Next-gen poker room PKR.com makes online poker chip tricks a
reality
Until now, chip tricks had been the preserve of poker pro's
playing in land-based casinos. But thanks to PKR, the next-generation 3D poker
room, chip tricks will be available to all online poker
players.
When you take a seat at a poker table, there's nothing more
intimidating than a grizzled looking gambling veteran staring
you down through mirrored shades while doing weird and wonderful
things with the poker chips in front of him. It says - no make
that shouts - "don't mess with me".
If you're in any doubt as to the role chip tricks play in
developing table image, just watch any episode of the World
Poker Tour or World Series of Poker, where you'll see every
player constantly play with their chips, regardless of whether
they're a poker pro or internet qualifier.
And as in so many walks of life, what people see on TV they
replicate in real life. Play in any home game or at any casino
these days and you can't help but notice players riffling,
rolling and flipping their chips during and between hands.
Making poker chip tricks work online
"Every poker player, regardless of experience, loves chip
tricks" says Leon Walters, Chief Operating Officer of PKR.com.
Walters goes on to explain that "PKR's key challenge was to get
these tricks into the game so that the animation works within a
three-dimensional environment".
And how they work. Players at PKR will be able to perform a
wide-range of chip tricks including chip shuffling, knuckle
rolls, chip spreads and chip balances. What's more, PKR's team
of artists and animators are working on new chip trick additions
so that the range of poker chip tricks offered are
ever-expanding. As Walter's says, "If you can do it in real
life, you'll be able to do it in the game."
Making the poker chip tricks relevant to the game
"One thing we didn't want to do was just include poker chip
tricks in the game for the sake of it" continues Walters. "So we
tried to replicate the role that poker chip tricks play in real
life and import it into our virtual environment."
PKR's innovative solution has been to apply a loyalty point
value to chip tricks, with complex tricks carrying a greater
loyalty point tariff than simpler ones. As Walter's explains,
"Just in real life, the more you play poker the more chip tricks
you can perform. By having to 'learn' how to perform chip
tricks, we've managed to combine the fun of performing them with
the serious idea of why players value them."