Some critical problems with the table structure and software that needs to be addressed:
Table spreads-
This looks like a good spread and we'll probably use it. Thanks! Especially having multiple tables at the same stakes so you can multitable.
You're right that the nosebleeds probably don't need to exist.
We also probably need to enhance the table listing interface to make it easier to find the ones you're interested in. If we had that then we should be able to have two HU tables per stake and have them invisible to people that don't care.
Structure:
3 Bet cap in limit, needs to be raised to ATLEAST 4 bet cap.
The muck/fold problem. Normal protocol is the player that has been called or checked to must show first. Having the person out of position show first no matter what, and the person in position mucking changes a lot.
Eww, didn't know it had a 3bet cap. Ugly. Will fix asap.
We're working on the mucking thing. For now the intended fix is just that everyone shows everything at showdown. We might revisit this after the rewrite.
Button placement:
Fold button is way too small in comparison to raise button, it is too close to the raise button.
folding when you have the option to check, this causes a lot of misclicks and problems
delay in clicking, i have clicked a blank screen only to call an allin once the button showed up.
The fold button is small because you can click it when you can also check. But maybe it should be next to the check/call button
Stars lets you open fold, I don't see any reason to disallow this.
The delay is an issue. I suggest using a WebKit-based browser - Chrome or Safari - these have the best JS engines for the site and it's much smoother in these browsers.
Rake:
Having a 100bb cap is a good ruling. Another good guideline is to have a 10bb min. The pot has to be atleast 10bb -100bb to be raked 1%.
For example: i am playing some one in 2c/4c hu limit. After about a few hours, an entire buyin (1btc) has been raked, because there are so many flops seen in hu, yet the pot is so small. So basically we lose 1% of our bets every hand, that can get pretty hefty. And for such a small site, most of the action is HU anyway.
Thanks for the suggestion, but we are not going to institute a minimum raked pot size.
No other site does this. I looked up Stars' rake and they don't have a minimum raked pot size - effectively, they do (20c) but only because you can't take less than a penny out of a pot. Our rake is a fifth of theirs at micros. 1btc is also not an entire buyin at any stakes we spread (yet) - there's no such thing as a buyin at limit; 1BTC at 20/40 mBTC is 25BB, hardly high rake for playing a "few hours".
That said, we also don't plan on increasing the rake either. 1% with fractional rake is working really well. We are going to drop the absolute rake cap to 1BTC, because at this point 2BTC is astronomical.
software bugs:
delays in the auto fold auto call check boxes. I once clicked auto call 5cents when my opponent raised it to 5cents, only to call a 20c raise, because someone reraised him, even though i had clicked "call 5c"
Freezing after calling a bet out of position, this gets tough after having to press f5 every other hand.
The sit out problem. When i try to sit out, it does not allow me to sit out the next hand. It seem to take 10-30 seconds to work and that could cost someone a lot of money.
The auto post blind problem, self explanatory, "I was just here to sit and chat, but i posted my blind and now i have QQ facing a raise"
We might just end up removing the call X box. I never used it on Stars because of the exact reason you stated. It probably doesn't work right anyway.
We know about the call bet OOP bug, it's really aggravating and we're working on that one
I've never had a problem with sitting out. I click Sit Out and then the next hand that is dealt I'm out? Don't wait until the end of the hand to sit out; if you know you're going to leave after the current hand, sit out at the beginning.
Don't sit in if you don't want to play. Uncheck the "Sit in" box on the buyin window or don't buy in at all. I can think of worse things than accidentally sitting in and getting QQ
I think i covered some of the critical issues that needs to be addressed NOW. This would definitely help this site to grow, once these things are fixed, i think this site will see a lot more traffic. There's definitely a lot of good things about this site and great potential, and these things will be greatly appreciated by the customers!
Definitely. Thanks for the comprehensive suggestions!