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I love live gaming. I never expected I would. When I originally heard about live dealers I thought of something cheesy and voyeuristic. Not my type of thing at all. I started playing in your normal internet casino with a computer screen as my playing opponent. I liked playing that way, it's clean, no distractions from the game. I'm a female so there's always the issue of someone trying to intimidate me from the table. This is not a problem online, especially when you can't see your playmates. Even still, with all of the benefits of regular internet play sometimes it's nice to have interaction with other human beings. Casino WebCam is one of the nicer mellower live dealer sites. The dealers are women, which is a bit of a bummer if you want to look at a bit of beefcake while you play, but they are nice and chatty. I had the feeling that they appreciated their female players because we weren't trying to hit on them. There was a seriously annoying male player who kept telling the dealer that he loved her. I don't know how much I would like to be a dealer at one of these sites since it seems the strange stalker factor might be high, but the game play was cool. I thought then how cool it would be to have a poker site with live gaming. I knew it would be a matter of time, because the concept was a no-brainer. A live internet poker site would allow players from around the world to congregate and play from the comfort of their own home. It would be the closest thing to being in the casino, without the smell of the smoke, the stench of players who have been playing too long, and the annoyance of the attitudes. This would be more like video chat while playing. A great way to see who you are against and safeguard yourself against poker BOTS. Finally, it's happened. Live online poker is coming soon. Pharaohs Poker Palace is determined to be the first internet poker room with live interactive play. The internet casino and poker room has proprietary software on a new dynamic poker platform which allows players with a webcam to interact with their fellow players. It will be a complementary facility accessible to all players who choose to try the option. Their goal is to raise the level of poker playing online and increase the social interaction. Being able to see the competition will also change people's method of playing, making more like land-based casino play. Poker legend Doyle Brunson also saw live online poker as the way of the future. In his book "Super System 2" he stated that “...just a couple of years down the road, you may well be able to see real opponents on your screen. Poker will be like a video conference, and you’ll be able to focus on the players across the table from you and read them…tells will be everywhere, and then full-scale psychological warfare will come to the online poker battlefield - and nothing will be missing.” "Super System 2" was published in 2004 and it seems his prediction was accurate. He suggested that webcam technology would become standard procedure. Brunson believed that once this happened the interaction will be more like a land-based casino. In the beginning Pharaoh’s Poker Palace will offer the webcam option at all tables in order to introduce the concept to their players and allow them to get used to the notion. Once the trial introductory period is over the online poker room will separate the webcam tables and make them "webcam only". The future "webcam only" tables will require players to have and use a webcam in order to be able to play, thus leveling the playing field at these tables. It will also mean no one will be able to lie about their details at the table. Players will be able to get to know who the card sharks are and they could choose to avoid them on site, if they wanted. Currently Pharaoh's players are able to use a static avatar, which isn't exactly as exciting as a webcam. As players will be playing from home they will have to keep in mind that pajama's must be modest to be allowed. Scruffy is fine, offensive is something else. Of course, you can simply aim the camera at your face and not worry about all that. No one has to know about your fuzzy pig slippers. While I think playing with webcams will make the game a friendlier homier place online I don't think it's the way to go for the starting player. The past few winners of the World Series of Poker championships have come from playing online. I think that learning the game without reading other peoples faces, and just playing off of your cards may make you a better player. The speed where decisions are made is faster, and you don't get bogged down with trying to read people's signs and tells. My suggestion for those who take their poker game extremely seriously would be to play on the non-cam tables until you master your game. Then go to the webcam tables to learn the art of playing on the side of psychology. That is what makes Poker a game of skill, the collision of statistics with psychology. Pharaoh’s Poker Palace announced the beta testing on their site on June 15th. They then mentioned it a million more times on June 16th, which makes me wonder if they notice how their site is updated, but never-mind. Right now the option is only available for the play for fun. However, once the beta version is tested and approved (which should be some time this month) the webcam option will be available on the real-money tables. To make the webcam option even more appealing Pharaoh's is offering free webcams to real money depositors, which is the best way to make sure that hardware is not an obstruction from playing via webcam. Posted on: July 3, 2006
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