Duplicate Poker – Hope For Poker Enthusiasts?

It seems that though the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 has been in place for some time now, the hoopla surrounding it has not died down yet. This is not surprising as poker remains one of the most popular online games. A sharp increase in the number of players in online poker rooms such as Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars attest to this fact. Admirably, these online poker rooms continue to conduct business despite the ban. Of course, that is not to say that they are surely not defying the law. We have yet to wait and see what happens.

Anyhow, remember the post where we quoted some well known people in the world of poker and gambling in general? One comment was to the effect that there will always be people who would find ways around the ban if it does stay in place for a considerable amount of time. Well the year is not quite over yet and ex-Detective Randy Peterson has already made moves towards that direction.

His idea, branded Duplicate Poker, is not really new. In fact, he has been trying to get Duplicate Poker into the mainstream market even before the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act started to create noise. Yet despite his efforts, he had some problems getting people and companies to see things the way he does. It wasn’t until last month that he finally got the attention that he has been seeking for.

One of the premises behind the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act is that games that are based on luck are to be banned. Duplicate Poker goes around this limitation by asserting that the game is not a game of chance but basically a game of skill. Hmm…some people have made that argument for regular poker and yet no one can deny the fact that there is still a degree of chance as the cards are drawn randomly. According to Peterson, his patented and protected game does not really change the basic ideas and rules of poker. Instead, it changes the way the game is judged. I wonder exactly what he means by that, though.

He goes on to say that by no means does he intend for Duplicate Poker to replace the traditional game that countless people have come to love. His idea is that Duplicate Poker would be considered a methodology for tournaments. With this method, he aims to present Duplicate Poker as a legitimate online game that epitomizes the skill of the player more than anything else.

It sounds good to me but I really still don’t get how he would do – or has done – that, though. In any case, this is good news to all the poker players affected by the online ban. If Peterson finds an established partner to market his version of poker, then I am sure he would find a lot of takers. At present, both land based and online gaming corporations are expressing their interest in Duplicate Poker. I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear more about this game soon.

Update: I guess that the “hope for poker enthusiasts” was shortlived as Duplicate Poker, after a brief burst of media attention at the start, has now closed its doors due to “the current financial climate”. Oh well.