Tourney Blind Valet - New version incoming (1 Viewer)

[Frode789]

Blind Valet is coming in a new version, and it looks amazing Currently in subscriber-only beta, but Jeff said it should be live in a few weeks.

The design is completely revamped, code rewritten to allow much more frequent updates, more smooth phone experience/real-time sync, and some new features:

The biggest new feature in this version will be League Management. No more spreadsheets to track your league rankings.

• Use the standard scoring system, or select from different options to customize to your needs.

• Plan your league tournaments in advance.

• Blind Valet will update the league rankings in real time.

A few pics:

 

[Gameface]

I've been looking at blind valet and have some questions regarding people's experience with it.

First, it has an invite feature that seemed nice, but I tried to test it by inviting my wife and one of my co-workers (with me standing next to them when I did it) and it WAS NOT a smooth experience. My wife go the invite but then it didn't really direct her right to the tournament I invited her to and she couldn't figure out what to do with the invite. My co-worker never got the invite, even after checking his spam folder and me verifying the email and trying again. So that was a huge disappointment.

Seems like I'm going to have to direct people to the website and my group and have them join the group before the invite feature works?

I know that a fair number of my players will not use the app and I will have to add them manually. I've tried a facebook group and meetup.com and in both cases there were people who would have none of it and just wanted me to add them.

The biggest draw for me, other than managing invites, is that I can pause the clock and eliminate players from my phone. I have Tournament Director and asking someone to hit the space-bar (which, in the moment, they usually seem incapable of locating) or getting up to eliminate a player is annoying. Does controlling that part with my phone work well for any of you who use Blind Valet?

And does it work well as far as displaying the clock on several different web-connected devices and on the phones of players who use it?

 

[CdnBeerLover]

The biggest draw for me, other than managing invites, is that I can pause the clock and eliminate players from my phone. I have Tournament Director and asking someone to hit the space-bar (which, in the moment, they usually seem incapable of locating) or getting up to eliminate a player is annoying. Does controlling that part with my phone work well for any of you who use Blind Valet?

And does it work well as far as displaying the clock on several different web-connected devices and on the phones of players who use it?

I kicked the tires on the free version.

It does work, but there tends to be a consistent 1-2 second difference in the time between PC and Android based clients, even those connected on the same network. I don't have Apple devices, so I can't comment on those.

 

[Frode789]

I've been looking at blind valet and have some questions regarding people's experience with it.

First, it has an invite feature that seemed nice, but I tried to test it by inviting my wife and one of my co-workers (with me standing next to them when I did it) and it WAS NOT a smooth experience. My wife go the invite but then it didn't really direct her right to the tournament I invited her to and she couldn't figure out what to do with the invite. My co-worker never got the invite, even after checking his spam folder and me verifying the email and trying again. So that was a huge disappointment.

Seems like I'm going to have to direct people to the website and my group and have them join the group before the invite feature works?

I know that a fair number of my players will not use the app and I will have to add them manually. I've tried a facebook group and meetup.com and in both cases there were people who would have none of it and just wanted me to add them.

The biggest draw for me, other than managing invites, is that I can pause the clock and eliminate players from my phone. I have Tournament Director and asking someone to hit the space-bar (which, in the moment, they usually seem incapable of locating) or getting up to eliminate a player is annoying. Does controlling that part with my phone work well for any of you who use Blind Valet?

And does it work well as far as displaying the clock on several different web-connected devices and on the phones of players who use it?

I've used the new version now for almost half a year. It works fantastic to be honest.. The first version had some bugs and quirks (sync between phone-Pc for example), but most have been solved. For example using your phone to control the blinds, update leaderboard, eliminate players.. It is brilliant. That is the biggest draw for me. I'm just sitting updating stats and such from my phone, while the clock runs on my TV via PC. I don't ever have to get up to change anything on the PC.

Yes the invite system isn't optimal, but it works. You send them an invite to their email, then they can register and sign up for your tournaments themselves. I have a group of about 20 people, and most have signed up now. But you can of course just add them manually, that works well too.

 

[bivey]

I've used BlindsUp, which I like but it has been frustrating on a few levels. I'm curious to try this. I usually run an iPad/iphone with Apple TV to broadcast. I'm not a fan of web based clients on iOS in general.

Has anyone tried this?

 

[CdnBeerLover]

I've used the new version now for almost half a year. It works fantastic to be honest.. The first version had some bugs and quirks (sync between phone-Pc for example), but most have been solved. For example using your phone to control the blinds, update leaderboard, eliminate players.. It is brilliant. That is the biggest draw for me. I'm just sitting updating stats and such from my phone, while the clock runs on my TV via PC. I don't ever have to get up to change anything on the PC.

Yes the invite system isn't optimal, but it works. You send them an invite to their email, then they can register and sign up for your tournaments themselves. I have a group of about 20 people, and most have signed up now. But you can of course just add them manually, that works well too.

I guess the biggest issue I have is the space that is lost in the lower left (ad) and right (J-9 logo) parts of the screen.

Do they disappear in the paid version?

 

[Frode789]

Yes I think that is the free version only (the ad). This is how it looks for me:

As for the lower right sections, they will be populated with stuff like "latest eliminated player", "rebuy" etc. So they are used during the tournament, even though they are empty now. Also the leaderboard will have stack size count when you add that during the tournament. The above was just an example from an already completed tournament.

I also have the club pack, so I have the poker league part included. If anyone wants to know how that looks:

 

[BTH]

I've used the new version now for almost half a year. It works fantastic to be honest.. The first version had some bugs and quirks (sync between phone-Pc for example), but most have been solved. For example using your phone to control the blinds, update leaderboard, eliminate players.. It is brilliant. That is the biggest draw for me. I'm just sitting updating stats and such from my phone, while the clock runs on my TV via PC. I don't ever have to get up to change anything on the PC.

Yes the invite system isn't optimal, but it works. You send them an invite to their email, then they can register and sign up for your tournaments themselves. I have a group of about 20 people, and most have signed up now. But you can of course just add them manually, that works well too.

Can I import my exiting players from Tournament director to Blind Valet? Or must they all be individually entered?

 

[Frode789]

Can I import my exiting players from Tournament director to Blind Valet? Or must they all be individually entered?

I'd assume they would have to be manually entered, but the developer is very helpful (he did some adjustments based on my feedback a few times), so it worth a shot asking him for a "import tool".

 

[Brandon25]

I love blind valet. I can't wait to try the new updates. Just gives me an excuse to host a tournament again soon! Time to buy a new tournament set

 

[OHWebs]

Is the Blind Valet site currently down?
I went to logon today to set up my spring poker league, and getting a "page can't be reached" error.

 

[Frode789]

Is the Blind Valet site currently down?
I went to logon today to set up my spring poker league, and getting a "page can't be reached" error.

Works fine here.

 

[OHWebs]

Works fine here.

Yeah, seems to be fine for me now too....Interesting. No idea what was going on earlier.