Delivered at Casual Connect USA 2016. Poker has come a long way. From a shady past in Old West saloons and underground clubs, to the modern era of televised tournaments and marketable celebrity pros, the public perception of poker has changed dramatically. This shift in perception has had a huge impact on the game industry, and likewise, the game industry has had a huge impact on the perception of poker.
10. StarCraft/Poker
Poker and SC are games of incomplete information
Both are games which require
⊠psychological
⊠Tactical
⊠Strategic Thinking
11. StarCraft/Poker
Multi tasking
⊠Ad hoc Strategy
⊠Changeable Tactics
Spectator sport
⊠Fun to watch (even on multiple tables)
⊠Easy to understand rules
Easy to differentiate colors/ shapes
15. Commonalities between
Starcraft & Poker Pros
âąMaking correct decisions under pressure
âąMental strength
âąAbility to create strategies and new tactics on the fly
âąTHEY ARE insane good in Multi Tasking
16.
17. Fighting games vs Poker
Fighting games are about position and space control.
⊠Poker -> Betting position
⊠Fighting game -> Fighter Position
18. Fighting games vs Poker
Multi tasking
⊠Ad hoc Strategy
⊠Changeable Tactics
Spectator sport
⊠Fun to
Easy to understand rules
Easy to differentiate colors/ shapes
âŠ.
19. Fighting games vs Poker
Multi tasking
⊠Ad hoc Strategy
⊠Changeable Tactics
Spectator sport
⊠Fun to
Easy to understand rules
Easy to differentiate colors/ shapes
âŠ.
23. Poker defined
e-sport before e-sport
Spectator sport
⊠Fun to watch (even on multiple table)
Easy to understand rules
Easy to differentiate colors/ shapes
24. Poker defined
e-sport before e-sport
Spectator sport
⊠Fun to watch (even on multiple table)
Easy to understand rules
Easy to differentiate colors/ shapes
25. Affinity effect
Poker players started to be interested in video games
Pro Video Gamers start to be interested in Poker
26. Affinity effect
Poker players started to be interested in video games
Pro Video Gamers start to be interested in Poker
Poker Stars Tournaments for Heartstone Players
Heartstone player tournaments for Poker Players
A lot of things happened in gaming
Influenced by casino game
Sample:
pokemon and the "creature catching" algorythm based on SLOTS
this changed my perspective on Pokemon. and well grabed my attention - after some digging I found
Diablo 3 (not only this there where many other RPG games)
Looking on core mechanics ->
this is a huge slot machine
Core loop: run, attack, randomize win, collect REPEAT
that again is SLOTS-that can be found at the core of a game.
what about poker?
few words how poker become mainstream
how it influenced and changed gaming industry
+some thoughts about the future of games in regards to poker
Poker Started started at early 19th century
and since then grow insanly fast
But still it was kind of a Tabu topic. playd in smokey bars by gang members. At least that is the perception.
But things started change.
I donât want to go through the whole Poker Boom periode
Just few snaps, :
Movie Rounders appears in theaters -> Poker appeard in the mass medium.
World Series of Poker transmited tournaments
Amateur Chris Moneymaker -> won entry to WSOP from Poker Stars and a lot of money
VERY UNIQUE to this tournament -> Where able to show cards in hand
That is of course just a glips of what happend
All this helped to give Birth of spectator sports -> but about this later
If someone is interested there is a higly detailed
Poker Timeline about the main events in ePoker on onlinepoker.com
Shows Ups & Downs of Poker in online world
Poker Boom ended but nether less - âŠ. ->
Apearently every body could play poker, at home,any time⊠Play it ON LINE on a computer
Not only Watch poker tournaments or wait for Friday night to play with couple of friends.
Rise of poker gave birth to Games Theory
Game Theory is the study of mathematical models and is used mainly in economics, political sciene psychology but as well computer science and poker.
AnywayâŠ
Jumping to video gamesâŠ
in the mean time gaming was rising and multiplayer games become more and more popular.
For the sake of this talk lets stick to Star Craft -> So.. what do both games have in common
Just to name a few similarities
Booth are games of incomplete information (cards on table vs Fog of war)
Both are games which require
-psychological
-Tactical
-Strategic Thinking
Going further
Multi tasking
Creating Ad hoc Strategy
Changeable Tactics
AND BOOTH are
Spectator sports,
Fun to watch (even on multiple tables)
Easy to understand rules
Easy to differentiate colors/ shapes ->
after a moment of watching you know exactly what is going on
There are way more things but bottom line is, booth games are very similar
So a comparison: One Hand could be equala to one Battle
Left poker / Right SC
Booth games are for people who are used to play them very easy to read / understand even from far away
Anyway as said every one could jump in and after short intro play Poker, SC in a moment
But what happen when you become a pro at the game
What does Professional SC and Poker player have in common
Again just to name a few
Making correct decisions under pressure
Mental strength
Ability to create strategies and new tactics on the fly
THEY ARE insane good in Multi Tasking
Lets look on same games but from a proâs point of view
Left Poker (multi tabling)
Right SC this time showing the minimap where a lot of small Battles happen (btw Iâve added the tactical arrows)
Booth situations are again readable for anyone but only dedicated player keep up with the action
Ok lets just quick jump to a different genre because similarities donât end with the strategy genre
Fighting games, lets think here about for instance Street fighter.
Anyway Randy Lew, started playing Tekken Streetfighter .. Competivly! Then won 2.6milion $ playing on poker stars (known for playing 24 tables at the same time.
Fighting games are about position and space control.
Poker as well.. Betting position is very important
Any other attribute can be repeated.
In fact, the same can be said about any card game. Or correctly designed Video game
They're always easy to learn. You can teach someone the rules in minutes.
[âŠ]
You can set up a game with a novice in less time than that.
However, mastery of the game can take lifetimes.
Like Street Fighter, poker is ruled by high tensions and mechanical exchanges â it is a contest of wits, luck and opportunism.
So what does this random things about
poker
fighting games
star craft,
cards preview shown in the 2003 World Series of poker
tell us about gaming?
Poker basically defines modern games. (at least the successful once)
Settings standards for features as well as community
So..
Basically⊠Poker defined what is today know as E-Sport
Of course there is more.
Because poker was the first game to truly glorify all of the necessary skills in e-sport.Â
Successful games share much more patterns with Poker.
Like beeing a endless /ever green
Almost all games are of incomplete information
What is more important for gamedesign?
Making games that fit basic features of a poker game/ poker tournier we see interesting things happen in our online communities
What is happening is called Affinity effect Poker players expand their horizons and become competitive in other games like SC, Heartstone, StreetfighterâŠ
Want to take on new challenges. Â
When we strip the skills of poker down to the basics itâs all about game theory, which can be applied to all games of skill. Â
Therefore poker players and e-gamers take it as a challenge to become competitive at the other games
So what is happening?
Poker tournaments for Heartstone Players and
HeartStone Tournaments for Poker player and many more events of this type will be launched.
Bringing together two different (but well the same) groupes of people.
So summing it up
In the future we will probably see more and more of this happening,
skilled gamers look for new challenges, the world of spectators look for exciting shiny new things,
game theory is always at the core.
Maybe right now is the right moment to invest in highly competetive skill games that appear to Poker user base.
Thank you