Play Poker on Your Cell Phone

THE GAMING WIRE


I broke the champ. It was in the cards, as they say, and I cleaned up. That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.
The game: Texas hold'em. The victim: Phil Hellmuth, the youngest-ever World Series of Poker champion and all-time Series money leader with more than $3.5 million in earnings. The place: a Verizon wireless phone.
That's right. I was playing at a virtual "table" with Hellmuth and six other players during a demonstration of the new multiplayer wireless phone game from Summus (www.summus.com). Hellmuth was seated at my left, although he could just as easily been sitting in Madison, Wis., or on a corporate jet zooming across the sky.
I got the cards, a hearts flush. Hellmuth couldn't top it. The "all-in" pot was mine.
He was broke. I retired.
I know beginner's luck when I see it, especially when it falls into my lap.
To say the game is addictive is an understatement. To say it will give the world of poker another shot in the arm, comparable to what Internet poker did for the game, is a safe bet.
"This is the future of poker," Hellmuth said from behind his trademark mirror sunglasses.
"Five years ago, Internet poker was discovered and as many as 10 times as many people are playing poker online than are playing in the real world at any given time. It's amazing what's being done," he said, referring to the portability of wireless gaming.
The games are all for fun and pride. No money changes hands, except for the $2.99 monthly fee Verizon (www.verizon.com) customers pay to access the game on their mobile phones.
The game can be downloaded in about 30 seconds from the "Get it Now" area of Verizon's service.
Look for a half-dozen more wireless carriers to offer the game soon, Summus CEO Gary Ban said. And the best part is the game can be played across various wireless providers, meaning a Verizon customer can play simultaneously with players on other wireless phone systems.
It took me only a couple of minutes to figure out how to place a bet, raise or check. Folding wasn't in my vocabulary, but others at my table knew when to get out while they still had "money" in their bank.
Up to eight players can play at a table, with hundreds of tables active on the system at once. If there aren't enough live players, the system uses robot ("bot") players to fill seats at a table. Players can also choose to play solo, in which case they are pitted against a Hellmuth-inspired robot player.
Word from the inside is that a bot dubbed "Sammy" is another player to look out for. You may also see Hellmuth himself playing, with the straightforward user name "PhilHellmuth."
Can you raise me now?