PokerPro Invades

I am not one to knock advancements in poker or technology but then again I am not one to turn on tradition either. I’ll give you the facts and let you decide. A software design company, PokerTek, has developed and starting distributing a computerized poker table to land based casinos. What this table does is control the game without the use of a dealer, cards, or chips. You still have your seats and play against only the other players at your table but the elements associated with land based ring games is gone.

To its credit, PokerPro does eliminate some problems. The occurrence of misdeals and mistakes at the table are eliminated. The speed at which the game is played is increased because you don’t have to wait for the shuffle or the raking of the pot. It is automated funding with a card that is swiped so that saves you time as well. You don’t have to look for a seat; PokerPro will find it for you or tell you when you’re up on a waiting list. And for some, and do only mean some, the biggest plus is that players can’t tip the dealer. This is thought to be a money saver.

Some parts that are a bit on the downside are that it takes away part of the casino feel. Without a live dealer, the game just has a different air about it. You lose the touch of the cards and chips on your fingers. Not that either way is better than the other it is a preference thing. Everything is electronic. A card and a computer chip control the game in almost every aspect.

What this table does is bring together large groups of people to play on line poker while they sit at the same live table. Not that it is a bad thing, like I said it is a preference. Do you think that the final table of the WSOP or any major tournament will be played on a computerized table? Well not for a long time but this piece of equipment does offer a solution to a growing problem for major tournaments. The amount of time to play the entire WSOP has grown every year because the number of players grows. This table does move the game along at a faster pace and could be used in early rounds to keep the tournaments going. On a personal note, if I am paying 10 grand as a buy in, I want to look at the hands and eyes of the person that deals my cards to me. That is my preference.

As a ring game table, it might not be so bad and can offer something to land based casinos that they have had trouble trying to give players before. Speed Poker is growing and Turbo Tables and Tournaments are the fastest growing part of on line poker. At a land based casino, these where just too hard to control but the table has been tried and tested in 6 casinos and seems to handle this pretty well.

I still prefer live tables with live people and as a side note have never minded tipping a dealer (and you don’t have to if you don’t want to). As an option I can see a future for PokerPro but as far as the game of poker goes I do not see PokerPro as it’s future. So I rekon I am saying welcome to the game PokerPro, but remember your place.