The quality of the equipment used is arguably the most important part of ensuring that each game is run at its peak, especially when it comes to professional gambling. This is an industry that relies entirely on maintaining an image that their clientele can trust and a single instance of failure on the part of a casino can make or break them in the blink of an eye.
Even when it comes to small, personal games hosted between friends at home, people will remember a game that maintains the highest level of integrity. From the chips, to the cards, to the level of trust built between player and dealer – everything is scrutinized and everything matters.
To maintain a certain level of quality, trusted casinos will require their dealers to replace decks and dice at regular intervals, so don’t be surprised if decks are replaced every hour at the Bellagio. Not only is this to reduce the possibility of error or cheating, it also helps maintain the integrity of the game as well as the location hosting it. No one, be it player or house, wants to be involved in a game where parameters have shifted it drastically in someone else’s favour.
When put into direct comparison, online poker doesn’t have to deal with the problem of replacing equipment. With the exception of their own internal servers set to support their player base, online gambling websites rely on programs called Random Number Generators (RNG’s) that are designed to, as their name suggests, provide consistently random results. This is to better simulate how precision dice will move erratically instead of roll in a controlled motion, or how a deck of cards shuffled would end up.
One of the biggest online poker tournaments, the IPOPS V, hosted by Betfair
Because there’s no room for human error or cheating, many people have shifted over to online gaming. This, coupled with the ease of access and the convenience it brings to the players, has made many brick and mortar casinos look into partnering with online gaming providers to bridge both industries. Caesar’s Entertainment, the current sponsors of the World Series of Poker, have partnered with numerous online establishments to bring more attention to the event.
Regardless of where people choose to find a good game of poker, it’s important to always keep quality in mind. Whether it’s in terms of equipment, amenities, or features, never settle for something that’s just “okay”.