The VP Monthly #6: March-April 2019
We’re combining the March and April updates, since we are so close to releasing the Virtue Poker Beta 1 and that will be the biggest thing happening here for the next few months.
Please note that we assume you have read our previous updates. The last two significant updates we did were in the VP Monthly Update #4 and VP Monthly Update #5, which are recommended reading before going forward.
Our biggest news is that our Beta program is about to start! As we discussed in the last update, our plan was to ship the Beta release in April, and we are still going to do just that. However, we’re altering the schedule a little to make sure we are fully staffed when the Beta program starts. As you will see below, we released the Beta 1 software to Token Buyers on April 25, but the promotions that we run to encourage Beta participation won’t start until May 8. This ensures that our entire staff is available to both deal with issues that occur and play in the Beta.
Call for Beta participants
Do you want to join us for the Virtue Poker Beta Program? Over the course of the Beta, you’ll have a chance to win your share of ETH and other great prizes that we’re giving away. Click here to sign up [no longer active] and we’ll contact you with details on joining. If you bought tokens in our Token Sale, there is no need to sign up, as we will be in touch.
Note: if you haven’t already done so, we strongly suggest that you whitelist the Virtue Poker domain so you don’t miss any emails from us. The Beta announcement email and other Beta announcements will come from beta@virtue.poker.
Beta 1 Update
The Beta 1 is ready to ship! If you were part of our Token Sale, you should already have received an email from us with details on joining the Beta. From April 25 through May 8, you will be playing games denominated in test ETH. There are some private incentives for this phase, which are discussed in that email.
Key dates:
Thursday, April 25: release of Beta 1 software to Token Buyers. This release will support cash games denominated in ETH.
Wednesday, May 22 [revised]: Beta 1 incentives begin! From here forward, all games will be denominated in VPP.
But since we’re on the subject, we’ll give you a little preview. We’ll be offering some great incentives to play in the two Beta rounds coming up. The first round begins on May 8, lasting through June. In this first round of Beta testing, we will be giving away some exciting stuff…and one entry in the 2019 World Series of Poker!
The Beta 1 has a lot of new stuff in it, including:
- full Cashier functionality
- improved betting action buttons
- new player registration service
- timeout improvements
- Justice updates, including stability and deployment improvements
- auto-update of software
Development Update
The Dev Team overall has focused on completing the Beta release candidate. The last few weeks, all of their attention has been on pre-Beta testing, filling in missing functionality and fixing bugs.
The Game Team has been working to make sure that the registration process is smooth and easy to use, the Cashier functionality is fully implemented and the External Source of Funds properly connects players’ external Ethereum wallets to our system. The team has also continued the build out of Sit & Go tournaments as noted in our February update; this functionality will be in the Beta 2 release.
The Platform Team has focused on the stability of the Beta release, making sure that the Beta works as expected and can support a larger number of players.
The Game Security Team has focused on fixing bugs in the new event-reporting systems for gameplay, as well as expanding the number of hand-level data points we collect. The team has also been making improvements to the analytics infrastructure, which will allow the Game Security team to run more complex and powerful queries on Game Security data.
We need developers! If you have 5+ years of professional development experience and are familiar with Agile programming and tools, we should talk. Please see the Employment Opportunities section below for details.
Regulatory Update
In our last update, we were about to submit our Gaming License Application to the Malta Gaming Authority. We have now submitted the application, which is a major milestone. The application process is lengthy; we expect to meet with the MGA a number of times over the next six months to make them comfortable with the technology.
Marketing Update
Virtue Poker’s Marketing team has been busy putting the Beta 1 program together, as well as planning for and organizing the Beta 2 release. Both of these Beta releases include significant player incentives, so the Marketing group will be busy running and monitoring the Beta and providing updates here.
We have also been working on our presence at the Ethereal Summit in Brooklyn in May. The Ethereal Summit is a key event for companies developing products on the Ethereum blockchain. Virtue Poker will have a major presence at the Ethereal Summit, so if you will be in New York, please make sure to come join us! You can find out more about the Summit here.
And lastly, we are working on promotions around the 2019 World Series of Poker, which begins in less than 6 weeks. We will post details in our next update and in our Telegram channel. If you are not already part of our Telegram channel, click here to join.
Employment opportunities
We are expanding the team to give us all the firepower we need to move through the Beta and get the production version of Virtue Poker shipped. We run one of the most leading-edge development shops on the planet, and it’s a fun place to work. All of our positions are remote (work-from-home). If you’re a developer, please take a look at our current openings and think about joining us.
Senior Software Developer (Games)
Senior Software Developer (Platform)
Conclusion
It’s been busy here! Since we moved the Beta schedule back, it collided with several other long-planned events we have going on, like the company retreat and the upcoming Ethereal Summit New York. We have made huge progress, though, and we’re excited that we finally get to share it.
The next few months will be even busier here. We hope to see you at the tables!