Collusion, bots among issues that need resolution before online poker legalization
May 10, 2011
Despite
indictments handed down by the U.S. Department of Justice against leading
online poker providers, a growing number of gaming executives continue to push
for federal recognition and regulation of the lucrative trade. Before this can
happen however, the online poker industry needs to embrace advanced technologies
that ensure the integrity of the games, said James Maida, president and CEO of
Gaming Laboratories International (GLI), to an audience at the Southern Gaming
Summit, which took place last week at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum and
Convention Center in Biloxi, Miss.
Like
many speakers at the conference, Maida believes it is only a matter of time before
certain forms of online wagering are approved and regulated at either the state
or federal level. But legalization of online poker doesn’t necessarily mean play
can begin right away, he cautioned. In order to obtain licenses, Maida believes
poker providers will need to augment the integrity of their offerings in a
numbers of areas, using technology to detect unfair in-game practices such as
collusion and the use of automated computer assisted play.
“Since
you have to login to play and all game action is tracked, online poker systems
can easily detect and control problem and underage gambling,” Maida said. “But
geo-location technology has yet to be perfected, which could cause issues. And
the industry will have figure out ways to stop player collusion and detect the
use of bots.”
Collusion
can happen when a group of online poker players are in the same room together
and can look at each other’s cards, giving them an unfair advantage over other
players in the game. Bots are essentially automated computers that simulate
human game play, tricking people into believing they’re playing against fellow
human beings instead of a computer.
Maida
added that testing online poker systems may be difficult and time-consuming
since the various components of the system may be scattered around the world. “This
will not be like approving a new slot machine for the floor. Pieces for the
same online systems can reside in the U.S., Europe, the Caribbean… finding and
testing them all will take some time.”
The Southern Gaming Summit is an annual trade
show and conference that takes place each May in Biloxi and is presented by the
Mississippi Casino Operators Association and BNP Media, the parent company of Casino Journal. This year’s event had
over 100 exhibitors and attracted 3,000 attendees. For more information on the
event, visit www.sgsummit.com.
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