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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?"

15 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. Consider it a benefit by Godeke · · Score: 4, Funny

    I would think the lack of online gambling is a good thing: It used to be people could destroy their savings once a quarter on Vegas trips but now they can dump money down the drain at will thanks to the Internet gambling. I personally wouldn't trust these sites (which are not regulated like Vegas casio's are: not that I trust *them* that much) one bit. Online casino losing money today? Guess it's time to stop dealing aces to the players...

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    Sig under construction since 1998.
    1. 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.

    2. 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.

  2. semi-ontopic question: by EvanTaylor · · Score: 2, Interesting

    How about cross platform easy to setup poker game (with many rule types) for OS X, Windows, and Linux. My old game group and I used to play on game spy, but we went our separate OS paths and some didn't like gamespy in general.

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    Sleep is for the weak.
  3. My poker losses... by Stigmata669 · · Score: 4, Funny

    made me switch to a free os.

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    Yawn.
  4. 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.

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    Sunlit World Scheme. Weird and different.
    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.

  5. Or a more helpful answer... by smallfries · · Score: 4, Informative

    would be to tell him to take a look at http://www.pokerroom.com which does exactly what he wants and is mozilla friendly.

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    1. Re:Or a more helpful answer... by Oinos · · Score: 3, Informative

      I'll second the recommendation for pokerroom.com. I play Texas Hold 'Em twice a week (the free version, I'm not that good) there. I use Mozilla on my Linux machine and have had no problems.

  6. Re:No. by phlegm · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually it'a YES. Pokerroom.com works great. Uses java and is pretty much the same as partypoker.
    Never had any problems with it.

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    tabooki.com
  7. 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.

  8. Paradise Poker worked ok under Wine by scrubjay · · Score: 4, Informative

    paradise poker
    Debian unstable system ... have played for fake money a few times ... seemed to work fine ... jake

  9. Linux: saving you more money! by BeatdownGeek · · Score: 2, Funny

    That's a perfect ad campaign for Linux!

    "Not only is Linux free, but it will help you kick your gambling habit as well."

    Ingenious!

  10. Rampant cheating? by BTWR · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I was wondering why there aren't more compliants as such...

    You're in a 6-person room and you are actually playing against 5 people in the same dorm/friends chatting over IM about what they have.

    seems like "too easy" a scam to make a quick (minumum) $50 between the 5 of them. At best they make some serious $$$, at worst they get themselves $20 or so to buy they pizzas for the night...

  11. 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)