Zen Poker Room - Video Poker Tournaments

Discuss video poker programs for the home user
SleazyRider
Forum Rookie
Posts: 35
Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2010 11:07 am

Re: Zen Poker Room - Video Poker Tournaments

Post by SleazyRider »




Rivergambler,I am sorry to hear that you are having so many problems with the New Zen Tournament software.  Other than the difficulties with installation, I am not having any particular problems.  As far as I know, I get my daily points as expected, and I believe that I check daily.  I have both a Windows 7 desktop and a Windows XP desktop on my home network with a 4 port wired Ethernet router with 8 MBPS DSL internet connection.  I have played in 5 Seat Free Roll Sit & Go Hold'em Tournaments on the XP machine and the program executes crisply and cleanly with no appreciable delay.  On the Windows 7 machine, I have recently played in Hold'em Tournaments with hundreds of players, and it more or less worked ok. I only recall seeing one freeze-up of a check-in screen, and no freeze-ups during actual play of a tournament. I do not recall ever losing my internet connection during a tournament.  In my Jan. 2 post I noted that the Video Poker Tournaments were going to be cancelled indefinitely.  In my Jan. 8 post I confirmed that the new software release lacked Video Poker Tournaments as expected.  This means that Zen knowingly and deliberately released new software without Video Poker Tournaments while they had an old released and working version of the software that included Video Poker Tournaments.  All I know is that on Jan. 3 we had working Video Poker Tournaments, and now we have no Video Poker Tournaments.  It is hard to imagine what is causing all your problems with the software.  Since I do not know what kind of computer setup you have, I can only make a suggestion at this time.  I had to uninstall the updated software on my Window 7 machine and download and install a new copy.  I suggest that you also uninstall your present copy, and download and install a new copy.  You can use the link in my Jan.8 post to get a new copy of the installer.As a point of reference and comparison, I give a description of my home network and computers.  This will give you and other members an idea of what equipment I have found that works with the Zen software,  I have no idea if the Zen software works on Windows Vista machines.  My internet service is DSL provided by a local telephone company as part of a phone service package which includes unlimited phone service and 8 MBPS DSL internet service.  The phone company also provides a combination DSL modem and wireless router which also includes a 4 port wired Ethernet switch.  The internet service is fairly reliable.  I have a desktop which has an Intel 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 CPU, 1 GB RAM memory, ahd  running Windows XP.  It uses Internet Explorer 8, Windows Firewall, and Windows Security Essentials with real-time turned OFF.  My newer desktop has an Intel 2.93 GHz i3 dual core 64 bit CPU, 6 GB Ram memory, and running 64-bit Windows 7. It uses Internet Explorer 9, Windows Firewall,  and Avast Free Antivirus with real-time turned ON.  Both computers have 19 inch CRT monitors, which are normally run at 1024 x 768 resolution; however, I often ran the old Zen software at 1280 x 1024 resolution on the XP machine.  Both computers are connected to the router via their Ethernet ports using standard twisted pair Ethernet patch cables. Note that all my discussions of the Zen software refers to the download version intended for use by VideoPoker.com members.  I am specifically not referring to download versions intended for use by other Zen parners or affiliates.  Likewise, nothing I have said here applies to any browser versions of the Zen software which you may have seen or used.

rivergambler
Forum Rookie
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 10:34 pm

Post by rivergambler »

Post unable to migrate

SleazyRider
Forum Rookie
Posts: 35
Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2010 11:07 am

Post by SleazyRider »



Rivergambler, The system now automatically credits you with the login bonus at midnight if you are already logged on, as I can testify from today, when I checked my points balance.  So you definitey have a problem there. Your PC is more powerful than my XP machine, so it should be able to execute the Zen program at least as well.  You should be able to play in a "5 Seat Free Roll Sit N Go" Tournament without any problems, at least in off-peak hours. 

As far as my PC, it has a 2.8 GHz AMD processor, 4GB of RAM, running Windows
7.  I have a cable modem that very rarely loses it connection.  In
fact when poker shuts down I always have other things connected to the internet
and they never lose the connection.  More often than losing connection I receive this message:  "You are not authorized or your session has been expired".  This normally occurs at least three or four times per game (unless I lose quickly).




 In my opinion, your use of your PC to run other tasks while you are trying to run the Zen software, especially in tournaments, is not reasonable.  It is not reasonable to expect other internet browser applications to share the internet connection with the Zen download software, which accesses the internet directly rather than through a web browser.  Your PC should be ready to grab whatever is availabe from the Zen servers whenever it is available.  When I am playing in a Zen Hold'em tournament, I now use my Windows 7 machine, and no other application or web browser is running on it at the same time.  I formerly used the XP machine as dedicated to play in the Zen VideoPoker Tournaments after November 2 because of the screen resolution bug so that I could use the screen resolution at 1280 x 1024, rather than the 1024 x 768 that I prefer.  I did not have any internet applications running on the Windows 7 machine at the same time.  Likewise, I now have no internet applications running on the XP machine while I am playing in a Hold'em Tournament on the Windows 7 machine.  You should try playing in Zen Tournaments without any other applications of any type running on your PC.  It can't hurt, and it may help. When I click on the Tournaments button in the Game Lobby screen (top level screen), I get the "TX Hold'em" tab open to the "Points" Tournaments listing. Clicking on "Cash" gives a listing of Cash Tournaments listing.   If you send me an email I will send you back screen shots of the Tournament lists, as well as instructions on how to capture screen shots if you need them.  I have an email address dedicated to the Zen Software and Tournaments topic.  If you  do not receive a reply in a reasonable amount of time, it may have gone astray, so post here that you sent an email. I can be reached at the following address concerning Zen topics (remove the blanks from the address):              videopokerforumsr @ gmail.com I would like to note that I was playing in a Hold'em tournament last night, and the system was very slow.  Other players were commenting about how sluggish it was.  I would describe it as so slow and unresponsive that I would describe it as almost unplayable.  It was during the busy time, about 11 PM. The tournament was not particularly large, with only about 260 players.  However, there may have been other large tournaments going on at the same time.  It would not be good if this started happening on a regular basis.Communicating by email should be easier than posting, as we can more easily include screen shots as needed.  A summary of the solution (if found) can always be posted at a later time. 

rivergambler
Forum Rookie
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 10:34 pm

Post by rivergambler »

SleazyRider,Just to let you know - I sent you an email early this morning.  I mistakenly put my username from the poker tournaments, royalfun, in the subject line instead of the one I use in this forum.


SleazyRider
Forum Rookie
Posts: 35
Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2010 11:07 am

Post by SleazyRider »



Rivergambler, I did receive it and will reply.  For some reason it went to the Spam Folder.  In Google gmail the Spam Folder is buried down in other options, and it is not obvious that something is there.

totogal
Forum Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 4:19 am

Post by totogal »

Thanks for sharing all this information- I have been emailing Zen for the past month asking about the Video Poker tournaments, and asking if they were ever going to bring them back, and have always gotten the standard reply about "at a later date". I now know this was a futile exercise, and will uninstall the Zen software.

Too bad, since I enjoyed the tournaments and was usually winning about $20-30 a month- wish they had been more straightforward that VP was not going to be returning in the "new and improved" version.

Thanks again for the information!



SleazyRider
Forum Rookie
Posts: 35
Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2010 11:07 am

Post by SleazyRider »






Totogal,Thanks for posting.  This is an unfortunate situation.  I have mostly refrained from expressing my opinions freely here, as I have not wanted to add fuel to the fire. It is inconceivable to me that this software situation could ever happen. Namely, to have a program which performs two completely different functions (Hold'em Tournaments and Video Poker Tournaments) and which has been in release for at least 15 months, and the release in operation on January 3 was working ok (more or less), and to release a new version that has only one functon if they actually intend to bring back the other function later.  The most likely explanation is that they actually intend to discontinue the other function, but don't have tha courage to admit it.  This would be understandable but not excusable.  They should admit that they have decided to discontinue the other fucntion for whatever reason.  The other alternative, that they do intend to bring back the other function at a later date, is inconceivable.  I cannot imagine any competent business person who would do such a thing.  It is also difficult to imagine any self-respecting geek/nerd software developer who would release a new version of software that lacks some of the major functonality of the old version. And yet, given the past poor performance of Zen with their previous software versions, I cannot absolutely rule out that they really do intend to release Video Poker Tournament software at a later date.  I would like to hear what "lame" excuse they offer as to why they released a new version that lacks major functionality when the old one was working.  This is actually a slap in the face to the Video Poker Community, because it says that the Hold'em Community is more important to them than the Video Poker Community.  Clearly, Zen upper management and/or Software Project Management is guilty of gross incompetence and/or gross negligence to replace a working version of software with a new version that lacks major functionality. There is no particular reason why the Hold'em Tournaments and Video Poker Tournaments should be in one program rather than two separate programs.  It seems obvious that Zen intends to keep the new version for the Hold'em Tournaments.  They should take the old working version that combined both Hold'em and Video Poker Tournaments, disable the part that handles the Hold'em Tournaments, and release the resulting version as Video Poker Tournament software.   



rivergambler
Forum Rookie
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 10:34 pm

Post by rivergambler »

Just wondering if there is any word on if video poker back is going to be added back to the Zen site?  If not, maybe this site could start offering some contests that are shorter in length?  It gets rather boring going through hand after hand knowing nothing other than a dealt royal is going to give you any chance at all.  Also my favorite game is deuces bonus and playing it in any of the contests on this site reduces the chance of winning down to practically zero.


Post Reply