(imho) Poker is a perfect use case for Ethereum and blockchain tech in general.
It will assimilate and evangelize users that don’t (at the moment) care much about Bitcoin or Ethereum or any other blockchain asset/tech. They just want a solution to their problem.
Online poker has been plagued with issues of fraud and trust. There are plenty of examples of the developers of these online entities creating backdoors thus allowing them to see everyone’s hand and cheat the players of the game, and how would you know… you wouldn’t.
There is also the problem of collusion of players at the same table (including bots) and the delay of payouts to players to name a few.
To know why it is a perfect uses case you first have to understand how poker fits into the landscape of regulation. Poker has at times been seen to reside in a grey area… is it a game of chance or is it a game of strategy?
Legal in some jurisdiction; not legal in others.
There is precedence that has deemed that poker is considered a game of strategy, but it still sometimes get lumped in there with games of chance and just adds to the ambiguity.
Enter smart contracts, P2P messaging, cryptographic security, decentralized storage and web3 apps or blockchain tech.
All these technologies now allow for the first time a path to a decentralized poker experience for anyone, anywhere without the need to trust each other or a centralized third party entity. Add to that an automated speedy payout compared to what is available now and you have a ENORMOUS leap forward for online poker players.
Anyone will be able to download the client and start or join a game.
Because of cryptocurrencies, we now have a way to transfer value to and from anyone, rendering the need for banks or an online entity to hold your funds… and because of blockchain tech we also now have the mechanisms to build a truly decentralized and provably fair online poker experience. All necessary for the first actual decentralized poker application: POKEREUM
inform yourself at these links:
