What Happens In Vegas…

Looks like you can see it all in Vegas!

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Time To Look At Bodog Again

I haven’t played at Bodog Poker in a very long time. In fact I can’t even remember the last time I played there at all. Why? I hated their software.

Has all that changed? I’m about to find out. As I type this I’m downloading the newest beta version of the poker client. According to the press release it will allow for “full screen mode, resizable tables, embedded chat and game details and on-demand player tools”.

That sounds like quite a change from the software of the past. Full screen mode doesn’t sound like something I, or anyone else for that matter, would be interested in. Resizable tables are a must for any modern poker client and a welcome addition. Embedded chat, meh, I don’t chat much anyway. Game details and on-demand player tools, sounds intriguing.

Now if I could just find that old email with my bodog account number in it…

**Update:

I found my account number.  I’ve also found that the beta software with the new enhancements is only usable on the “.net” site.  That makes it play money only.  I see the reason for introducing the new features where money wont be involved, but since that’s the case it’s rather useless to me.

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Andrew Keen and the Gatekeepers

I just finished watching a talk / Q&A on Ustream which took place at the Mahalo offices.  For those of you that have never heard of Andrew Keen he was an early web entrepreneur but is more widely known for his recent book The Cult of the Amateur.

During Andrew’s talk I found much that I would agree with but there were also some inherent flaws. A very generalized two point overview of his discussion would be:

1. An unfiltered Internet leads to chaos and a break down of factual information.
2. Gatekeepers are needed to determine the validity of information and then disseminate that information.

Wikipedia was one of the examples used for the need of this type of system.  As useful as people find it, the information can often be flawed.  He also brought up a point early in his conversation and it is, I believe, a valid one.  That is the premise that over the next few years 2 billion newcomers will join the Internet.  The majority of these will be citizens from Third World Countries.  He surmised that these people, not having been subjected to mass media, will inherently "believe everything they read".  That in turn leads to a break down in the value of the Internet itself.

What I find interesting about his hypothesis is how if we expand on his thinking, were really talking about is accountability, and in relation, social responsibility.

How can this be bad?  Let’s start with the initial premise.  I don’t believe that anyone who really thought about it, could disagree with the need for accountability in information dissemination.  No one loves Spam except those spreading it.  When you want information on a topic it would be nice if you could trust that the first source was an honest source.  Right now you can’t really do that.  There are no checks and balances.  (Mahalo believes they are filling that void thus his appearance.)

This is where the "Gatekeepers" come in.  These would be knowledgeable people who could be trusted to provide factual and relevant information.  Sounds good but who are these people?  During the Q&A he stated that those with knowledge beyond that of average people, as it relates to the subject matter, would be the "Elitists", ie. the Gatekeepers.  In this system debate is taken out of the equation.  Ideas are no longer challenged.  The masses become sheep led about the countryside by a select few.  Sounds a lot like State ran Socialism.

My personal viewpoint is that his theory is a sound one.  The problem is implementation.  In the chat room during his talk someone stated "the Internet is a mirror of civilization".  The problem is that it’s really just a mirror of western civilization.  The world is not a part of our community as a whole.  When they finally are it will become even more difficult to wade through the mire.  "Separating the Wheat from the Chaff" as it were will become almost impossible.

The real problem in all of this is the fact that were human.  We’re flawed creatures with egos too big for any of this to ever be feasible.

Then again that’s just my two cents worth and no one ever said that I didn’t have an ego.

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Online Poker : Does Everyone Cheat? Part II

Gray Area

The waters are muddy in the online shark tank. The only thing online and live poker really have in common is the name of the game. The instant a computer enters the equation everything is changed drastically. This spans from the way the cards are dealt to the add-on’s the end user has at their disposal. It is these differences that lead many to the dark side. For the rest of us the large gray area in between is where we make our home.

Light Gray

With the ability to save every hand history you’ve ever been involved in, or seen for that matter, comes the ability to examine and evaluate. There are several products on the market that provide the player with every imaginable poker statistic. Everything from simple money tracking to betting position trends are there for the player to take in and study.

This market then gave birth to another. You don’t have to study the data collected because HUD’s (Head’s Up Displays) can overlay all the information directly on the poker table. A listing of numerous statistics can be shown in real time. In addition many of these product’s are customizable so you can decide how much, or how little information you want to see.

With the presentation of all this information the player has a better understanding of their opponents. But even with all of this information there is still a human factor. Does the player know how to interpret all of it? Does this help lead to a greater understanding or is it just confusing? Ultimately it all still rests in the hands of the player.

Dark Grey

In addition to the functions listed above, there are programs that take the whole process one step further. For every possible decision the player could face the program will give you what would be the mathematically correct course of action. These programs can be found for cash games as well as tournaments. Going even further some will take player betting patterns into consideration. The only difference between these programs and a full blown bot is that a human still has to click the mouse button. The player that would use these tools really doesn’t want to play poker, they want to play a beatable slot machine.

So do you believe everyone’s a cheater? Do the tools available change the very concept of poker? I’ll be back in a few days with my conclusions, but in the meantime leave a comment and let me know what you think?

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An Opposite Effect – A Legislative Stall

This is something I posted previously on the Poker Sift Blog.  I’ve written a few things there and I’ve decided to repost here.

The upcoming Presidential election will have no effect on Online Poker in any way. Let me repeat that, The upcoming Presidential election will have no effect on Online Poker in any way.

Our plight is not an issue that will be determined by the Executive Branch of government. It will be determined by the Legislative Branch. Unfortunately the Legislative Branch is composed of the most “out of touch” members of our society. As a whole they claim to “feel your pain:, or “connect with the working man”, but these are just words. Words they use to position themselves for re-election. If you are ever in doubt of this fact I encourage you to write your congressmen. The middle of the road, non committal response you get will leave you with no doubt.

The passing of the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act) was supposed to be a dark day for the online poker world, and in some ways it was. In others, not so much. The story line isn’t new. Some of the major players in the U.S. poker market left the Country. Others stayed. Those that stayed have thrived in the market and even though depositing money online had to change, it was still easy to do. Companies like ePassporte stepped in to take over the vacancy left by Neteller. The sites themselves even tried their own depositing methods. In the grand scheme of things it’s business as usual for most active poker enthusiasts.

What the UIGEA did do was place a stigma on the act of online poker. The legalities of playing were brought into question and some choose to interpret the act of playing poker online to be illegal. It’s not. Not in a Federal Government sense although some states have expressly outlawed the game.

There was hope that the WTO (World Trade Organization) would step in and levy sanctions on the U.S. in response to the Antigua/Barbados complaint of losing business. Instead of a 3 billion dollar fine annually, the U.S. Government was cradled with 21 million annually. A mere pittance in the grand scheme of world trade.

Foreign Governments have even began to take aspects of the UIGEA unto themselves. Germany recently passed the German Interstate Treaty which bans all forms of online gambling except horse racing. Sound familiar?

It won’t be foreign pressure that repeals the UIGEA. There are bills in congress now to do that, but let’s face it, it’s not likely to happen. This is a big year for the political process so any issue that may be considered “hotbutton” will be shelved till later.

H.R.2046 which will provide for the licensing of Internet gambling facilities has been been in Subcommittee since April, 2007.

H.R.2610 which sets out to clarify the applicability of such provisions to games of skill has been in Subcommittee since June, 2007.

H.R.2140 which wants a study by the National Academy of Sciences to identify the proper response of the United States to the growth of Internet gambling has been in Committee since May, 2007.

H.R.2607 which more broadly wants to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to regulate Internet gambling was referred to Committee in June, 2007.

Therein lies our current hopes for the release from UIGEA control. Mired in committees to quite possibly never see the light of open debate.

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Livecasting Now

Missed The Mookie due to familial commitments.  Playing the 9:45pm Knockout Tourney instead.  See me here.

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Scott Fischman Causes Life Tilt

A quick perusal of the poker bloggershpere today reveals that Scott Fischman (pro poker player) induced a large amount of life tilt last night.  During the Blogger Big Game (which was livecast here at LAG) Scott made some, shall we say, suspect plays.  These plays gave him a huge chip stack and the eventual win.

I myself induced some life tilt on Sirfwalgman.  During the second hour I rivered a straight against flopped trips and his vitriol spewed forth.  When Sirfwalgman raised and another player smooth called I knew I was going to push the flop before I even completed my Big Blind.  Nevertheless perceived donkery is still donkery no matter the reasoning.

I should be home from work in time for the Math tonight so I’ll be livecasting my play again.  Join me here and then head over to the chatroom for a discussion of the game.

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Streaming reminder

Don't forget I'll be live streaming tonights Big Game. That's at 8:30 central.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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I Will Streaming Video!!!!!

Starting with tomorrow nights Big Game I will be streaming all of my poker play via uStream.tv

You will be able to see my tables and stare at my ugly mug.  There is a chatroom associated to the feed that will be open on my page at uStream.  You will also be able to watch the video live from within this blog page.

Come join me and see if you can read me.  Am I bluffing?  Can you tell?

See you(me) then!

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SNG Stats For February

I went back to what I know best for the last few weeks and I can tell you it sure feels nice to actually win. 

With the BBT3 upon us I had to take a hard look at my bankroll.  I’m playing pretty thin and unless I won an event early I wouldn’t last long.  With that in mind I’ve decided I’m not going to play any of the events unless I can win my buy in first playing SNG’s.  I’m happy to report that I have already registered for the Big Game on Sunday and I plan on making some noise.

Here are my SNG graphs for the month.  I’ve only played 50 so far but I’m outpacing my previous ROI when I played this level in the past.

I like this finish distribution.

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