Saturday, September 27, 2008

Enter text by swiping?

This is a very interesting idea, maybe apple could implement it?

http://www.swypeinc.com/product.html

The idea is to enter words by swiping your finger over the letters on the keyboard. You type a word by running your finger over the letters in one motion, and the phone figures out the word. It seems this would be a very quick way to type, so long as the word recognition is accurate.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Poker Stars for the iPhone?

Can you play Poker Stars on an iPhone? The short answer is yes, but with some setup and a bit of effort. This is a proof of concept, using the VNC viewer to display the poker table on the phone. As you can see, I had a bit of trouble trying to change my raise amount, as the pointer didn't quite line up. The VNC buttons were in the way too, but the screen could be moved. With a little effort, it could work. This requires a computer setup and running the PS client before you can view it on the phone. Obviously, a native poker app would be best. Poker Stars, are you watching?

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Buy-in for the mininum or maximum?

You sit down at the 2-5 No-Limit table. The buy-in is $200 minimum, and $500 maximum. What should you buy in for? Does it make any difference?

For a long time I thought that buying in for the max was the best choice, as this gives you an opportunity to put the most money into a hand when you hold the nuts. It makes sense. But lets look at this from another perspective.

Hypothetical situation: let's say you are heads up, you have $200 and the other guy has $800 (or more.) You both go all-in BLIND 2 hands in a row. Who comes out ahead on average?

Here are the 3 possible outcomes:

You lose the first hand, game over. He profits $200.

You win the first hand, lose the second. Game over, he profits $200.

You win the first and second hand. You profit $600.

Even though you only win 1 of 3 situations, the amount you make is $200 more than the other guy's winnings combined.

This observation alone makes a clear choice that there is an advantage to buying in short. A good strategy (online or live play) is to buy in for the minimum, and stand up and leave as soon as you double up your bankroll. There is no sense in gambling your winnings back, just leave and buy-in short again later (live), or on another table (online.)