Duplicate Poker
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
First off, let me note this is NOT a paid advertisement or sponsored post. Just something I found interesting and I wanted to get the opinion of my readers.
After reading about moola.com over at wwonka's site, I decided to check it out. If anything, it is a funny gimmick to drum up some business, but I thought it was kind of cool. The idea of turning one penny into 10 million dollars sounds pretty wild (not that I believe it would ever happen). But that's not what this post is about. Through moola, I came across a poker site called Duplicate Poker.
Has anyone else heard about this site?
They claim to be the only U.S. poker site that is completely a skill based game, thus they can offer their money games legally in most states (all but 12 states).
Here is the catch...and rather than try and explain it poorly...I'm just going to copy and paste their explanation below...
Duplicate Poker Duplicate Poker involves play of Pot Limit and No Limit Texas Hold'em under the general rules governing that game with four exceptions.
First, there are always two or more tables of players, with the same number of players seated at each table.
Second, an identically shuffled deck of cards is used at each table for each hand played so that players in the same seat position at each table receive the same hole cards and the common cards are the same at each table.
Third, every player begins each hand with the same number of playing chips, regardless of how he/she may have done in any previous hand.
Fourth, the winner of each hand is determined based on the number of chips he or she has at the end of the game as compared with those held by all players in the same seat at the other tables.
Determining winners by comparing the results achieved by the players playing identical hands eliminates the luck of the draw element normally associated with poker so that skill is what determines who wins, not whether you got good cards or bad cards. Every hand can win if it is well played.
So I ask you now, dear readers, what do you think of this interesting twist on the classic game? Is it a good thing? Is it bogus?Here are my initial thoughts. The purists of the game might balk at the idea of changing the rules in this way, however, if people enjoy playing it this way, I say no harm no foul. I have yet to try it out, so I don't have a specific opinion one way or the other. It seems like an interesting idea, but I'm a tad hesitant to jump on the bandwagon. One things that I don't like is it sounds like this could never really be a game played live. It would be way too difficult to coordinate a game like this live.
In the end, the people will decide if this is a good thing or not. If they get massive amounts of play, then we know that at least some people dig it. If they get barely any traffic, then we'll know it was not meant to be. I'm certainly not trying to drive traffic to them since I don't know much else about them, but I'm hoping that some others have heard about this and can chime in with their thoughts.
I will say this, I'm all for changing up how games are played. If that had never happened in the past, we wouldn't have games like Omaha and Razz...etc. I don't think this site will make much of a splash in the poker world, but you have to admit it is certainly an interesting take on the classic game. And it's the first site I've seen to challenge the skill vs. luck card completely.
posted by TripJax @ 3:03 PM,
7 Comments:
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At 4:01 PM,
Astin said...
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The question that jumps to my mind is this - Can you watch the other tables while you're playing yours? If so, then count me out. All you'd have to do is watch how the same seat at the other table is playing to narrow the possible range of hands. You're essentially getting twice as much information about hole cards. I may bluff on a low flop while my counterpart is checking/folding telling my opponent that I have nothing.
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At 9:44 PM,
KajaPoker said...
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This concept comes from Contract Bridge, where they actually play tournaments where all the decks are pre-shuffled and dealt into a device that tells the players who plays what hand. After the hand is over you put all the cards back in the device and go to another table. This way every team plays every hand against another team and the total score wins.
I actually read that they ran a big poker tournament like this live (I think in Tenessee or something like that) and got a bunch of the pros to show up and participate. They had to screen off the tables from each other and control the muck so that all the decks would be the same. It was a long and awkward ordeal and from the article I read not a lot of fun.
I doubt that this idea will take off. I've seen the site advertised a long time ago and it pretty much faded away. There are too many opportunities for collusion, even if, like astin says, you can't watch other tables (hence the screens in the live event). -
At 4:27 PM,
TripJax said...
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Astin,
Wouldn't that just further the potential strategy/skill opportunities for those that review?
And to answer your question, I have no idea how it works, so I'm not sure if you can or cannot see the other tables....
Fanks for the comments fellas. -
At 1:24 AM,
Schaubs said...
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Seems interesting. Boys, there is only one way to find out...
I'm up for any game.
gamboooool. -
At 5:56 PM,
Roger said...
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I am not sure how this or any other format for that matter would be able to supposedly compare skills to players at another table being dealt identical cards.
"Determining winners by comparing the results achieved by the players playing identical hands eliminates the luck of the draw element normally associated with poker [OK, I agree with the statement up to here] so that skill is what determines who wins, not whether you got good cards or bad cards. [I think they left a big, big issue out so I totally disagree that they can yet make this claim that they have now boiled it down to just skill].
What about the skill levels of my opponents in all the other seats?
The unequal skill levels of all the other players in all the other seats between the two tables will create a cumulative variance that will destroy any hope you might have had of comparing skill levels based on the number of chips I am able to accumulate compared to another player being dealt the same cards.
If in all reality I have the same skill as another player, and play the hand exactly the same. What are the chances that our results will be the same? Zero I think.
If I raise 30% of my stack at the beginning of the tourney with AA and I am called by 35o at my table, and he/she does the same at the other table with no calls... Am I a less skilled player because I lose 40% of my stack on a flopped straight? Hmmmm. It wouldn't seem so. -
At 11:56 PM,
Schaubs said...
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So what is your point roger?
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At 5:49 PM,
Schaubs said...
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Ok so I gave it a shot last night and didn't even get as far as the deposit. The software sucks and it took forever to load, kept jamming and I never really got anywhere. So I take back everything I said. I hate Duplicate Poker and everything it stands for.
I have no patience what so ever.
I appologize for jumping the gun there... but I gave it a shot... sort of.
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