05-29-2014, 04:38 PM
Well, at this point we have no reason to believe that Yahoo is ever going to revert to a play-for-free model; they're directing us to a site where there's a fee to play. Not a large fee, to be sure, but still a fee. That doesn't really appeal. Everywhere else I've tried, has tons of issues. PlayOK at least keeps the overall play environment clean and simple.
They have a timer on everyone ALL the time. The length is set when the table is created, and this is something to be wary of. Longest I've seen is 30 minutes (per hand); shortest has been 7 minutes. That's for you to make every bid and every play. I won't play on a 7 minute table; there's NO time for any consideration. Even a 10 minute table is problematic if the game runs on for quite a few hands. To me, as well, people setting tables that short, are much more likely to be...bad players. They play without thought so they want to force their opponents to do the same. If you're at all a slower player...you prefer to take your time counting meld, for instance...pay attention to the time setting before you start a game.
Standard of play: miserably low, BUT the problem may be that there hasn't been enough time/play to really get a player spread. Yahoo had social/beginner/intermediate/advanced rooms; that doesn't exist here. Everyone starts at 1200; the ratings spread in the one room with a decent number of players, is from 1555 down to 1043. OK, I'll be the first to tell you: ratings mean very little. But they do help give *some* separation. Or perhaps it's the fact that there's classification to the rooms. Here, so far, I'd say almost everyone is at social/beginner level; I'm seeing so, so many basic mistakes...holding all remaining aces, and some 10s...but playing the ace...playing a suit where you hold ALL the remaining aces...pass-50-51, the absolutely worst bid you can make IMO...it goes on and on.
And the attitude is pretty much equally bad. Bad players *KNOW* how to play...they read Pinochle for Dummies and it's their bible. So *expect* accusations of cheating all the time, if you actually make a tactical play that works. Like this hand. East was declarer, in clubs. I sat South with
At trick 1, East cashed; nothing interesting showed. At trick 2, East exited with a 
. HECK YEAH, I ducked. Why not? I have spades locked. I can let West cash 1 diamond ace, probably. I *am* worried about hearts; East could have them. If West wins this trump trick...I'll find out the heart position (mostly). BUT...maybe it goes Q, K, T, to my partner's ace...or Q, K, J to my partner's 10. The first is nice, the second is awesome. IIRC, it went Q,K,T to my partner's ace. He cashed and then returned , to my . And at that point, East was convinced we were cheating. EVERY card played by us was an easy, easy play to a thinking player, but East wasn't one of those.
PlayOK also has no chat capability in the lounge. This is both good and bad; social/beginner rooms on Yahoo often got totally trashy, but noting those who did heavy trash talking, helped identify the morons to avoid. AND, it would help maybe set up one room (there are 7 or 8, but you automatically get dumped into the first non-full one) for the higher-rated players.
Unfortunately, tho, for right now it's the best site I know of. Hopefully when the ratings spread more, some of the issues with terrible players and their often equally terrible attitudes will disappear. And even with these warts, PlayOK still seems better than anywhere else I know of right now.
They have a timer on everyone ALL the time. The length is set when the table is created, and this is something to be wary of. Longest I've seen is 30 minutes (per hand); shortest has been 7 minutes. That's for you to make every bid and every play. I won't play on a 7 minute table; there's NO time for any consideration. Even a 10 minute table is problematic if the game runs on for quite a few hands. To me, as well, people setting tables that short, are much more likely to be...bad players. They play without thought so they want to force their opponents to do the same. If you're at all a slower player...you prefer to take your time counting meld, for instance...pay attention to the time setting before you start a game.
Standard of play: miserably low, BUT the problem may be that there hasn't been enough time/play to really get a player spread. Yahoo had social/beginner/intermediate/advanced rooms; that doesn't exist here. Everyone starts at 1200; the ratings spread in the one room with a decent number of players, is from 1555 down to 1043. OK, I'll be the first to tell you: ratings mean very little. But they do help give *some* separation. Or perhaps it's the fact that there's classification to the rooms. Here, so far, I'd say almost everyone is at social/beginner level; I'm seeing so, so many basic mistakes...holding all remaining aces, and some 10s...but playing the ace...playing a suit where you hold ALL the remaining aces...pass-50-51, the absolutely worst bid you can make IMO...it goes on and on.
And the attitude is pretty much equally bad. Bad players *KNOW* how to play...they read Pinochle for Dummies and it's their bible. So *expect* accusations of cheating all the time, if you actually make a tactical play that works. Like this hand. East was declarer, in clubs. I sat South with
At trick 1, East cashed
; nothing interesting showed. At trick 2, East exited with a . HECK YEAH, I ducked. Why not? I have spades locked. I can let West cash 1 diamond ace, probably. I *am* worried about hearts; East could have them. If West wins this trump trick...I'll find out the heart position (mostly). BUT...maybe it goes Q, K, T, to my partner's ace...or Q, K, J to my partner's 10. The first is nice, the second is awesome. IIRC, it went Q,K,T to my partner's ace. He cashed and then returned , to my . And at that point, East was convinced we were cheating. EVERY card played by us was an easy, easy play to a thinking player, but East wasn't one of those.PlayOK also has no chat capability in the lounge. This is both good and bad; social/beginner rooms on Yahoo often got totally trashy, but noting those who did heavy trash talking, helped identify the morons to avoid. AND, it would help maybe set up one room (there are 7 or 8, but you automatically get dumped into the first non-full one) for the higher-rated players.
Unfortunately, tho, for right now it's the best site I know of. Hopefully when the ratings spread more, some of the issues with terrible players and their often equally terrible attitudes will disappear. And even with these warts, PlayOK still seems better than anywhere else I know of right now.
