(Credit:
HardGaming)
If inventors of high-tech gaming tables would only apply their formidable skills in other areas, the world would surely be a better place. Recently there have been some ingenious creations to automate parlor games, whether they deal cards or shuffle mahjong tiles.
Now there's a fully digital poker table that makes the deck of cards (as well as their dealers) obsolete. The "X10 Ten Player Automated Table" can accommodate up to 10 players in the tournament staple of Texas Hold 'Em, each with his or her own 12-inch touch screen and a 27-inch LCD in the center where the flops, turns, and rivers will show as community cards alongside the chip totals. The hands are kept private, BornRich explains, because players can "peel" the corners of their cards to take a peek.
It's a much broader version of the two-person "Heads-Up Challenge" we cited a few weeks back, combined with the concept of other multiple-player systems except they're all at the same table. If you're hosting the game, however, you'd better win some monster hands because you'll need them to pay the $29,950 price.
(Credit:
Coolest-Gadgets)
Just days after the lazy host's cooler made itself known, the perfect companion for it has surfaced for indoor recreation. Actually, make that the "iDeal" companion.
That's the trite i-moniker of this robotic poker dealer found on Coolest-
Gadgets and the WPC888.com poker site, the most Crave-worthy piece of card-playing equipment we've seen since the "Tech Shuffler." Truth be told, it's not just something borne only from chronic indolence: Among strangers the iDeal would presumably assuage concerns of dealing from the bottom of the deck; and among friends, it would come in handy as motor skills around the table are compromised as the night wears on. It can be programmed to deal various card games, taking aim with infrared sensors to target bicycle reflectors placed around the table.
The only disappointment is that it apparently doesn't flip the cards over. But we suppose we could handle that taxing physical exertion in the name of good sportsmanship.
(Credit:
Shuffle Tech)
The poker boom has given rise to a variety of related gadgetry, ranging from poker-chip flash drives to wireless on-screen games. But there's a staple of the card table that's been surprisingly ignored: the automatic shuffler.
Shuffle Tech is trying to capitalize on this egregious oversight with a state-of-the-art version that promises to speed the whole process so you can lose your money as fast as possible. It has two options, one with three riffles (45 seconds) and the other with seven (90 seconds), which is certainly faster than most poker buddies are capable of, especially after several Heinekens. The shuffler also has a translucent lid in case its operator is accused of rigging the machine.
The only problem--and it's a big one--is that it costs $480, according to BornRich. Which certainly puts it out of the range of any house games we've encountered.
(Credit:
Hammacher Schlemmer)
We're all about poker here at Crave, and we could go on obnoxiously about how we've been stacking chips years before today's bandwagon jumpers knew the difference between a bluff and a blind. That's why we're none too pleased by products like the "Wireless Multi-Player Poker Game"--not only because it degrades the hallowed traditions of Texas Hold 'Em ("the game of champions"), but it's just ridiculously unnecessary.
So far as we can tell, this basically replaces a perfectly good deck of cards with six handheld controllers that wirelessly transmit images to a TV screen while keeping track of pots and winnings. In other words, it ends up making your real-life game look like online poker, even though you and your buddies are all physically there. Are we missing something here?
(Credit:
Moritz Waldemeyer)
While companies are making use of LED technology in such products as lamps and watches, it's good to see that some people are applying it to something that really counts: games.
Techie Diva reports that designer/inventor/technologist Moritz Waldemeyer has used LED lights and touchpads to transform ordinary tables into interactive game platforms that are on display at London's Rabih Hage Gallery: "The white table transforms itself into a ping-pong machine at the flick of a switch, while the roulette table (pictured) shows an illuminated map." We hope he'll turn his attention next to video poker.
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