PokerStars

What works

I tested everything from install all the way to opening an account, and playing both fake money and real money, in tournaments and cash games, vip rewards, and I successfully tweaked every game setting I could find. Both EU and the .com version of the software installed fine, and the browser was called up correctly in my x system when I chose, for example, the FAQ, or for when at first I had actually installed the wrong software due to issues with my browser settings and vpn-server. I succesfully logged in through a vpn (and without) after opening the account. The sound worked, and their "beta sounds" even worked fine. This was very important for me. As far as I know, everything worked perfectly. I noted also several useful settings in PS, wine, and my desktop, for setting shortcut keys and when they get "focus" as well as when the mouse-over gets focus (I think these setting would solve some issues others mentioned below, I added a few comments)--default settings were all ok for me. Very pleased with my first Wine test!

What does not

I have replicated the known, common "window resize bug," altough it does NOT crash my game, the windows come back after a few seconds and/or on minimizing and restoring. The fonts look very boxy, "Microsofty," I would say, but I had 4 choices, which all worked, and would rather just leave it as is for stability.

Workarounds

What was not tested

Everything small detail I could find over several days of playing poker, was tested. I did not try and install any of the alternative skins (poker table themes). I played only hold 'em and omaha, but that probably doesn't matter.

Hardware tested

Graphics:

• GPU:
• Driver:

Additional Comments

KDE desktop was used with Debian stable (default install to date) / I could not replicate the multiple desktops bug (I tested up to 3 desktops, no problems), suggest separating it from the window re-size bug, if not already. Great work, wine team! ...and great work by debian not getting too ahead in the release cycle ;)

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.