The WagerLogic software is used by the rooms in the CryptoLogic network and although this I have used this software a lot myself, I must say that it’s not among the best. If you will be playing in the CryptoLogic network you won’t be doing it because of their great software. It’ll freeze up in the middle of hands, crash from time to time, but you get used to it and learn to live with it. The reason why you do is simply because the games are so good. Maybe this also shows how small a factor software quality really is when players select where to play. The impression that permeates the whole experience is that the software lacks finish and that it probably wasn’t designed by experienced poker players. Still, there have been some updates and the software has been improved slightly over time – hopefully this continues because with a little work it could become really good.
The lobby is not bad – you have the standard tabbed list view and you have a good overview over the available games with most information that you could ask for. If you click a table you get a thumbnail showing what the table looks like, the list of players along with their geographical location in the information panel to the right side of the list. Don’t ask me who decided to put priority on showing the locations of the players over showing their stack sizes but obviously they did.
The graphics is nothing to write home about: it’s functional but nothing more. The controls are not all that bad although the slider is a bit sensitive but fortunately you can enter the bet size manually instead. One thing that I do like, but that unfortunately is only present in some of the versions of the client (Classic Poker for example) is that player actions remain displayed until the next card has been dealt. The controls are actually pretty good this, I guess is one of the things that makes it possible to live with this software. The buttons are clear and large and they have discrete mouse-over effects. The player whose turn it is to act is indicated by a visible and colourful time meter as well as a colour change of the name plate. The slider is not very good although it can be used if you really have to. I always use the type-in option though since this works splendidly: you can easily mark the current amount and just type in the new amount which is reflected in the text of the relevant button and you can commit the action by hitting return. The chat is a bit too small – not many lines can be seen. Apart from this you have the usual notes and even stats. Attempting to bring in more chips when you have more than 80% of the maximum buy in for a no limit or pot limit game brings you an amusing reaction from the software. You are simply told that “You have enough chips already”. I like the fact that among all possible formulations they choose that one!
Playing many tables works ok but not perfectly. Sometimes the focus fails to shift and this especially happens if your action is needed on several tables at the same time. This is also where most clients fail although not all. PokerStars for example will step you through all the tables in turn and as a consequence the games are also a lot faster there compared with on the WagerLogic client.
Tables are offered in a variety of currencies and if you sit in at a table that plays for a currency other than that of your account you first get an exchange dialog box where you are informed about the exchange rate and can cancel if you for some reason want to do so. You are guaranteed the same rate when you leave the table as well though so there are no surprises (good or bad) when you leave.
You have two tournament tabs in the lobby: one for single table tournaments and one for multi table tournaments. The former are all sit’n’go and the latter are all scheduled. The sit’n’go tournaments are very straightforward: you just sit down and when all seats are taken the tournament begins. Note however that you will have to click a “take me to the table” button on a tiny pop up to actually start the tourney, if you don’t it will start anyway and you will be blinded off. You get all relevant information about sit’n’go tournaments in the information panel to the right of the list if you select it in the list. The scheduled tournaments are divided into separate sections that are selected with buttons. The default is however “all” so the buttons are mostly used for refining your search if you don’t see your tournament right away. The tournament lobbies are not bad. You can see a list of all players along with their rank and stack sizes and a list of all tables. If you click a table you see some info about the players seated and if you double click it the table is opened so you can watch the game. |
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