Spotlight On: Home Poker Clubs
by xx96791DEATHxx, HSM team writer & videographer
“When the next hand starts, stop talking about the last hand, whether you won or lost. Living in the past is a Jethro Tull album, not a smart poker strategy.” – Richard Roeper in The Chicago Sun-Times (2005)
Everyone who knows me knows that I love poker. I have been playing Texas Hold’em longer than the average user on PlayStation Home® has been alive. My best friend’s name on Home ends with all in. I would even go as far to say that poker is better than pizza, and you know I LOVE pizza. I mean, come on – it’s a pie.
I joined Home because there was a poker game there. However, the people who are currently glitching the space – or “chip dumping” – have made it so I am not going there with the frequency I used to during the EA Poker days.
Just the other day, I came upon two people chip dumping. One of whom was number three on the leader board (as of the time of this writing). So I followed them to every table they went to. They kept getting up and leaving the table when I tried to sit, and they kept going to a different table every time, never did they go to a table with any other persons. I watched the cards they were playing and the bets being made. Eventually they changed their play, but by then it was too late; it was way too obvious.
People like that take everything I cherish about poker and make it a mockery. I treat this game like people treat golf – with respect and dignity. I play as if my chips are real. I don’t dress up my avatar in some ridiculously funny outfit, and I don’t come to the table with a gun in my hand. As much as I love the Urban Camo avatars, I find it distracting – albeit amusing – to play against someone who looks like some shrubbery from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
welcome to the funny farm
Just as Home® has evolved through time, so has poker.
Poker today is a game that is becoming – if it’s not already – the most popular variety class of card games with a rich and interesting history. Today with the emerging technologies, poker can also refer to video poker, a single player game not unlike the slot machines in the casinos today. While the history of poker is up for much debate, speculation is that it originated from a 16th century Persian card game known as AS NAS. It was probably taught later on to French settlers in New Orleans by Persian sailors. The game was played back then like the modern five-card stud, but with twenty-five cards and five different suits.
During the time of the American Civil War, additions were added to the game. Games like stud (five card variant), draw, and straight poker were introduced. In the late 1800’s, the American addition of the wild card came into play, followed by low-ball and split pot poker. There was a time was that poker was played mostly by cheats, outlaws, and the knife makers aboard riverboats.
(Now that would be cool to have on Home. We could cruise in front of the Pier Park or Sportswalk area on a riverboat. Just a thought.)
2003 WSOP Champion
Today poker is a celebrated ‘sport’ played by worldwide professionals. The outlaw status has been replaced by the celebrity status of the poker player. Legends like Doyle Brunson, Crandell Addington and Amarillo Slim brought the game to Las Vegas where it has exploded into what we see today. When Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP event in 2003, he was the first to do so from qualifying on an online poker site.
Now the next time you hear someone bellyaching that Sony does not listen to its users, they need not look any further than Sportswalk. EA Games last year closed down shop on us on Home. The poker game at Godfather2 just wasn’t a substitute. You couldn’t keep your chips and the cards are hard to read. Red Dead Redemption’s poker game was where Olivia_Allin and I got our poker fix from. High Stakes Poker was another game I played to continue to be ontop of my game.
The mass of people from the nation of avatars petitioned, argued and fought for a new place to play poker, and Hellfire Games came to our rescue. I had a chance to be one of the first persons to test out the Hub Beta, and to poker I ran. I ran so fast that my Sodium2 Velocity racecraft could not even keep up. And this is where I met a player who called himself theaubad.
(Left to right) Pick_Fo_Six, afromaniagreen, softnsweet, theaubad
We talked for awhile and met on other occasions at the tables. He dressed as a person I would expect that came with his style of play. After some time of me unwillingly donating chips to his cause, he starts to inform me that he is in a poker club. I have never heard of this before. He goes on to inform me that he and three others have been overseeing four diffferent clubs since the era of the EA poker rooms.
Theaubad introduces me to the other leaders of the various clubhouses: Pick_Fo_Six (Poker Players 1 Clubhouse), softnsweet (Poker Players Clubhouse) and afromaniagreen (Poker Players Japan). With over 150 members and participants, they have amassed into a big presence in the poker community. It was then I remembered Pick_Fo_Six from the EA rooms.
So what is a poker club? They go on to tell me that they are more of an poker ‘ohana (family). They gather together at the poker rooms and help promote a positive image of the game, as well as help you find all the free goodies the game has to offer. They currently are not having any tournaments, as they expressed their dissatisfaction at the Brimstone table. With the current set up in the new poker rooms, they feel they would be hosting tournaments or sit-n-gos if Hellfire Games amended the structure to a tournament style of play. Theaubad informs me the clubs were created so everyone who plays poker could stay in touch and always have someone to play against. People have drifted away, he says, since the departure of the EA room — but those people are starting to find their way back.
I will take all your chips..
I find out we share several of the same concerns about the current setup. The ability to chat “under the table” is an issue they feel very strongly about. I for one love to chit chat with people while playing the game, but if we are allowed to talk at the table, it should be limited so everyone at the table can see whats being said. No private messages, no text chat, or microphones. But to ensure that can’t happen, you would have to disable all types of messaging while at a table, and I don’t see that as being practical.
People who are glitching the table and the room is another subject that came up, and we talked about how that is affecting the overall experience. I personally think it is cute when people stand up when the camera is on them and they do some emote, but it also slows down the game. As for people who glitch to gain an unfair advantage during the game, that is something I think any person with morals and ethics would not condone.
"I don't accept Republic credits.."
Everyone agrees that the poker experience on Home is not the same as it was, but that they are all happy the game is back. I have noticed the poker lobby getting more and more crowded, and more pages are on the browser. I welcome all the new people to the game, and if you find yourself needing advice on how to play, or you’re just wanting to meet people who treat the game with respect and dignity, I would highly recommend contacting any of the four leaders listed above. They are always friendly, courteous and willing to show you the ropes.
January 14th, 2012 by Susan | 16 comments
Susan is a team writer for HomeStation Magazine, co-founder of the award winning media group-AvatardProductions, a PlayStation MVP and a Home Guide. PSNID SCEA/xx96791DEATHxx-SCEE/oXx_EnIgMa_xXo. An avid PlayStation Home user, she is most often found setting land speed records at the Sodium 2 velocity racetracks, sitting at the Pier Park or playing with the R/C vehicles at Acorn Meadows Park.
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If you’re playing a poker game and you look around the table and and can’t tell who the sucker is, it’s you.
Paul Newman
Last night I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died.
Steven Wright
Ninety percent of the hands aren’t shown in a poker game.
Doyle Brunson
“I never go looking for a sucker. I look for a Champion and make a sucker of of him.” -- “Amrillo” Slim Preston
When a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with experience leaves with money and the man with money leaves with experience.
Just a few of my favorite poker quote. Very enjoyable read. Now shuffle up and deal and start sliding your stacks my way.
…thanks Olivia, but as we all know..it’s your chips that usually end up my way…
Normally Poker clubs=Poker cheats,back in the EA days these are the kinds of people that would load a table with 3or4 people and tell each other their cards(not saying this club does that but many do).As for glitchers,wasn’t EA Poker yanked because of glitching?I think it was and if glitching continues in the Hellfire room I expect it will get yanked as well,so next time you see people doing that,instead of following them around and watching them,just report them.The sooner people like that are gone the better,IMO.But it’s all the same to me as I’m not even using that Hellfire Poker room anymore now that the casino is in town.It really is better to play with/against people that don’t go all-in every hand before the Flop and so far it hasn’t happened once at the casino in my experience.The only problems with the casino’s Poker is that the Blinds increase a little fast and it only seats 6 players but other than those small details it’s a great game.
EA left HOME for reasons I cannot disclose but I was following them around to capture the video of their play. I was bored that evening. As for reporting them, IDK if what they were doing was in any listed violation. They were playing the game as they saw it I guess. The structure at the Casion does makes you be aggressive with your betting that’s for sure
It sounded,as you described it,as game-rigging which is certainly a reportable offense.
I find people find poker on Home WAY too seriously. I have had people want to keep the table completely quiet. Be all serious… with fake money… in a virtual world… seemed silly to be so serious.
Even with ALL comms blocked people could still cheat. I always use Skype to chat while on Home, its just a better system than the voicechat in Home.
The best thing to do, if you want a fair and fun game, is to find a group you like to play with and trust, because we all know… say it with me folks…
Cheaters gonna cheat.
I would die if I ended up playing a silent table. I am sure I would get scoldings as I took their chips..
Blocking all chat channels would also do little to stop multi-PS3 households from cheating as well.
Like I said in my article about cheaters on Home, that fact that anyone would feel the need to cheat in a virtual society where they really gain nothing is beyond me. And glitching in a public arena in any instance is condemned by Sony I believe, especially if it interferes with game play.
I like the new poker, but then I am not a serious player really it is just for fun and always will be. I don’t like people who go all in or bet too heavily before the flop though, I will always fold,then leave that table if it happens twice and move to another, it takes all the fun out of the game as far as I am concerned.
The new caisno is not very good either.The blinds go up way 2 fast i would say about every 2 min witch is about every hand or 2.That is called a trubo witch is mostly pure luck due to the fact the game goes so fast.The pay outs are far 2 low as well paying 500 chips 2 play a game that pays you 250 for a 2ed place win is ridiculous,making 1st place the only way to make any chips.The vip room is even worse 2.500 2 play one game when chips cost you 5$ for 5000 so if you get unlucky you will get 2 play 2 games for 5$ and im not even going to get started on the lagin and freezing i have watched many people lose there chips because tables become unplayable.
@ Thetruth8431- I completely agree with your assessment of the poker game. If I had to speculate those parameters might be in place to keep the game going and not have table squatters. I to have been a victim of the tables freezing up..
I am not sure what you mean by table squatters but an average poker game of 6-8 people should last for at lest one hour i have played many live poker games.The games on homes are lasting about 15 min at the very most.
Another BIG poker ‘club’ in the EA Poker Room days was the Poker Posse. It wasn’t really a club, though. It was an “Invite” list for open tables. I wound up being the “Keeper of the List”. As fast as one of the gang could get a second server open, I would navigate to them and start sending out the invites as fast as possible. Many times we would fill every table in the room in less that 10 minutes. I would invite every one on the 100 list, they would arrive, invite more, and soon we would have the perfect room of red and black tables loaded with serious players who all knew each other. The laughs, the jokes, the good times…..
I was hoping with the use of the private server glitch that we would be able to have some poker tourneys at the Casino…now that is patched and another way to achieve that is in the works..I would be interested in seeing that “list” happen again…sounds like a greeat idea…
I still have 42 of the original “Poker Posse” on my Keara friend list. I never gave up hope. Only the ones who drifted away from the PS3 were deleted.
hi friends. im aubad founder of poker players club. founded 2009. first rule of poker players club is no cheating. only other rule is personal conduct to be exemplitory. you asked why did ea poker close. i found a article in the vancouver sun. it was dated may 2010 i believe. the article stated virgin bought poker for dummies. poker for dummies was ea told me over the phone on several occasions the name of ea poker lounges card game. turns out it was just business. no biggie to me because ea poker was great because of easdrob!! easdrob controlled the poker lounges. you lost chips, or had any issue easdrob cared!! easdrob made us all friends. wish we had the same level of commitment today. Aubad