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Maryann Guberman has been a writer and editor with many gaming publications, including Sports Form, Card Player, Poker World, Player's Panorama and Systems and Methods. She also has written and edited numerous books on gambling.

Feb 02, 2008

The Price of Poker Just Went Down

Since our friends and Godparents in Washington screwed up and convinced many citizens of the U.S. that we could get busted for playing poker online, a good number of folks were left without their daily fix of sit-n-go tournaments and nickel-and-dime poker games. It wasn't so much that these poker junkies were law-abiding, Leach-and-Goodlatte-fearing, anti-gambling individuals that made them drop the online companies from their bookmarks and unload related software to erase any trace of gambling from their hard drives.

No, it wasn't.

These folks stopped playing online poker because they couldn't get money to their favorite cardroom. The financial institutions and money transfer companies put the brakes on that. Not only were people unable to use MasterCard, Visa, American Express or Discover to finance their play, but also, they were nearly stiffed by outfits like Neteller when those companies caved to some strong-armed tactics of someone. In very short order, Americans between Canada and Mexico plus two other states not able to use other online wallets without exorbitant fees attached.

Too, many folks were in awe of the big corporation that presents and profits hugely from the World Series of Poker when that particular company made all players put electrical tape on anything that had a dot and a com attached to its name.

This, however, is not an anti-government or even an anti-corporation tirade. I'm still convinced I'm more fortunate than most of the world population because I live in the U.S.

This is just an introduction to something other than money poker.

Most fans of the game know that the dot coms figured out a way to get people to their sites. They simply bought and used the dot net appendage to offer free poker games. But these didn't fulfill the need for real poker action because (and I tried many of them) the players didn't take the free games seriously. Instead of becoming a training ground, the games turned into a free-for-wildness, and probably fulfill the original purposeÑto draw the free crowd to the money side of the business.

No, this isn't about sites that provide free poker as an enticement to click on their money poker affiliates.

This is about a site first called to my attention by Susie Isaacs, who no doubt gets some kind of reward for notifying her blog readers about it. (Good for her!) It's got this odd name -- Ujogo -- and there's some kind of bullet between the U and the J (www.ujogo.com) in the logo.

Ujogo is totally free, with ring games, sit-n-goes and tournaments where you earn cyber dollars which you can use to purchase items such as gift certificates and card toppers. The site appears to be supported at present by google-type ads but if my senses are on target, it will eventually get real advertisers begging for banners.

Why do I like this site?

I have two reasons.

The players are serious. With few exceptions, they play as if they are in real money games. Yes, there are a couple I've encountered who want to amass chips by bullying their opponents, but smart people get up and go to other tables or play around them. And yes, a few of them want to use the chat bar to play testosterone games but we get that in the real world anyway so it should be easy to deal with.

Second, the site has caught the attention of the real world (as opposed to cyber world). For example, this month (starting Feb. 4), Ujogo begins qualifying tournaments for an event that's boasting a first prize of free entry into a big-money tournament at the Bicycle Casino in Southern California -- and reimbursement of travel expenses once you get there. (That's up to $500 with contingencies).

Ujogo could be the wave of the future in that places like these Ñ ones that can offer prizes of some value -- could catch on with players who wouldn't be caught in disguise in a free site. But even if the pros and semi-pros don't show up, it doesn't matter because you can still get good game if that's all you want.

I don't get anything for touting Ujogo. In fact, if there's another, similar site out there, I'd be just as likely to include it here, after testing of course. I just think it's a good place for folks who enjoy a friendly game of poker to play. I've been there, played, and will go back to play again because it keeps me sharp and because the desert does get cold at night.

I'm a weather wimp and sitting in a nice warm home is much more favorable than wearing a coat to visit a local casino. And this doesn't cost money even when I lose!