46 am
by zxzx10r
I tried with the Mobile Tips,

But when i open with iPhone 6S for example, the site is very streched, and you do not see it like in the pictures shown in Mobile Tips, rather then very large. i cannot even see a whole table, and when i try to make it smaller, it does not change (with a pinch like you do with a picture or any other website)

if its not understandable i can try and take a video to better explain

Re: Poker Mavens 5.00 Released

Posted: Thu May 26, 2016 10:08 am
by Kent Briggs
zxzx10r wrote:if its not understandable i can try and take a video to better explain
You can just made a screen shot and either post it here or send to my email. While holding down the power button, press and release the home button. That will make a screen shot and add it your own photos. But before doing that, try clearing your browser cache (Settings -> Safari -> Clear History and Data).