Amid the WSOP 2024 live series in Las Vegas, top brass at WSOP met with players to discuss ongoing software issues and gameplay concerns.
This meeting is a big step toward addressing the numerous problems players have been facing on the new WSOP Online platform, launched last month following the merger of WSOP NV and WSOP NJ with WSOP MI.
The meeting was held on Saturday, June 22, with Danielle Barille, the head of WSOP Online, participating.
Ryan Laplante, a WSOP bracelet winner and a vocal critic of the recent WSOP software issues and Mike Holtz, also a bracelet winner and two-time WSOP online Player of the Year, represented the interests of the players. Both Laplante and Holtz felt the meeting was productive and promising.
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Ahead of the meeting, Laplante urged his followers on X (formerly Twitter) to share any issues they encountered on the WSOP Online platform, whether related to software, gameplay, or general feedback. The post garnered hundreds of comments, with players voicing concerns that Laplante subsequently relayed to WSOP management.
Key Highlights of the Players’ Meeting
Main points discussed included software glitches such as crashes, freezes, Mac sound problems, a buggy note-taking feature, lags, issues with the rewards program and more. Security and cheating concerns were also raised.
Laplante later shared insights from the meeting on X, noting that WSOP assured them the new online platform allows for easier updates to address issues compared to the old platform. All current bugs, including crash issues, sound problems, and mobile button placement, are high-priority for the operator and are actively being worked on.
Players are encouraged to report any bug via X or other support channels. Laplante also emphasized that WSOP is actively addressing rewards and tournament-related issues, with some fixes underway and others pending due to regulatory and software constraints.
WSOP also addressed concerns about cheating in ring games and tournaments. Per Laplante, the operator has pledged to investigate suspected cheaters reported by the community, with player-provided evidence playing a crucial role.
Furthermore, WSOP agrees with the need for a specific platform for players to discuss issues, which they plan to implement in the future.
Both Laplante and Holtz felt that the WSOP team genuinely cares about player concerns and is doing their best to advocate for the community. The new software and increased budget are expected to help resolve many issues and improve the overall player experience.
Player Feedback Crucial
Whether all these issues will be resolved remains to be seen. While WSOP has been frequently rolling out software upgrades to address bugs, persistent problems like software crashes, freezes, and lags continue to occur. WSOP has acknowledged that fixing these issues will take time. However, it is encouraging that they are actively listening and maintaining open lines of communication with players.
Meanwhile, players on WSOP Michigan and WSOP Pennsylvania have been voicing these complaints since the beginning, often feeling their concerns have been ignored. The new software has been in use in these states since at least 2022. WSOP PA launched in 2021, followed by WSOP MI a year later — both using the Poker 8 software, which is now implemented across all states.
In fact, this software is also used in the global dot-com market, so it is not entirely new. Non-US players likely faced similar issues, meaning 888poker, the supplier of the software to WSOP Online, must be aware of these problems and working on solutions. It remains to be seen how WSOP will collaborate with 888poker to address these issues.
New WSOP Online Platform Supports Various Modern Features
Once these issues are resolved, WSOP’s software will likely be considered among the best in the US online poker market. The new platform is a significant upgrade from the old one, which lacked basic features. This update introduces several modern features, including Mystery Bounties, Progressive Knockouts, Multi-Flight tournaments, and various niche features such as a tournament widget, new hand replayer, throwables, emojis, a new re-entry mechanism, and new promotions like Card Strike and Daily Winner Spinner.
The WSOP mobile app experience is also vastly improved with support for multi-tabling, Pot-Limit Omaha, and portrait mode.
To learn more about the new WSOP Online platform, check out our recent article where we’ve compiled a list of introduced games and features, as well as those that have been removed.