If you're an online poker player, you may start having to practice your "poker face". A new breed of poker tables use web cams and video streaming to bring players literally into your homes.
The idea of using web cams for online poker isn't a new one - Doyle Brunson discussed the idea in his book "Super System", but for the first time this idea has become a reality at 888poker.com.Using PokerCam, players aliases are joined by a video stream from their web cam. But this raises a number of questions - do you have to have a web cam to play? And what happens if your web cam is disconnected mid way through a game, either accidentally or intentionally?
We asked 888poker these questions and here are the (paraphrased) answers we got:
Q. Do you have to have a web cam to play on a PokerCam table?
A. Yes.
Q. What happens if a players webcam is disconnected mid-hand?
A. The player is allowed to finish the hand, but cannot start a new hand until their web cam is turned back on.
This raises the small possibility of a player shutting down their web cam mid-hand to avoid showing any tells. However the act of shutting off their webcam may be more telling than the physical tells that they are trying to avoid showing.
It's still early days for the technology so it will be interesting to see the players reaction, although my suspicions are that PokerCam tables will be used more by groups of friends who want the social interaction with each other rather than 'regular' groups of players who don't know each other.
Currently PokerCam tables are only available at 888poker.com and new players can get a £5 / $8 no deposit bonus to try it out.
