p5 engine articles:
08 June 2009: P5 Software Release in June
20 June 2009: P5 Software First Version Review
25 June 2009: P5 Software Upgrade 1
30 June 2009: P5 Software Upgrade 2
10 July 2009: P5 Software Upgrade 3
27 July 2009: Upcomming multi-tabling features

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P5 Poker Software First Version Review

Ongame network has worked on their new p5 software for a long time. Now it is finally there. Expectations of the new poker client were very high and they should be high. Ongame allways announced their new p5 software as a shift of technology that is going to change the new standards of poker client software. But is it really that good as we were expecting it to be?

General first thoughts

We noticed that are a lot of regulars that are not so happy with the new release. Some people are even thinking about moving to an other poker network. At least, that is what you can read in some poker forums. Not many people move to an other network, because most other poker networks are not that soft as the ongame network. We should give some credit to the new software and patiently wait for the first upgrade.. not to patiently of course.

Bugs in the first version

This release is not an upgrade, but a complete change of the system. A new system allways brings some bugs along. First of all, the all-ins are quite slow. This and some other slowing factors cause that there are about 20% less hands played compared to the previous software. The new release still seems to be a resource hog. You should have a high performance computer to run the poker client. We also experienced some problems with tournaments. It has happened that a tournament table did not popup on the start of the tournament.

Missing features in the first version

Unfortunately, in the first version of the software we are missing some of the usual features. Currently you do not have the option to create private tables, there is no waiting list in the cash games, you won't be able to see where the player is from, the Sit N Go rematch feature is not there and the same goes for the find player feature. It is also not possible to control bet sizing with the mouse-wheel. Besides these features that were available in the previous ongame software, we expected to have some extra features that are available in other poker clients. We expected to have a time bank and a save table settings options to make multitabling a bit easyer. We hope that these features will be implemented soon.

Ongame ombudsman thoughts on the new release

Let us take a look at what the ombudsman of the ongame network has to say about the new release:

"We are happy to inform that Ongame Network has now begun the transitional period into P5 - The Poker Engine. The transitional period successfully started on June 9th.

During this period, as with any software introduction, we expect to encounter a few bumps along the road. Your patience and understanding is greatly appreciated during and immediately following this transitional phase.

The initial phase of P5 does not include every feature we aim to provide. We would like to take this opportunity to thank those of you who have given, and are giving us, constructive feedback. Your feedback enables us to best evaluate which updates are the most pressing from the player perspective.

P5 - The Poker Engine by design will allow us to add features and carry out maintenance in a much more responsive and agile manner. So we are looking at releasing many functional additions continuously.

Respectfully,

Ombudsman
Ongame Network"

So it looks like ongame is aware of the current problems. If they know that their new p5 software still has some flaws and that some of the important features are missing, they will actually do something about it. We are looking forward to the first upgrade..