Wow that is very strange indeed for that one tourney only, its possible its on a very slow server but it doesnt seem likely and I have never heard anyone complain on that one before, maybe someone else will pipe in.
Those issues you note I do see to some degree when everything is bogged down but I see them everywhere, CTTH, etc and it is more painful playing because everything is slower.
What you are seeing is really extreme though, something very very weird there, you should try sending some bug reports and maybe email WGT about that one.
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I do want to apologize here in the forum to my friend Infinito who was the bigger man in this debate and kept his cool while my tone wasn't the greatest.... :)
Its a frustrating problem for sure, mine seems very obvious thus my frustration but many other people see very different things and I wasn't making that clear enough earlier hence some communication breakdown.
To clarify, some people see problems at anytime of day, some mostly all at one time in the peak hours so it appears that different combinations of things are the attributing factor for this.
ex. for me on XP and IE7, peak hours are the only time I have a problem, and I also see graphic stutter, longer load times, etc.
For someone else, XP and firefox, he sees problems anytime of day and bad, like 1 -3 meter stutters per every 9 holes, but not long load times or graphic issues.
Many things at work and a ton of variables to consider, all I know is I am NOT upgrading to IE8 from what I have heard people say so far, at least I know now when I might have problems and can avoid tourneys in that window, I dont want them all the time for sure!