We all love the game of poker, but for some of us it is becoming increasingly difficult to play the game legally. There has been much controversy over whether skill or chance predominates the game, but most court rulings in the U.S. have labeled it a game of chance. As a way around this skill vs. chance issue, Pinhas Romik developed a method to eliminate the chance-factor, thus bringing the game back to legal status.

This game incorporates both poker and the game of bridge. The rules of the game are just as before, but the scoring methods are that of bridge. (A mix between duplicate poker and duplicate bridge.)

Players at multiple tables are dealt the same hole cards. The flop, turn and river are the same at each table as well. To begin the game, everyone starts with the same amount of chips. The chips, however, do not represent money, but are for scoring purposes only. At the completion of each hand, the chip counts are compared between the players with identical hands. The player with more chips than their counterpart wins that round. In this way, it is not about who wins the hand at the table or who had better cards. It’s about who did best with what they had, thus taking the chance out of poker.

This is becoming a progressively popular game, but the idea is not sold to everyone just yet. To some people, poker is poker, and the thought of changing some of the rules is a betrayal to this classic game. But others have opened their mind to the modifications. “Let’s face it, we live in a world of change,” a converted player said. “You either change with the times or get left behind.” Jennifer accepts this new concept of poker “as a way to get around these stupid rules” and to exercise her right to play poker.

How do you feel about this new breed of poker?

While writing this article, I vacillated between positive and negative feelings about this poker-bridge hybrid. I think it’s a good idea, especially for those under the dominant factor rule of skill vs. chance. At least we can still play a version of poker. It’s good to know there are people out there who are coming up with ideas and plans to help those of less fortunate freedoms, such as those of us living in a “free country” like the United States. It’s a pretty good loophole in the system of these silly laws.

But this is exactly where my negative thoughts come in…these silly laws! It is pathetic that the government tells us what to do with our own money. We work for our money and then pay the government its taxes. Now they want to tell us how to spend the remaining amount. This poker hybrid idea is interesting, but it’s sad that we need to change the rules of classic poker games to permit citizens of a “free country” to enjoy a game that is simply a form of entertainment to millions or people.

By Victoria Maro

Many people log on to Absolute Poker to play the much-loved game, making it a very popular website. As recently as September, participants of the site were becoming suspicious that “superuser” accounts might exist within Absolute Poker. A “superuser” account would make it possible for a player to view the hole cards of each opponent.

As these theories were bred, poker players using this site began to complain via email and chat rooms. A patron, known as Marco, was playing poker at this site when he became skeptical during a tournament. His complaint led to more complaints, and was the origin of investigations pertaining to Absolute Poker’s security systems.

During this suspicious poker tournament, a player named Potripper had an extremely lucky and thriving game (maybe too lucky?). For twenty straight minutes of the game, Potripper never folded before the flop. This seemed odd to Marco, so he sent an email to Absolute Poker requesting an XLS file to view the hand history.

Upon viewing the file, Marco learned that it not only included the hand history of the hole cards at each tale, but also IP addresses, email addresses, and other user information of people who were observing the table. The hand history showed that at the beginning of Potripper’s game, he had folded twice in a row. Ironic enough, observer number 363 appeared and Potripper skated through the next twenty minutes of the game without ever folding once before the flop. Could observer 363 have been utilizing a “superuser” account to show Potripper everyone’s hole cards?

Absolute Poker denies any knowledge of activity from “superuser” accounts, but Kahnawake Gaming Commission stepped in to audit the site and its security systems. Observer 363 was revealed as Scott Tom, who was a member of Team Absolute Poker over a year ago. The site said, “To the best of our knowledge, information, and belief,” Mr. Tom “has not had any access to any of Absolute Poker’s systems, databases or information.” Also, Absolute Poker’s independent audit concluded it impossible to breach the security systems and view hole cards.

Could the details in this story be that of chance or scandal? The Kahnawake Gaming Commission will conduct their investigations fairly and will “act on findings and not allegations alone.”

Personally, I find the circumstances of these events suspect and doubt that mere chance is to blame. With only a portion of the facts currently known, odds are pretty good that Absolute Poker’s team member, Scott Tom appearance as an observer was more than coincidental and related to Potripper’s change in luck. If this scam would have happened in Las Vegas, both Mr. Tom and Potripper would be sharing a nice jail cell. Why shouldn’t they suffer the same consequences as land based cheaters?

What about the Kahnawake Gaming Commission? They have been virtually ineffective in regulating and monitoring their members. If they do not thoroughly investigate this situation and make their report available to the public, I would advise everyone to boycott not only Absolute Poker but all Kahnawake member gaming sites.

By Victoria Maro