I like the JetSet poker client: it gives a very solid impression, it has good logical controls and it looks a bit different from other clients. The main differences actually lie in the graphics. While most other poker rooms attempt to simulate the real life environment to their best ability, JetSet Poker has instead opted to have a cartoon like style. This is, I think, very successful, not least because the cartoon like graphics are very clear and clean. Not everybody like the rich and somewhat vulgar casino environment and attempts to carry that feeling over to a computer often means a cluttered interface with a lot of dark colours.
In the lobby you find the usual list of tables and tournaments with tabs to select game types and a little information window that gives you more info on the games and tournaments that you click on in the list. The list is reasonably big and you have a good overview. You join and leave waiting lists with a single click which is easy and convenient but it doesn’t allow you to subscribe to ranges of tables at the same time. Other options are all collected in the drop down main menu: cashier, settings, hand histories, help and news.
The tournaments are divided into two categories: sit’n go tournaments and scheduled tournaments. In the list you get most information that you look for although it would have been useful to be able to see how many seats a tournament has without clicking it. You can see how many players that are seated but to see the maximum number you have to click it. All tournaments have a lobby, even the single table ones. The lobby is very good and includes a list of all tables in the tournament and a list of all players. For each table you see the largest stack, the smallest stack and if you click it you get a list of all the players seated here. The global player list can sorted after several criteria. You can also get a list of payouts although the payouts are unfortunately not available until after registration has closed. The tournaments also support the use of bounties on players and the bounty appears to be higher the more chips a player has. You can see the bounty associated with players in the player list of the tournament lobby.
At first the tables look a bit sparse but this is just because one is used to Internet poker tables being lushly furnished to create some sort of casino ambience. In fact, the cartoon style of JetSet poker (the only incarnation of this software) creates a clean and easy-to-read environment that feels very comfortable after only a couple of hands. You have quite a bit of options and features that are useful and easy to access. For example, you have an excellent function that lets you review earlier hands, you can see stats over your play, access support and make table settings. The buttons to access there functions are a bit too small in my opinion and as a consequence their labels are not terribly informative. For example, the previous hand reviewer is launched by clicking the “Last” button. At least I didn’t have much of an idea what to expect when I first clicked it. If you click your own avatar you can set the facial expression that you think is the most appropriate and you can also invoke a number of sound effects to further illustrate your feelings: throw chips, break the chair and so on. The game controls are excellent and the graphical style of the room makes buttons very clear even though nothing happens when you drag the mouse pointer over them. When you push them, however, there is a 3-D effect to reassure you that your action was registered. For bet size selection in big bet games there is a slider and a type-in box which both work great. The chat box does what it’s supposed to and you can apply the usual filters to the text that is displayed here. In addition, you may also lock the scrolling which I think is a good example of a simple but very useful addition. Who hasn’t been frustrated when trying to look at old chat text only to repeatedly have the cursor reset to the bottom of the text every time new text comes out? The player turn indicator could have been a little clearer but this is not a major complaint. Playing on many tables works really well I think. This is both due to the nice interface and to the good focus passing between the tables.
Overall this is an excellent client that I think is well worth trying out! |
)
)
