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Ask HN: Is there a reason online poker is software-only?

I could have sworn I played via a web browser in years past. Why are all of the biggest poker sites only available to be played on using installable software?

qnsi 5y ago
maybe cheating is easier on the web than on installed software?
PaulHoule 5y ago
That's one way they make you put chips in the pot.
TheOriginalAK47 5y ago
Easier to detect background system applications that could help someone cheat like solvers (PioSolver, MonkerSolver) or MTT helper applications like ICMizer?
- johnnyApplePRNG 5y ago
  This is the answer I was looking for. Never heard of a solver. Can you explain what they are used for typically? (How do you cheat at a game with so much randomness involved?) Second thought... that only means that most people can't use them. Obviously some people are as those two companies are still in business selling their wares.
  - sigmaprimus 5y ago
    They track the cards played, make assumptions on other players folded cards and provide odds of winning hands. There are also "Auto Fold" applications that alert a player only when a hand worth playing is dealt. Eg: Suited 10 J or higher.
  - TheOriginalAK47 5y ago
    So a solver more or less calculates the optimal way to play hands given a limited subset of the game tree (only a small sample of the available bet-sizes, as there are an unlimited amount given the game is no-limit) given the opponents' perceived "range" (basket of hands they could have up to this point) and performs in such a way that a player would not be exploitable (e.g. game-theory optimal). In theory this should guarantee that a player would not lose money in the long run, but that also doesn't imply that it would make the player the most money in the long run either. The very best players at the high-stakes nowadays are studying these solver outputs as an abstract theoretical framework and deciding in-game when and by how much to deviate from the solutions.
sigmaprimus 5y ago
I think the customer support requests would be far greater on browser based rooms due to different browsers and plugins. There are a few JAVA based rooms out there but again they are subject to a third party (Oracle) pushing an update that could bring their site down.

I could have sworn I played via a web browser in years past. Why are all of the biggest poker sites only available to be played on using installable software?

qnsi 5y ago

maybe cheating is easier on the web than on installed software?

PaulHoule 5y ago

That's one way they make you put chips in the pot.

TheOriginalAK47 5y ago

Easier to detect background system applications that could help someone cheat like solvers (PioSolver, MonkerSolver) or MTT helper applications like ICMizer?

johnnyApplePRNG 5y ago
This is the answer I was looking for. Never heard of a solver. Can you explain what they are used for typically? (How do you cheat at a game with so much randomness involved?) Second thought... that only means that most people can't use them. Obviously some people are as those two companies are still in business selling their wares.
- sigmaprimus 5y ago
  They track the cards played, make assumptions on other players folded cards and provide odds of winning hands. There are also "Auto Fold" applications that alert a player only when a hand worth playing is dealt. Eg: Suited 10 J or higher.
- TheOriginalAK47 5y ago
  So a solver more or less calculates the optimal way to play hands given a limited subset of the game tree (only a small sample of the available bet-sizes, as there are an unlimited amount given the game is no-limit) given the opponents' perceived "range" (basket of hands they could have up to this point) and performs in such a way that a player would not be exploitable (e.g. game-theory optimal). In theory this should guarantee that a player would not lose money in the long run, but that also doesn't imply that it would make the player the most money in the long run either. The very best players at the high-stakes nowadays are studying these solver outputs as an abstract theoretical framework and deciding in-game when and by how much to deviate from the solutions.

sigmaprimus 5y ago

I think the customer support requests would be far greater on browser based rooms due to different browsers and plugins. There are a few JAVA based rooms out there but again they are subject to a third party (Oracle) pushing an update that could bring their site down.