By Samantha Williams

“Man against the machine” was once a far fetched Asimovian ideal, this is no longer true, we have reached the age of superior technology and playing video poker online could be said to be a matter of man against the poker machine. In Asimovian ideology, this would have been a war of attrition with the machine winning virtually every time, but there is one thing some gamblers still don’t understand regarding playing real money games online for real prizes, and this is the Random Number Generator. While Asimov ideas were once a progenitor of the fictional future, many of these ideas have actually come to pass and been relegated to the past.

What the RNG does is make it fair to play at online casino games, by consistently and fairly emulating, the same conditions as would appear in a live casino, when playing the same games. A random number generator has to be certified by specific licensing and testing authorities and needs to offer measurable results regarding fairness as well as have results regularly and independently audited.

With online video poker, an RNG is a series of software algorithms, in a physical video poker game on a real casino floor, there is – or was a microchip which controls these algorithms. Algorithms are problems solving procedures, or a means to an end if you prefer. RNG’s cannot be manipulated – just like every slot game on the casino floor at the Mirage in Las Vegas; every game from Microgaming (which also designs games for the land casino), has to conform to technical standards. This is why it is so important for the US to pull their finger out of their ass and get regulation and legislation in place for online gambling in this country. The UK has it in place so there is recourse for both players and operators. If an operator is found to be wanting there are arbitration procedures in place and renegades can get their license revoked by the pre-requisite jurisdiction.

Every online gambler knows, or should know, that playing at most UK sites, with a good Gibraltar, Malta, Alderney or at a push Cyprus, licensed site; their interest will be protected, if that online casino wishes to continue operating. There are also online casino watchdogs out in full-force; ready to black list any site for even the smallest of infraction.

But back to video poker; there are various algorithms used, in the old days these were the Knuth or Fisher-Yates shuffle; today the more superior Mersenne twister is used, as this is actually more stable. In a 52 card deck, playing video poker, there are 8.065817517 x 1067 possible unique sequences and this – expressed mathematically, is what the RNG algorithms makes sure takes place. So when you play Video Poker online, this is man against machine, made fair!

By Samantha Williams

This story just stepped off the Hollywood cutting floor – perhaps even written by Quentin Tarentino, only a with lot more money, a lot less violence; and the usual fabulous supporting cast. The Michael Mizrachi story has not ended in 2010, but this starring Texas Hold em Poker player will go down in the history books this year as an unbelievable success.

Texas Hold ‘em Poker is every man’s game, it is also fast becoming every women’s game too, and 2010 has been a good year for the ladies – in particular Vanessa Selbst. In the case of Mizrachi, the whole family plays the game, which includes Michael’s three brothers; Robert, Eric, Donny, and his wife Lily. But picture this…the Hollywood scene …it is July 2010, all four brothers buy-in at $10 000 and take to the felt to play Texas Hold em Poker; it’s the WSOP Main Event – what a start to an epic journey? This has got people talking and avidly, following four poker playing brothers and one huge event.

Day one and two came and went, all four brothers were still in. Then came day three with only Eric below the mark – he yielded to 718th place on day four; took home $19,263 and also took on the role of first cheerleader for his remaining three brothers. The brothers battled it out and on day five Donny cashed in for $36,463 and 345th-place. Michael and Robert returned for day six with 205 players still in the running for this Texas Hold em poker marathon game. Michael in 30th place, true to his nick-name, ground his way into second place with Robert doubling up twice after being left with a very short stack.

At this point in the drama, it must be known that Michael Mizrachi was being called the “best poker player without a bracelet”!

Robert, who has a bracelet, joined the rest of the family on the rail, while Michael continued playing the game. Down to $1.5million his stack went; then back up to $7.5 – the Grinder was in 16th place. Day seven, day eight and his seat in the November Nine was set – $8 million up and thanks to a 10th place exit from Brandon Stevenson.

The hype was tremendous – but he took second place to Duhamel and earned a legendary place in the “best ever to play” Main Event history annals. However there was still the Players’ Championship and Player of the Year to come, and he nearly pulled off a Triple Crown. 2010 was this “Grinders” year and you might be delighted to know this story ahs a happy ending, he earned his bracelet and won the 41st Annual WSOP opening event, a one-off $50,000 Players’ Championship for the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy, which he won at the same time.

This is the stuff that dreams, legendary Hollywood movies and Texas Hold em poker are made of!!