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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?"

2 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. Secure Poker? by Sunlighter · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Actually in Applied Cryptography Bruce Schneier mentioned a way to play poker securely over the internet (so that no one can cheat). He complained that it took something like eight hours on a 486 to shuffle the cards, but Im sure it would be faster now. It seems like some enterprising Open Source programmer could implement this secure poker protocol. But I doubt that the online gambling sites have done so.

    --
    Sunlit World Scheme. Weird and different.
  2. Came up empty-handed by lambent · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I ran into this problem last fall. All the sites that i visited that claimed to have a java implementation ... well, it turns out they only works in IE, on windows. I exchanged several frustrated and progressively nasty e-mails with tech support and eventually programming represetntatives. (pacific poker, paradise poker, and empire poker)

    I tried 3 different clients with varieties of java plugins on several different platforms, browsers (ie, mozilla, netscape, konqueror, java 1.3X & 1.4x, blackdown, ms vm) ... long story short, nothing worked except java in IE on windows.

    I even tried Wine on a otherwise perfectly running fake windows setup. Did not work.

    As a result, i opened an account, got the sign-up bonus, played the requisite number of rounds, doubled my money (50$ turned into 110$) and then cashed out.

    Also, a word of advice: there are a LOT of really really really BAD poker players on these gambling sites. It's not hard to take the money and run.

    Long story short: these casino sites are not in the business to help you technically or support multiple platforms. They have also figured out that the best business plan is to take money from easy marks and then run for it.