While
players can get their poker fix by arranging games with
their friends, more and more people are looking to Internet
to get winning hand anytime of the day.
Most students at least have friends who play, if they do not
play themselves. However, some serious poker players call
into question the validity of these online games. Adam
Friedman, IU alumnus and competitor in the 2005 World Series
of Poker, has little faith in these internet poker sites.
"I am positive these games are fixed," Friedman said, "You
can tell by paying attention to the hands people draw and
how some people are betting."
Friedman is a student of the game. He has been around a
poker table long enough to know when something is not right.
"Things that I never have seen playing regular poker will
happen on a consistent basis in these online games."
Friedman said, "The only advice I would give any player is
to not get involved with online poker … it will cost you."
Josh Ackerman, a student at the University of Colorado and
an avid poker player, said he uses online poker as practice
for when he sits down at a real table.
"I play in the free games online." Ackerman said, "It is
good practice without the risk of losing any money."
IU Professor Chris Falk disagrees with Friedman's claim that
online poker is fixed. Falk is an online veteran of four
years, as well as a friend of Friedman.
"If the word got out that the sites were fixed, no one would
play," Falk said.
Falk's explanation for the change of the online games style,
as opposed to poker at a table, is a result of the anonymous
nature of being online.
"People are not worried about their tables making fun of
their unusual play." Falk said, "Just the nature of being
online will open the door for stupid moves."
Friedman is doing a lot better than almost any online poker
player can say. He has not invested any of his own money and
still claims to be ahead by a "decent amount." He won a
online tournament a couple years ago and has used that money
to build on his earnings.
He does not really spend any of his winnings; he just uses
it to stay in the game.
"Money is a tool to gamble," Friedman said, "However, only
play with what you can afford to lose."
Players with Friedman's talent are few among many. The
average student who plays casually could be setting himself
or herself up for heartbreak, according to Friedman, the
Internet poker sites bring in million of dollars every day,
most of it coming from college students. These sites are
hard to monitor since it is illegal for them to exist in the
United States. All the sites are coming from Canada or
overseas.
Falk believes that within a few years several states will
legalize running online sights within their borders.
"It is just a matter of time before renegade states like
Illinois, Georgia, and Alaska make online poker legal." Falk
said. "They will make good money off these sights through
taxes."
With the popularity of games like Texas Holdem, the end to
online poker seems to be nowhere in sight. Friedman suggests
that hopeful players study games like Holdem to make sure
they can recognize a dishonest table. Friedman himself
thinks Texas Holdem is a rather boring game, but he is aware
of its popularity among his peers.
"These days, Texas Holdem is to white suburban kids, as
crack-cocaine was to them in the '70s," Friedman said. "That
is the best thing I can compare it to." |
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