Online poker and Macs

UnknownUnknown
in Online Poker
Hey guys,

I'm sorry if this has been brought up before.  My friends want me to buy a Mac instead of a PC.  (Anyone else notice that these "Macheads" are serious RECRUITERS?!?  My God.)

Anyway, I was wondering if you could give me all the info you have on how online poker works (or doesn't work) with Macs.  I understand that there is some sort of "virtual PC" program you can run on a Mac, so you're able to run Stars, Party, etc etc.  My question is: is it the same?  Are the sites "glitchy" in any way at all when you run these poker sites through the "virtual PC" program? 

Don't hold back... this is a big decision.  If you are a Mac user and you play on Stars, Party, etc. I'd love to hear everything you have to say about your computer's performance.

Thanks!

Comments

  • UnknownUnknown
    Hey man, I don't own a Mac but have friends who are web developers and graphic designers and would rather die than use a pc.

    That said, I think Full tilt is the only site so far that has come up with a client specifically for the mac, and a few other folks have managed to get UB to work occassionally, but with lots of glitches and the fear of crashing.

    My advice is don't do it, however, I'm sure the other sites will follow through and eventually you'll have no issue.

    Cheers
  • SoupSoup
    I know sites that use web based software (such as poker room and skins) advertise that they can be used with Mac.
  • BigChrisElBigChrisEl
    The real question would be is why are you getting a new computer and what will you be using it for?

    Only some poker sites are MAC compatible (and the ones that are not will not support virtual PC) so if you plan to use the computer for playing on-line poker you may want to go with a PC.
  • ZithalZithal
    I love my Mac, but I play poker on my crappy PC laptop just because it's more supported. So..... GET BOTH!!

    I'm surprised to here that the sites don't work under virtualPC, but I don't have that program to test it.
  • magithighsmagithighs
    Running VirtualPC on a mac to make it run PC software seems counterintuitive. Reminds me of the folks who say "hey this fish is awesome, you have to try it -- it doesn't taste fishy, it tastes like chicken". Thank you, but I think I'll just have the chicken that tastes like chicken.

    I used to make/sell business banking software. The companies running Virtual PC would have countless problems and we decided not to support anyone going that route. Unless you want many headaches, you don't want a MAC for poker. I love MACs, but they just don't do poker or any PC software.

    Cheers
    Magi
  • zerozero
    Whats so great about macs anyways? I've never used one.
  • BigChrisElBigChrisEl
    Zithal wrote:
    I'm surprised to here that the sites don't work under virtualPC, but I don't have that program to test it.

    It's not that they don't work it just that they don't support it. As magithighs said too many problems so they won't support it. You don't want to be playing a MTT with 20 people left, you with a lot of chips and then the Virtual PC decides that it doesn't want to work any more, then you call Tech Support and they say "Sorry no support for MACs"
  • mortymorty
    I have a Mac and play online. I even have VirtualPC.

    As a previous poster said, Full Tilt is the only one with a native client. All of the pokerroom skins also support the Mac (and Linux) through the use of a Java applet. Pacific also has an online client, but I wouldn't recommend it. Everything else can be run through VirtualPC. So, some notes:

    - full tilt is a great site and I spend ~%80 of my time there (at least until I clear my bonus).
    - The pokerroom network runs very well in Java, with a few laggy glitches during peak hours. The worst part is not being able to record HH.
    - VirtualPC is a dog, even on the very best powerpc Mac hardware available. Stay far, far away.
    - none of the popular tools are available (ie. pokertracker).

    Now that Macs are moving over to Intel chips, VirtualPC should be able to run at pretty close to native speeds. I'm really looking forward to this, but Microsoft (the manufacturer) hasn't made any announcements about when to expect this. If you are considering buying a new Intel iMac, VirtualPC isn't even an option right now.

    So, expect to be a second class citizen for at least a while.

    For everything else it's great. I highly recommend Mac hardware/software, but not for poker.
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