As you may know, Smart-Thinker has recently launched a new web-app called PokerDIY, so I thought I’d share my vision for pokerDIY with you…
I’ve noticed a lot of poker sites out there that cater for online players, but not that many (if any) that cater for the HOME player. This is the fundamental difference; you do not play poker on PokerDIY, you use the online software to help organize and manage your home games. This does mean that you will at some point be playing with real people (those funny, two-legged creatures you see outside your front door occasionally).
I enjoy the odd spot of online poker, but for me personally most of the fun is in the live games against humans I can see and interact with. There’s nothing more sociable than a good poker night with your mates with pizza and a spot of beer thrown in for good measure. There are also the more serious face-to-face tournaments which can be fun (and lucrative if you any good).
I play in 2 different home games a month – once at Tamlyn’s house (The Canada Water London League), and one at Craigo’s house. Before PokerDIY existed, it was always the same thing – the game organizer would send out a mass email to all league players (10-20 of us) informing us of a few dates when a game was intended to be held. This would result in a flurry of “Reply to Alls” mails (despite strict instructions) and finally a date would be agreed upon and the first 6 players would be down to play. Leading up to the game, the event host often fielded the same questions over and over again – “what should I bring?”, “who else is playing”, “what’s the format of the tournament, and where is it?”, “how do I play THNL?” etc.
After the game the host would compile the scores and email them out to everyone (after working out the new standings – a very complicated process prone to errors). This list would then sit in each players email box until viewed. New players who wanted to join would a) have no idea that we were playing a league, and then b) have no way of contacting or searching for the relevant person to speak to.
PokerDIY solves all of these problems by offering a central location to meet, discuss and share home poker information. You can start a League or join an existing one, or just use the Event functionality to create a game or tournament (it does not have to belong to a League – a League is merely a series of games where the score can be tracked over time).
There is also a LOT of cool functionality planned for PokerDIY (and it will always be free) – I plan on enhancing the event software to allow you to export events to Google Calendar, Outlook and other online calendars to suit you. The League functionality will have different ways of scoring (e.g. positional or monetary-based). You can also request new software features here.
And one day, I plan to translate it into multiple languages – think Chinese….
How you can help - SPREAD THE WORD! Everyone knows someone who likes poker – introduce them to PokerDIY and ask them to sign up and use it to manage their games. It’s only going to get better and it’s completely free… (plus you’ll be doing me a favor, for all those years I have slaved over a hot stove for you). If you are a home poker player, please introduce yourself on the Forums and start networking with other homer poker players!
Keep an eye out for the PokerDIY Video ad coming to a mailbox near you soon!
Some interesting links:
Simon sent me a great link here about how people are bastardizing MySpace to achieve a similar result. This is a shame (and I consider it using the wrong tools for the job) – MySpace is a Jack of all trades but master of none. PokerDIY is better because there are not 100 million other idiots with no interest in poker – you are dealing with like-minded people who want to exchange home poker tips
Here is an interesting thread of when a home game can go wrong! Of course, at pokerDIY.com we do NOT condone any illegal activity, and we encourage you to check the rules of your country or state regarding gambling before setting up or organising your own home game