Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Online Poker for Linux?

Posted by Cliff on from the texas-hold-'em-anyone dept.

Burianski11 wonders: "For a while now, I have been playing online poker at sites such as Poker Stars and Party Poker. In the past, this hasn't bothered me much, since I was primarily a Windows user. However, now that I am trying to make the switch to Linux I am realizing that this is one thing that will be sorely missed (and may cause me to keep a Windows box around). Do any of you know of any online gambling sites that support Linux?"

4 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Secure Poker? by Tolchz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Suppose you do use the encryption and play against 3 other players. Now suppose all three of them are playing from the same bankroll and against you.

    They already know what 15 of the cards are. A few instant messages and they all fold except for the one with the best hand.

    In effect you are playing against one player with three hands, they are three times more likely to win against you. It doesn't matter which one wins as they are sharing a bankroll.

  2. Re:Consider it a benefit by tc · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Just like a poker game in a brick-and-mortar casino, the casino doesn't really care whether you win or lose, so long as you play, because you're being paid by the other players not the house. The house makes money by taking a 'rake', either a percentage of every pot (usually) or a per-time charge (less common).

    My experience with online poker has been that they have always paid up when asked, and I've not noticed anything that would indicate cheating on any widespread scale. Perhaps it might be common at higher stakes, but at anything below $10/$20 I just haven't seen it.

  3. Poker is not gambling by T-Ranger · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Gambling is the wagering (or betting) of money on games of chance. The odds are rigged in the houses favor, and you have a (long term) expectation of loosing. There are relativlty good bets to make, and relativly poor bets to make, and a knowladgeable player can/will last longer then a newbie. But it is ultimatly luck, and you ultimatly loose.

    Poker (at least the kind that you mean) is game of skill. Your win/loss expectation is based on your relative skill vs the other players. If you are a skilled player you can overcome the ~2-3% the house takes from the pot.

    The house makes money regardless of who wins - they arn't playing. This could be through an ante, a rake (a % of the pot) and the requirement for 'blind bets' that force the pot to be non-zero, possibly through players 'renting' a seat. Or potentially through bar sales (but most/all places where poker is played, the bar is cheep to bring the players in)

  4. Re:Consider it a benefit by Babbster · · Score: 4, Insightful
    You're right that cheating on the part of the provider isn't a high-percentage move. Not only would it be fairly easy to figure out (one or two people or chairs constantly getting top hands), but the casual gamblers would stop showing up if they lost constantly.

    There is a kind of cheating that DOES go on, however, and that's when two or more people at a table know each other and are in communication outside the poker program. Knowing those extra cards can make it a LOT easier to fleece the rest of the table, assuming the cheaters are smart of course. Not good.