| 19 Sep | Poker Via Remote Control?Posted by PokerBarney on 6:08PM, 19th Sep 2006Permalink |  Send to a friend |  RSS feed |
Online poker is becoming ever more advanced. New fancy graphics and smoother clients are being replaced by 3D representations of the players (with customisable gestures! I only wonder where that can lead...) and chips, tables, cards etc. But now, a patent has been filed for what can only be described as "remote control poker".
The patent describes the idea below:
"A technique is described where on-line players may participate in a table game involving physical elements such as a gaming table, players at the table, dealers, croupiers, betting chips, cards, dice, a roulette wheel, etc ... Electronic sensors in the table, or other detectors, sense the dealt cards and bets, and the data is communicated to the remote players. The remote players enter commands via a network (e.g., the Internet), and those commands are carried out at the physical table by the dealer placing bets for the player, dealing cards, or any other action ... At the end of the session, the on-line players' accounts are debited or credited ..."
Incredible. There's a more detailed explanation of the technical means behind the plans, but I won't go into that here. Suffice to say that the cards are specially tagged with chips, the table is covered in sensors, and the whole lot is connected to the internet so the remote player can issue commands.
While it's a nice idea... these are my immediate thoughts:
What's the point?
What was the motivation for this idea? I suppose disabled players who perhaps can't get to the local casino could be the target market, but why wouldn't they just play at online casinos? It seems an awful lot of effort to go to when the outcome is poorly replicated online play.It will spoil casinos
Some live players choose to play that way because they don't want the hassle of waiting for disconnected players, and they want to be able to see and physically analyse their opponents. Playing remotely is basically the same as hiding under the table and shouting out to the dealer what you want to do - which wouldn't last long in most casinos. Finding a table to play at (and managing to keep the table full) would be near to impossible.
Security!
Chipping the cards so that sensors can read them is asking for trouble. Plus, the fact that the dealer will be dealing cards to an empty seat with no-one sitting in it is outrageous. How many times do you think a drunken, pissed off live player will get fed up with the remote stay-at-home and just lean over and have a peek at his cards? Who's there to stop him - the dealer? Fine.. muck the hand and redeal, then repeat until the remoter leaves.
The patent mentions plans for other games too, such as roulette and craps, using cameras to detect dice rolls and roulette wheel numbers. Again.. I can't see the point of trying to merge the live and online world - there is just no need. The online world is already a perfect replica of brick and mortar casinos, why go to all this trouble? Maybe...
Does this count as online gambling?
If not, perhaps this is the way to get around online gaming bans in America. Players can play in live casinos, but can do so remotely. Since they're playing against live players (assuming there is at least one live player sitting at the table!), and the action is being conducted with real chips on a real table in a real building somewhere.. does it count? Cue more stupid American politicians making stupid new laws on topics they know nothing about.
If there are no live players sitting at the table, is it any different from online poker? Who knows. The mind boggles, and only time will tell. For more, read the article at www.ZDNet.com.
Bookmarks
If you enjoyed reading this post, please share it with others at these social bookmarking sites:
Del.icio.us | 
Digg | 
Furl | 
Reddit | 
Yahoo!
Blogmarks | 
FeedMeLinks | 
Shadows | 
Ma.gnolia
Scuttle | 
Simpy | 
Smarking | 
Spurl
