New Poker Game for XBox Live
It really is amazing, when you think about it, that 10s of millions of people worldwide are competing in games (whether they be sports or shoot-em-ups) on XBox Live, and they’re doing it for no money!
But with Sega opening up a real-money poker room (and casino), you gotta wonder if the likes of Microsoft wouldn’t try to get in on the real-money gaming/gambling action if the UIGEA were suddenly to go away. ** (You also gotta wonder how the guy in the picture even saw the flop. Can you imagine how soft these Xbox games must be?!)
I don’t mean to overstate anything here — because poker is just a game, after all, that we know plenty of people enjoy playing for free.net — but the new Hoyle Texas Hold’em for Xbox Live leaves you wondering if they aren’t preparing themselves for a future where they stand to make more than $10 per download.
And looking at the key features of this new release …
Gamers can play as their Microsoft Avatar.
* Single player games against up to 9 AI players.
* Mixed Multiplayer games with any combination of up to 9 AI and/or human players.
* Fully customizable games let the player decide game type, table minimums, mix of AI vs. human players and much more.
* Ability to reserve seats for private custom games.
* Deep statistic tracking covers over 50 key stats categories found to be the most important to professional poker players.
You gotta wonder if any new players stepping onto the online poker landscape might not have a different outlook on things like bots and datamining than current industry leaders.
** The makers of Hoyle Texas Hold’em have slot machine games, and handheld iPhone versions, too.
ALT HED: Hoyle Sounds a Lot like Doyle
Andrew - Ladbrokes Casino says:
February 1st, 2010 at 6:10am
Can we see people really being happy though, in the long run, to play for money against opponents who are bots without Artifical Intelligence? I know people bet on “virtual sports” but I think this is different when the AI could easily have knowledge of your hole cards.
DanM says:
February 1st, 2010 at 6:25am
right, but can we see people really being bothered if they are playing against a few bots — even if they happen to be as unsophisticated as, say, Loose Larry, or Tight Tanya — just to keep the game going? prop players have been used for a long time … and they are kinda like bots, and few mind playing with them at their table … because indeed, they can be predictable.
Aaron says:
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:46am
Does your Alt Hed imply anything? 🙂
DanM says:
February 2nd, 2010 at 12:28pm
just stating a fact. hoyle is also the name of a card company that has been around for decades.
Andrew - Ladbrokes Casino says:
February 3rd, 2010 at 4:37am
I just think that people will have suspicions about their hole cards being seen with bot players compared to real humans, irrational as that may be. (PS – enjoy the Poker Beat every week)
DanM says:
February 3rd, 2010 at 4:51am
possibly, but I don’t have that fear when I play against bots on Playstation poker. That’s where I won my first bracelet after all — beating Beth Fischman for a $2,500 Razz title.
While if there were a financial incentive for the AI to peak at whole cards, that might be another issue … but what’s to say a site that embraces the bot technology might not be able to guarantee hole-card security? I’d be just as inclined to believe them that their site is secure as I would be to believe a site that insists it is bot-free when we know that’s not true.
p.s. Thanks for the Poker Beat props.
rakebackvideoblogger says:
February 4th, 2010 at 5:36pm
I hear there are actually ways to see opponents hole cards in certain poker rooms. Is there any truth to this does anyone know?
DanM says:
February 4th, 2010 at 5:41pm
tell us what you know. obviously you know enough to pimp rakeback … that makes me think you gotta know a thing or two about some questionable sites in the past. supposedly all is cleaned up and there are no problems anywhere in online poker anyhere … save for maybe collusion, datamining, and general variance.
rakebackvideoblogger says:
February 4th, 2010 at 6:11pm
untold poker secrets is one that I came across months ago. (just found it again)
And note I don’t ‘pimp’ anything underhanded like that on my blog.
Simple question, why the attitude? And what if I do pimp rakeback? If nobody did people would be losing out on more money than they do already. Get a grip! lol
If you realized the amount of work that goes into doing something like that you would realize that it’s well earned. And for your information I’m a miserable failure at the pimping business. lol
DanM says:
February 4th, 2010 at 6:33pm
***Simple question, why the attitude? *** sorry, i’m just a little feisty today. i blame the steroids. nothing wrong with pimping, rakeback or anything else … just making sure you were a real person, not someone just trying to plant keywords.
and if there are new sites with questionable hole-card records, i really am very curious who they are.
thanks for popping in, and responding to my attitude i gave back atcha. it’s my way of saying hi. i hope you come back …
rakebackvideoblogger says:
February 5th, 2010 at 8:54am
OK, apology accepted. 🙂
As for planting keywords . . . well they do get included I admit but I do try to include good content when I post somewhere so I hope the above was cool. The only comments I’ve had at my site so far are spam so I have no intention of adding it to others pages intentionally. (Feel free to drop by and use that attitude where I could use it . . on my play if you know your stuff? make a comment or two. Would be appreciated 🙂
So, your on steroids huh? I hear they give you a lot of spots on your ‘back’ and you can’t help but ‘rake’ at them to try and stop ’em itching. 😉
That’s planting keywords! lol
Sorry! Had to get that one in. HeHe
Did you check out that site by the way, it even has a video showing you them looking at hole cards. My guess is its a load of bull but I’m not prepared to waste money to find out. Would I use the method if it was real and foolproof? Hmm . . . I’m not so sure, a lot of money could be made but it would just ruin the fun I get out of my favorite pass time.
Maybe I’d do it just long enough to buy my WSOP seat and accommodation . . . . . . every year. :-p