Poker for Facebook gets new look in new WSOP game

Wait until real money poker legislation passes in the U.S. This is the simply the Facebook Fish eggs being laid:

From PokerNewsDaily:

Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment (HIE) has entered into an agreement with social game developer Playdom to release a new World Series of Poker (WSOP) game for Facebook, MySpace, and other networking sites. The game, which launched on Facebook earlier this week, will re-brand Playdom’s Poker Palace and serve millions of poker fans worldwide.

“We are very excited to bring the thrill and excitement of the World Series of Poker to the social gaming space with Playdom,” said WSOP Vice President Craig Abrahams. “We will immediately start to work on enhancing the game, bringing unique WSOP promotions and sweepstakes into the offering and ensuring that the battle for WSOP virtual championship bracelets can become a Facebook-friendly endeavor.”

Poker enthusiasts will be able to choose from a variety of games and formats at WSOP on Facebook including single-table play money, virtual cash games, and single-table tournaments featuring full ring and short-handed play. Unlike sites like PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and UB.com, all games on the WSOP’s Facebook site will be “play money” only, but players can win WSOP branded virtual goods and receive chances to enter contests awarding prizes that include trips to Las Vegas and seats at WSOP events.

The initial response from players about the new WSOP game has been mixed, but as Abrahams expressed, HIE and Playdom will be working together to improve the product by adding regular updates and enhancements. The game will soon have a feature that allows players to find their friends and several table upgrades will be added in the near future. In addition, a variety of other social gaming platforms will be offered to play the game globally.

“There is only one brand in poker that stands out and that is the World Series of Poker,” said Sean Phinney, Vice President of Business Development for Playdom. “We think big brands will win on social networks and we are excited to start working together to create a unique and fun social gaming experience.”

Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment and the WSOP already feature one of the most popular mobile games in the marketplace, the World Series of Poker Hold’em Legend game created by Glu Mobile. The game is among the top selling paid apps available in the iTunes Store and is also available on Android and other carrier stores.

Users can build their bankrolls and win WSOP bracelets by playing events at several real Harrah’s properties, including Caesars Palace and the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, the home of the WSOP. There is also a heads-up feature available where users can play against their friends via Bluetooth.

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PokerTableRatings uncovers yet another poker room security flaw

Say it ain't so. One of our favorites, the Cake Poker Network may in fact be vulerable to theft of hole hards and player accounts, according to PokerTableRatings.com, which has made a name for itself in the last six month exposing such flaws in poker software including the ridiculous UB.com and others.
They've got some quality poker hackers over there at PokerTableRatings. Let's all be thankful that they appear to be on our side.

From PokerNews:

According to a recent report on PokerTableRatings, a security flaw has been found on the Cake Poker Network. It is almost the same flaw as the one found on the Cereus Network, in which players' accounts and hole cards were vulnerable to theft.

The PokerTableRatings sleuths have embedded a video of them successfully stealing hole cards as they were dealt. They've been able to steal passwords and user names from multiple Cake Network skins.

There are a few differences between this security risk and the Cereus Network risk and you can read up on it at PokerTableRatings.com.

Cake Poker Cardroom Manager Lee Jones posted a response on TwoPlusTwo about the issue.

"Sure, when the issue came up in May, I asked our software management team. They told me that we were more secure than Cereus. When this all came to light a few hours ago and they got down into the actual code, it turned out they were wrong (as one of the senior managers just admitted to me)...I owe the entire Cake poker community an apology: I am very very sorry."

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We have an exclusive $22 no deposit offer currently available at U.S. friendly DaVinci's Gold Casino. They've got a mountain of games, including iSlots, so check them out.

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Poker Boom II is coming, what does it mean for me and you?

Terrific take on what 'legal' poker in the U.S. could mean and the potential and pitfalls of a second Poker Boom.
From Poker News Daily:

With Barney Frank’s Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act finally passing in the House Financial Services Committee this week, dreams of fully legal and regulated online poker have been revived in the poker community. Sure, there are some people who would prefer the status quo (and these people are mistaken, but that’s a whole other discussion), but most look at the 41-22 vote, despite the bill’s flaws, as a very positive step in the right direction. There is a long way to go in the legislative process, but if we eventually do see the United States market open up for legal online poker, what will things look like? What follows is my little brainstorm on what we might be able to expect and not expect from a potential Poker Boom II.

Fish Population

Most people expect that if the flood gates open to the U.S., millions upon millions of American fish will flood the poker waterways. We will return to the Golden Age of poker, circa 2004-2005, when it seemed like everyone was terrible at the game and profits could flow in for solid players as easily as water comes out of the tap.

I don’t really see this happening. To an extent, yes, but not as much as some like to fantasize. Naturally, if poker becomes completely legal in the U.S., there will be a significant initial injection of casual players who were afraid to play when it was “illegal.” They will also be encouraged to play since getting money to and from the sites will be easier. So, yes, games will likely become softer, at least for a while. But we won’t see pre-UIGEA fish levels. Why? Mainly because even the fish are more skilled today than they were six or seven years ago. Keep in mind that before the poker renaissance, Fixed-Limit Hold’em was much more popular than No-Limit Hold’em. Much of the poker population was new to No-Limit, so as No-Limit became the game of choice, the average skill level was fairly low. Obviously, there will be plenty of new and poor poker players in Poker Boom II, but on average, the skill level of the population will be higher than it was back in the day because of all of the educational tools we now have at our disposal.

Poker Room Competition

I have no doubt that, unless the costs are insanely prohibitive, that all of the poker rooms and networks that have stayed out of the U.S. market will jump right back in should poker become 100 percent legal. And I think we all know that the U.S.-based brick and mortar gambling firms will be the first in line for licenses. There is some question right now as to whether the big players like PokerStars and Full Tilt will be allowed to stay in the game, but my guess is that they will be major players one way or another. So, there should be a lot of competition, at least in the early going.

I predict, though (and I have no evidence to support this), that some of the smaller existing rooms/networks and, maybe even some of the bigger ones, will join up with the land-based American casino giants. It might just be a partnership, with the online poker room providing its technology and customers and the American company providing the U.S.-base of operations, “respected” name, and fast-track to a license. It could also be in the form of an American firm buying one of the online rooms as a quick way to get up and running.

In the long run, therefore, competition may narrow a bit (understanding that other new poker rooms will likely sprout up, too). And that’s not a bad thing. Competition is great. It is a catalyst for creativity, innovation, and progress, and gives customers choices. But in all honesty, I don’t know if I want too much competition in online poker, as it has the potential to split up the player base. One nice thing about online poker is that we can play on more than one site simultaneously, but with players so beholden to rakeback nowadays, it seems that more people stick to just one or two rooms so they can build up rakeback and rewards, rather than playing at whichever rooms have the best games or promos at any given time. I’d rather have a handful of large rooms competing hard against each other than scads of smaller rooms trying to eke out an existence.

Bonuses

Remember when the likes of Party Poker and the Prima (now Microgaming) rooms routinely offered sweet deposit and reload bonuses several years ago? Those easy-to-earn, high value bonuses were my ticket to a growing bankroll. I do think that when the U.S. market opens up and the poker rooms roll in, there will be a lot of big bonuses offered as they all try to fight for our funds, but the days of the half-hour, $200 bonus are over. The poker rooms wised up a while back, realizing that they could offer high dollar amount bonuses and attract customers, but make them fairly difficult to earn, especially for low stakes players. I don’t think this will change. We might see some player-friendly bonuses early on, but I don’t think they will last.

Rake

One of the biggest fears poker players have about legalized and regulated internet poker is the taxes that will be imposed on the poker rooms will be passed through to the players in the form of higher rake. I don’t believe this will happen, and if it does, it will be very minor. I admittedly don’t have any numbers in front of me to back this up, but it makes sense to me that the poker rooms will save enough money from the reduced expenses of funds processing to make up for the potentially higher costs from taxes. Right now, online poker money processing is messy; poker rooms have to constantly look for new processors to skirt U.S. regulations and these processors likely aren’t as cheap as they once were. The poker rooms would probably be more than willing to pay a gaming tax if it meant slashing payment processing costs.

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