PokerStars

What works

­Most things important things work. You can load and play the game but wine and Ubuntu's new security features fight so you have to:

* Run as root

or

* Install an Ubuntu mainline kernel (which I guess doesn't have the security features.)­

What does not

Resizing windows if you let Gnome be your window manager. Network Status -- ping doesn't work -- always says Bad 0% even when you're clearly ­connected and playing the game.­

Workarounds

What was not tested

I only played one game. I tried most of the options. I'll know more after a few days.

Hardware tested

Graphics:

• GPU:
• Driver:

Additional Comments

Having to run as root or install a mainline kernel is an issue currently affecting a lot of network games.

They work just right and smooth, everything from razz, omaha and h.o.r.s.e. to nl sngs, tourneys and cashgames. There are no crashes from nowhere that will cause you to loose money, as regular player i mark this perfectly stable for real money play.

Admin Note:  Wine does not guarantee the stability of your application IN ANY WAY.  Use at your own risk.

Installing the PokerStars Client:

• Install Wine (have FontForge installed before building Wine from source)
• Download the PokerStars client. Install using the command 'wine PokerStarsInstall.exe'

Installing the Microsoft Arial (if needed) and Tahoma fonts:

• Download the Arial fonts. Install using the command 'wine arial32.exe'
• Download the Tahoma fonts. Install using the command 'wine tahoma32.exe'

Running PokerStars without Xfce/KDE/Gnome:

• wine "C:\Program Files\PokerStars\PokerStarsUpdate.exe"

Manually resizing table windows workaround:

• You can resize and then redraw the table using the F5 key by adding the following into the ~/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/PokerStars/user.ini file under [Options]: f5redrawtable=1 (won't work properly if window is resized beyond min/max size)

It has been reported several times that the lobby/table fonts for the table list/player names/chip amounts don't render well or don't show up at all. I would try the following first to correct the font problem:

• The Wine package for your distro might not have been built using FontForge. Try installing FontForge and then build Wine from source.
• Install the Arial (if needed) and Tahoma fonts {See HOWTO above}
• No longer needed: Change resolution to 96 dpi. If you have an nVidia card and use the drivers from their site, add the following to the driver section in xorg.conf: Option "UseEdidDpi" "False" and Option "DPI" "96 x 96"
  

If the problem still persists, please submit a detailed bug report with the version of Wine you're using, the extra fonts you have installed, your distro/version, if you built Wine from source or installed by package (or if you tried both), and any other information that might help the Wine developers fix the problem.

Running the PokerStars Client without allowing the window manager to control the windows makes Manually resizing table windows work correctly. However, the cursor in the chat box still tabs and mouseover player information still doesn't work. You will have to sacrifice desktop integration though if you choose to run PokerStars this way. Run 'winecfg'/Graphics tab and uncheck 'Allow the window manager to control the windows' to set.

WARNING: I recommend not using other programs while playing PokerStars this way.