There are plenty of upsides to online poker. Sure, you lose the social side of the game, the smell of baize, the sounds of chips and cards being riffled. But in return, you can play in the nude, avoid the traffic on the way to your local cardroom, and you can jump from game to game and stake to stake in seconds. Above all though, online poker's great appeal is in going from six hands an hour to sixty.
So it seemed bizarre that when Stick Pool Club, the Indian gambling app, announced that they were introducing online poker they opted to include a real live dealer/host.
In their press release for the innovation, Stick Pool Club says it has "come up with this innovative format that offers a real-world gaming experience to its users. The main aim behind this is to transform the monotonous and almost machine-like gaming behavior in order to offer a more relatable real-world opportunity for an enhanced gaming experience wherein players and hosts can interact with each other as if in a real poker-club."
Roulette and blackjack are both commonly live streamed. In those games, players bet from home and the croupier or dealer spin the wheel or deal the cards. This gives online gambling a bit more atmosphere, and the choice of dealer and croupier frequently caters to the straight male gaze. If the advertising is to be believed, Stick Pool Club will also be doing plenty of catering.
