Serious On-Line Poker

Long time readers know that I like poker. It's not something I'm exceptionally good at, but I enjoy it and play with friends regularly. I used to play on-line also, but have given that up.

The problem with on-line poker is that I haven't found what I want: everything I have tried is unsatisfactory in some way. I think a site that meets my desires is possible, but I haven't found it yet.

Free Sites

There are a lot of these - you see them advertised whenever poker tournaments are on TV. They cost nothing, and you don't have to worry about running out of chips: you just refill anytime you need to. And that's the problem: because its like playing for chips where you can just grab another handful whenever you want, too many players just don't take it seriously. It's not much fun to play with those people.

Real sites

Real poker sites definitely attract more serious players, but may be illegal in many places (are currently illegal in the U.S.) and therefore it can be difficult to transfer money in or out of the site. Beyond that, because there is money involved, these sites also attract cheaters. Just like in the real world, the site operators work hard to prevent that, but on-line cheating is easier to do and harder to catch than in the real world. Finally, there is the matter of skill: if you are a mediocre player as I am, real money sites can get very expensive.

Skill Sites

I wrote about one of these some time ago. You pay a monthly fee and compete for prizes. The serious factor is present because of the fee and the prizes, but for the same reasons cheaters are also present, and of course there is the cost - it's not a lot, but it is an expense. Because of that, it can be hard to find other players: not enough members sign up, and sometimes you have to wait quite a while for enough people to fill a table. I like this option the best, but I think it's possible to do better.

What about this?

Here's my idea: a free site, but where you cannot refill chips at will. I don't know what the magic number would be to have a large pool of players while keeping it serious, but I would think a few days between refills might do it.

That could attract serious players but discourage the drunks and other "all-in all the time" players. I don't know of any site that works this way (if you do, please let me know).

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