diff --git a/pyfpdb/Hud.py b/pyfpdb/Hud.py
index 92f38bb7..1de69413 100644
--- a/pyfpdb/Hud.py
+++ b/pyfpdb/Hud.py
@@ -123,6 +123,15 @@ class Hud:
         self.main_window.set_destroy_with_parent(True)
         
     def update_table_position(self):
+#        self.main_window.parentgdkhandle = gtk.gdk.window_foreign_new(self.table.number)
+#        if self.main_window.parentgdkhandle == None:
+        if os.name == 'nt':
+            if not win32gui.IsWindow(self.table.number):
+                self.kill_hud()
+                return False
+        else:
+            return False # kill the timer under Unix, and ignore it until we have a way to check the validity of the window.
+        
         (x, y) = self.main_window.parentgdkhandle.get_origin()
         if self.table.x != x or self.table.y != y:
             self.table.x = x
@@ -134,7 +143,7 @@ class Hud:
                 (x, y) = loc[adj[i]]
                 if self.stat_windows.has_key(i):
                     self.stat_windows[i].relocate(x, y)
-                    
+            
         return True
 
     def on_button_press(self, widget, event):
@@ -229,7 +238,7 @@ class Hud:
             aux_params = config.get_aux_parameters(game_params['aux'])
             self.aux_windows.append(eval("%s.%s(gtk.Window(), self, config, 'fpdb')" % (aux_params['module'], aux_params['class'])))
         
-#        gobject.timeout_add(500, self.update_table_position)
+        gobject.timeout_add(500, self.update_table_position)
             
     def update(self, hand, config, stat_dict):
         self.hand = hand   # this is the last hand, so it is available later
diff --git a/pyfpdb/fpdb_simple.py b/pyfpdb/fpdb_simple.py
index 7c9bbe21..6e70b699 100644
--- a/pyfpdb/fpdb_simple.py
+++ b/pyfpdb/fpdb_simple.py
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ def checkPositions(positions):
             pass
         
         ### RHH modified to allow for "position 9" here (pos==9 is when you're a dead hand before the BB
-        if (pos!="B" and pos!="S" and pos!=0 and pos!=1 and pos!=2 and pos!=3 and pos!=4 and pos!=5 and pos!=6 and pos!=7 and pos!=9):
+        if (pos!="B" and pos!="S" and pos!=0 and pos!=1 and pos!=2 and pos!=3 and pos!=4 and pos!=5 and pos!=6 and pos!=7 and pos != 8 and pos!=9):
             raise FpdbError("invalid position found in checkPositions. i: "+str(i)+" position: "+str(pos))
 #end def fpdb_simple.checkPositions