Reach for the Sky!
Monday, 27 January 2014
Bluff Europe tackles the all-new Sky Poker.
Sky Poker has always held a special place in our hearts. I’m sure we can all remember being slumped in front of the Sky Poker Channel, immersing ourselves in the hypnotic spectacle of Green Screen, where the Sky Poker tables were beamed into the studios while presenters critiqued dodgy plays of the online players (desperately trying not to be too harsh, of course). Ah, those were the days! Sky Poker is a bit of an institution for us poker players. More recently it has given us the joys of the Sky Poker Cash Game, where UK pros are invited to splash around in low stakes games with thoroughly entertaining results. And of course the wit and wisdom of Tony “Tikay” Kendall is worth the cost of the Sky subscription by itself.
Sky Poker, the online site, has always had some of the softest players around, attracting, we assume, that most recreational of poker players, the late-night channel-surfer, plus the odd sports-betting numptee.
However, despite this obvious advantage, the in-house software was always a little – well, basic – lacking some of the bells and whistles of its more sophisticated competitors. Well, that’s all changed. Sky Poker has spectacularly revamped its software, bringing itself bang up to date, while retaining the useful Flash pop-up aspect, which means there’s still no download required and that’s good news for Mac users.
So what’s new? First up, the tables have been completely redesigned to look clearer and sharper. They’re easier to use, too – there’s a responsive design element where features such as the chat box move around to suit the player’s needs. In fact, everything feels more user-friendly, from the gameplay, which has eliminated all elements of clunkiness, right down to the buttons, which are larger and clearer, with a new easy-to-use bet-slider.
Tables are now fully re-sizeable, meaning you can play full screen or with your own customised layout. It wasn’t always so easy to multi-table on Sky Poker in the past but the tables now tile beautifully, while the new auto-focus causes tables to flash when it becomes your turn to act.
Many of the new features are not groundbreaking; they merely bring an old favourite up-to-date – one that perhaps lagged behind in the past due to its standalone, in-house software – transforming it into a truly modern poker room. But it’s such a comprehensive overhaul, with enhancements across every aspect of the poker room, and Sky deserves massive plaudits for this. In fact, all in all, there are over 20 new features, from preferred seat-selection to auto top-up, with improvements to note-taking, hand histories, deck selection, and much, much more. If you’ve been put off by the Sky Poker software in the past, it’s totally time to come back.
The bonuses are pretty competitive at the moment too –
new customers can claim £20 completely free, plus a 200% first deposit bonus up to £500. You’ll also get the chance to play in the £1,500 new player freerolls.
And the players? Well, keep it to yourselves, but they haven’t been revamped at all – they’re still some of the softest around. Let’s just be diplomatic and say that it’s good to see that the pre-flop limp-re-raise is still alive and well. It generally means that they either have aces or K-8 soooted. Now if only we knew which…