Loading...All Posts Tagged: Poker Gadgets and Technology
Full Tilt Color Coding
Published by: Sean Lind
Posted In: Positively Nerd Street, Poker Gadgets and Technology
James over at CodingtheWheel.com has written two really fantastic posts on how to use color coding on Full Tilt to revolutionize your table selection.
As James says in the first blog, "What's arguably the single biggest deficiency of the losing poker player at any limit? Poor table/game selection."
This solution helps you identify at a glance the quality of players on Full Tilt tables.
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The Perfect PC Setup for the Online Grinder
Published by: Sean Lind
Posted In: Positively Nerd Street, Poker Gadgets and Technology
My father once taught me a very important lesson: Always use the proper tool for the job.
If playing online poker is your job, or even your hobby, you're going to want the right PC.
The first thing to know is that you don't have to buy the most expensive computer and accessories to get what you need. You just need to know what you're looking for.
If you do it right, getting the optimal grinder's PC won't actually cost you all that much.
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How to Mod Your Full Tilt Poker Client
Published by: Sean Lind
Posted In: Positively Nerd Street, Poker Gadgets and Technology
All true geeks of the world share an understanding of one very important principal: no matter what it is, it's always better after it's been modded, customized and hacked.
Being a true geek, I've come to the conclusion that using the standard images and sounds that ship with the standard Full Tilt client just won't do.
The beauty of modding your Full Tilt client is that it's actually very simple and will only take as much time as you're willing to put into it.
The first thing to understand is this is 100% legal. Full Tilt ships its software with its sounds and images unprotected and easily accessible. Only you can see the changes you make and it does not affect the game play in any way.
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Three More iPhone Poker Apps Worth Talking About
Published by: Sean Lind
Posted In: Positively Nerd Street, Poker Gadgets and Technology
Over 21 million people in this world own an iPhone. If just 1% of those people play poker, that's over 210,000 people who should read this blog.
The original "quick guide" to poker on the iPhone went over some of the best and worst iPhone poker apps available in the app store. At the time I had ranked Zynga as the best poker app available, while Imagine Poker was the absolute worst.
In all seriousness, Imagine Poker really is the worst poker iPhone app I've ever used. Who decided that playing poker against the Mona Lisa or Napoleon is something anyone would be interested in?
Just thinking about having paid for that app tilts the living shit out of me.
But I digress. After a bit more digging around, here are three more poker apps worth talking about.Read Full Post
The First Online Poker Room: IRC Poker
Published by: Sean Lind
Posted In: Positively Nerd Street, Poker Gadgets and Technology
When people talk about the first online poker room, they're usually referring to Planet Poker - the brainchild of Mike Caro and the site that dealt the first ever real-money online poker hand on Jan. 1, 1998.
What most people don't know is the idea for online poker had been around and functioning for years before then.
In 1988, Finnish programmer Jarkko "WiZ" Oikarinen invented IRC (Internet Relay Chat). IRC was the first online "chat room" allowing anyone to set up an IRC server and anyone on that server to create his or her own chat rooms (or channels as they're known).
Over time IRC grew in size and functionality, eventually allowing users to do things like send files and, more importantly, create and run scripts - basically computer programs that operate within the parent program itself.
In the early 1990s, Todd Mummert and Greg Reynolds created a server and script that allowed IRC users to play poker games and poker tournaments online.Read Full Post
Rad How-To: Play Poker with Your Rock Band Guitar
Published by: Sean Lind
Posted In: Positively Nerd Street, Poker Gadgets and Technology
Originally, I developed a system to play poker online using voice-control software, but this isn't very useful if you want to chat with your roommates or eat a BLT while you play.
The next logical step would be using the wireless poker controller, but I just don't like the idea of paying for something I can build myself for free.
The Rock Band (and Guitar Hero) instruments are, basically, wireless controllers. You hit a button on the guitar and it sends that button-press to its little receiver hanging from your Playstation's USB port.
I saw no reason why I shouldn't be able to plug the instrument into my computer and use it as my very own wireless poker controller. And besides, playing poker by using a guitar … that's just rad.
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How to Set Up and Play Voice-Controlled Online Poker
Published by: Sean Lind
Posted In: Positively Nerd Street, Poker Gadgets and Technology
Me neither. And when I first decided to put together a fully functional system for voice-controlled poker, I was doing it simply as a novelty.
Surprisingly while testing it out, I found that voice-controlled poker can actually be pretty useful.
There are times where I want to sit on my couch, watch TV, and play a table or two of online poker. Nothing too serious, just something to kill time. I've always hated using laptop touch pads, and voice control ended up being a perfect option.
This system I've set up is 100% functional. You can start your poker client, find a table, log-in, buy-in and post your blinds.
Once you're on a table you can do everything you would normally use your mouse for - freeing up your hands for more important tasks.
The Future of Poker Bots
Published by: Sean Lind
Posted In: Positively Nerd Street, Poker Gadgets and Technology
There are hundreds of misconceptions and rumors about poker bots around, including what they are, how they work and if you should be worried about them at the tables.
Poker bots are nothing new. The concept of artificial opponents was originally developed for the game of chess. Over time, programmers were able to create computerized opponents that can defeat the world's greatest chess-playing humans.
But, luckily for us humans, No-Limit Hold'em is a far more complicated game to teach an A.I. than chess.
Limit Hold'em, however, thanks to its primarily mathematical nature, is a bit easier for bots to wrap their silicon heads around. Programmers at the University of Alberta are well known for creating Polaris, the first bot that can actually give humans some real competition in this variant.
But as of yet, no programmer has managed to create a truly competitive and competent bot for No-Limit Hold'em.
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Quick Guide to Poker on the iPhone
Published by: Sean Lind
Posted In: Positively Nerd Street, Poker Gadgets and Technology
Every iPhone-wielding poker player wants to know the same thing: How can I use my iPhone to play poker?
As most poker-playing iPhiles already know, Apple will not approve any application which can be used for "gambling."
For this reason, no poker sites have written native iPhone poker software. But that doesn't mean people aren't trying to find a way to work around the problem.
In-Browser Poker Rooms
Lots of poker sites offer full-featured play from inside a standard web-browser. Since the iPhone comes equipped with Safari, you might be thinking that you're home free.
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Random Number Generators for Dummies
Published by: Sean Lind
Posted In: Positively Nerd Street, Poker Gadgets and Technology
Ever wondered how poker sites randomly shuffle the deck? Here's everything you need to know about RNGs, but were too afraid to ask.
Before we get into the generators, the first step in understanding how a poker site shuffles its decks is to understand what the word random actually means. The actual definition of random is very simple:
Random = impossible to be predicted.Read Full Post
