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Discover: Voice Chat

Human interaction is ever so important. This has become even more clear after the international pandemic closed down for almost all social activities. For EasyPoker this ment we needed to “pivot” to host online poker nights instead of live poker games.

Spoiler: we added Voice Chat to EasyPoker. Check out how to add Voice Chat to your next digital poker game in the video.

Pivot to online focus

In order to make the switch successful we needed to make some critical changes to the app infrastructure and interface. And big changes can give big issues. Especially when users really liked our current interface because of its ease of use and simplicity.

Voice over video

We love video. It’s a great medium and I personally love YouTube (check out our channel). So we were obviously thinking about adding video chat to our platform. This would take a lot of time to programme, a lot of effort to update the UI – and be really expensive to host.

And as you might know, EasyPoker is bootstrapped – meaning we finance everything out of our own pocket. So before making the switch we really needed to make sure it was the right move. We did this by playing around on HouseParty and similar apps – and we learned a very important thing.

People hate video chat…

…Well hate might be a strong word but hear me out. Video chat was cool the first couple of times, but after some time we always ended up just leaving the phone on to record the ceiling or the top of the heads.

Not the cool “immersive” experience we were aiming for… People just seem to have had enough of zoom meetings and video chats.

Why Choose Voice Chat?

Voice chat really seems to be the big winner. We don’t need to rebuild the whole interface and get cribbled by its limitations for something that currently seems like a cool “gimmick” (and I might be wrong).

By adding voice chat our players can interact, without compromising the poker experience on the platform. EasyPoker delivers a clean live mixed audio, that will allow you to easily connect with friends through poker.

Check out the app for Android and iPhone. Or use the download buttons below.

Virtual Christmas Games

The Christmas holiday is just around the corner. Friends and family will gather and need virtual Christmas games to keep the spirit going. We have picked our favourite games to play during Christmas. Here are our top five of virtual christmas games to play at home.

Virtual Christmas Games ideas

There are certain benefits to virtual games. They are easy to access, always with you and also germ-free. Virtual games can give us new ways to play old and beloved games. We have chosen five games that do just that. Virtual Christmas games that focus on being together with friends and family – without the restrains of a physical game. The virtual games are meant to be played at the same location, but most of them, can also function as online games. It is plan A and B – all in one package.

5. Virtual christmas quiz

A good way to have fun is by making a christmas quiz. It can be about whatever you want. You can either do it by making the questions yourself or by making all your friends/ or family answer a couple of questions. For example: What is your favorite/ least favorite christmas song; How do you celebrate christmas; When did you last believe in santa.

The goal of making a quiz is to make it relevant and fun for everybody. It does not have to be long, but long enough to make it a social activity.

You can use kahoot to make a free quiz (The first 25 questions are free). It is super fun and easy to make. Everyone can join in on their phone. You can either play it at the christmas dinner or online. You can share your screen if everybody is far from each other. This way everyone can see the results and have a jolly good time – even apart.

Tip: You can even upload pictures. This is a cool way to make the quiz more personal for the player. Message your friends and family in advance, so you have time to make a great quiz.

4. Virtual charades

You can play charades in many forms, you can even do it virtual. Make a virtual chat room, so that everyone can see each other. Take turns to make the charades. You can each make up some different words/ characters that the other players have to guess. If you want to spice it up, then you do it via. Snapchat and use snapchat- filters while maintaining your charade.

You can also play draw and guess

The main point of this game, is to draw the word/ character instead. Facebook, as well as other services, have the opportunity to draw a virtual picture, so if you are not in the same room, you can still maintain the fun activity of playing draw and guess.

If you mix both virtual charades with draw and guess, you have an evening full of fun and surprises. When it comes to virtual christmas games, charades is a match made in heaven.

3. Virtual poker

Poker is a great game at gatherings with friends and family. You can easily talk while playing and feel connected with the other players. It is not always about winning, but more the feeling of playing a game with your friends. You can play virtual poker by getting the EasyPoker app. It is free and you can play it at the christmas party, but also on the way there. It facilitates poker, so you can focus on calling someones bluff.

If you want to, you can use christmas candy/ or gifted presents as ‘chips’ and play a poker tournament with a christmas theme. You could also have a present ready for the winner of the tournament. Easypoker is made for players by players, so you can easily make it your ‘own’ by introducing your own elements into the game.

If you dress as Santa or santas helper, it might even help your bluffing. Nevertheless, poker is a great way to maintain social and active while on a digital device.

2. Virtual Sing Along

Okay song birds. Your time is up. Virtual Sing Along is a great way to perform “Last Christmas” by Wham, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey or the depressingly funny “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues. You can do it virtually by someone choosing an instrumental version of a track. It is free, fun and will bring out the christmas spirit in everyone – no talent needed.

You can play it at the party or share a screen and Sing Along from home.

1. The play with presents (requires gifted presents)

The ‘play with presents’ is a fun and thrilling game that will keep you on the edge of your seat. It is the FIFA equivalent of christmas games that will ignite any christmas dinner.

The main purpose of the game is to steal as many presents as possible, before the clock runs out.

Before you begin, you will need the following:

1. An app that facilitates a virtual dice (or two depending on how many are playing).

2. 1-2 gifted presents per player. The presents do not have to be expensive. Sometimes cheap presents are more fun.

This is how you play:
The game consists of two rounds. In the first round every gifted present is placed in the middle of the table. All players are seated around the table. To get a present you need to ‘roll’ six with the dice. You can grab whatever present you want as long as it is not already taken. The dice rotates clockwise until all presents are gone. Consider introducing more ‘dices’ if you are more than 4 players. When all presents are gone, you move on to the second and final round.

In the second round a game master starts by starting a clock. They are the only ones to know for how long the round takes(estimate a time frame between 5 – 15 minutes max.). In this round you are able to steal from the other players. To steal a present for yourself, you still have to roll six. BUT if you roll one, you have to steal a present and give it to someone else. When the time runs out, you get to keep your presents. If you got any. Let the game begin and have fun with it.

Want to share your favourite ACTIVITY?

Please tell us if you have any virtual christmas games. We would be more than happy to add them to our list. The more the merrier. Write in the comments below and help keep us updated on the best virtual games to play at home.

Until then, take a game of virtual poker. It’s free, it’s fun and you can get it here.

Merry Christmas.

WANT MORE POKER CONTENT?

We’re constantly adding new blogs about all things poker. You can find them all on our blog.

If you have a suggestion for a story you would like to read, or something to add to this one, let us know in the comments below. Thank you.

Top Danish Poker Players

There is a lovely country. It is called Denmark. It is small, but it has had an historical impact of size and matter. Once the danes ruled the seas as vikings and in the year of 92, they won the European Championship in football. The danes have also proved themselves in something else. Poker. In this article we celebrate some of the four most influential danish players and the achievements.

Peter Nicolas Eastgate

Fortune favors the bold – and young. Peter was only 22 years old when he won the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion. It made him the youngest poker player to have ever won the World Series. He beat Pro Phil Hellmuth’s 19 year old record. Phil won at the age of 24.
Peter learned to play the game with his friends and had only played professional 2 years, prior to his major win. He took home an astounding amount of $9.152.415. Peter held the record one year until 21 year old Joe Cada won the very next year.

Peter used his winning as any other 22 year old would. On having a good old jolly time with his girlfriend in Las Vegas. He admits that he did not do much to promote the game following his major win. Nevertheless. His win made history and threw Phil of the mantle. A new and young generation had arrived and it started with Peter.

Jan Vang Sørensen

As a former professional football player, this guy craves to win. Jan spent his early career as a footballer in the best football league in Denmark. A knee injury ended his career. He transferred his competitive ability to poker and stands tall as the dane with most won bracelets.

Jan won The World Series of Poker with PL Omaha in 2002 and 7 Card Stud in 2005. He began playing poker in the mid 70’s, so he has a long standing history with different iterations of the game. His favourite is 7 Cards. Jan is a fighter and a true testament to hard work, ability and dedication.

When reaching the final table, Jan never relied on mathematics. He always went with playing what he could see. The stakes, the cards, the players. He had at an interview in 2007 played roughly 50 final tables. Needless to say. He knows what he is talking about. His best live earnings is at an $800,972.He seems not to have been active in poker since 2013 when he attended The No Limit Hold’em – Main Event in Copenhagen and finished 12th.

Mads Mikkelsen “Le Chiffre”

There are benefits of playing the part of the most despicable poker player in the world. Renowned danish actor took on the role of “Le Chiffre” opposite Daniel Craig’s depiction of “James Bond”. Mads Mikkelsen contributed to unfold the intensity of high stakes poker on the big screen. Sure, he might have had to break some balls (literally) getting there. There is no denying that the movie “Casino Royale” succeeded in using poker as the primary drive of the story. Each hand made it all more hard to watch.

Casino-royale_mads-mikkelsen_danish-poker-player

The movie was released in 2006 and made $606,1 million in box office earnings. Sadly, 2006 was also when the poker boom was near its end. If it had to finish on a high note, Casino Royale and Le Chiffre did it justice. Just not enough to keep the boom booming.

Mads Mikkelsen was because of the storyline coached in playing the game. He took home his newfound knowledge and used it to win money from his friends. They were not so happy. He was.

A fun fact. Mads Mikkelsen appeared in a danish mockumentary called “Pokerface”(Danish: Pokerfjæs) playing ‘himself’ in a tour de force of five friends’ failure of trying to make it big with poker in the U.S.

If you are interested and want to read about other great poker movies, please check out our blog about: Poker movies you need to watch.

Gus Hansen “The Great Dane”

He is known as “The Great Dane”, but feared as “The Madman”. Gus is furious at the poker table. His way of playing is aggressive and sometimes bonkers. Nevertheless, Gus’ fearless personality has made him a force to be reckoned with. In the slipstream of televised poker tournaments and the poker boom, Gus became a great character and ambassador for the intensity of the game. Suddenly poker players became celebrities.

Whether Gus Hansen was cherished, loved, hated or feared, he was most of all respected. His influence was widespread. In Denmark he was a national hero and equal to Denmark’s celebrities. On the international scene of poker Gus was a superstar. Everybody knew him. A great ambassador for the mainstream perception of poker and further development of the popular game.

Just like Ikaros, Gus Hansen flew too high and got burned. His aggressive style of poker came with certain downsides. Gus has ended up losing more than he could afford. Millions of dollars in loosings have temporarily ended his once winning spree. At least he has a bracelet to show for it. In 2010 he won his first and only WSOP by winning the High-Roller No-Limit Hold’em Heads up Championship at WSOP Europe in london. He ended up bringing home $451,880.

Even if he is not as he once was, he is still remembered as dane who has had the most influence in promoting poker in Denmark. A true gambler and aficionado of our beloved game of poker.

If you want to know more about Gus Hansen, then check out our Poker Player Story about Gus Hansen here.

WANT TO KICKSTART YOUR POKER CAREER?

Test your skills against your friends in a free game of private digital poker? The EasyPoker app provides both chips, cards and an unlimited amount of games – for free. It’s a digital version of a physical poker set that takes care of everything. And so all you have to do is just play your cards. Get the poker app for Android and iPhone.

WANT MORE POKER CONTENT?

We’re constantly adding new blogs about all things poker. You can find them all on our blog.

If you have a suggestion for a story you would like to read, or something to add to this one, let us know in the comments below. Thank you.

Daniel Negreanu vs Doug Polk – How the Poker Feud Started

It’s no secret that there has been a public feud between the two professional poker players Doug Polk and Daniel Negreanu. Lately the Daniel Negreanu vs Doug Polk poker feud has reached a high point, as the two players finally agreed to play heads up – something the entire poker community is going crazy over.

25.000 hands, both live and online, will determine the ultimate winner of one of the biggest feuds in poker history. But how did it all start? Settle in and let me explain it.

Daniel Negreanu vs Doug Polk – The Beginning

The year is 2014 and Daniel Negreanu a.k.a. KidPoker has cemented his place as one of the biggest stars in the history of poker. With his charismatic person and dominance at the live poker tables, Daniel Negreanu can pretty much walk on water at this point.
In August of that year, Negreanu took part in the “One Drop” event and finished second. Not a bad result, but Negreanu is criticized for a key play. No stranger to online criticism, Kid Poker pretty much ignored the comments.

But one guy, cash game pro Daniel Merrilees, went on twitter and wrote “OK fair enough – I applaud your confidence. Do you think you could jump right in now and play a starts 25/50 6max game and win?”

In his usual style of likeable cockiness, Negreanu answered ‘@danielmerrilees haven’t played in ages so would say NO. However I believe it would take two weeks of work and I would be a winner.” And so it began.

A lot of people jumped on this – including Doug Polk, perhaps the biggest star of online cash games at the time, who wrote “I respect what you have done in your career, but it’s naive to think that you can log onto PokerStarts and beat $25/$50.”

This led to a long twitter fight between the two poker giants, and the seed for feud was planted.

More Rake is Better

Negreanu’s over the top confidence and character has often landed him in discussions, but Doug Polk’s massive following on social media made this feud a perfect storm. The two went back and forth at numerous occasions after the twitter incident, but the next big episode happened in early 2016.

For a long time, Negreanu has been sponsored by PokerStarts as the poster child of their brand – always promising to represent player interests. But when the massive poker site got in trouble for rolling back benefits from some of its most loyal players, Negreanu surprised everyone by siding with PokerStars. He went on twitter and argued that the new setup of higher rake would be an overall benefit to the game since it kept pros away.

And he had a point. The world of online poker had certainly become very top-heavy and something needed to be done about it. But even though PokerStars had acted within their legal rights, the entire thing let to a massive shitstorm and Negreanu was caught in the middle, siding against the poker community. And even though he never actually said it, Negreanu’s views were condensed by the poker community to the catchy slogan of ‘More Rake is Better’.

Who is Doug Polk?

Doug Polk was born December 16, 1988 (31 years old). Polk mostly play under the alias WCGRider and specializes in Heads-up No Limit Hold’em.

Doug Polk officially retired from professional poker in September 2018 but kept running his popular YouTube channel with a poker focus.

Tap to read Doug Polk’s full poker story

Two years later, at the time of a big poker tournament in Las Vegas, the long lasting feud between Negreanu and Polk took another turn, when Doug Pol bought a huge billboard outside the event that stated ‘MoreRakeIsBetter.com’. An obvious attack on Negreanu, which caught the attention of the poker community.
Polk also showed up to numerous tournaments wearing t-shirts that said ‘More Rake is Better’ – something that clearly provoked Negreanu and didn’t help their relationship.

Head to head – Daniel Negreanu vs Doug Polk

No doubt 2020 is a crazy year – and this is also true for Daniek Negreanu. During a live stream, an online troll attacked Negreanu and made some very rude comments about his wife. Negreanu was quick and harsh in this answer, and his stream was swiftly suspended by Twitch. While one certainly understands Negreanu’s reaction, this was probably not a smart move by a guy representing numerous sponsors and the game as a whole.

Amidst all this controversy, Doug Polk saw his opportunity to once again poke the bear.
As he’d done many times before, he went on Twitter and challenged Negreanu to a heads-up. But this time, Kid Poker surprised everyone by accepting.
And so finally, the long lasting feud between two absolute giants of poker seem to be coming to a climax.

The Setup for the Heads-up Poker Game

Negreanu and Polk have agreed to play a total of 25.000 hands – with an option to quit after 12.500 hands. Stakes are $200 and $400. First 200 hands are played live, in-person. All remaining hands are played online on two tables at the same time.

All hands are streamed live either from the PokerGO studio in Las Vegas or on the GGPoker YouTube channel.

Daniel Negreanu vs Doug Polk live game

The first heads up game was played live in Las Vegas in the PokerGo studio. Here Daniel Negreanu and Doug Polk were face to face against each other. Doug Polk is registered for $9,4 million in total live earnings – placing him as the 101st highest earning player at official live games.

Doug Polk is known as the ultimate heads-up wizard in online poker games – so how will he perform against Daniel Negreanu who is notoriously known for his live games? See how it all went down in the video below.

SPOILER WARNING: The result of round 1 was a pretty significant win for Daniel Negreanu. He came out on top with +$116,500 after the forst 200 hands.

Who is Daniel Negreanu?

Negreanu is one of the most well known and successful poker players in modern time. The Canadian was born July 26, 1974 (46 years old) and is known as KidPoker. Daniel is most known for his live games performance where he has won six World Series of Poker Bracelets and two World Poker Tour titles.

Tap to read Daniel Negreanu’s poker story.

Best Friends?

After the first live heads-up event in Las Vegas most viewers and experts were shocked – and not about the tension. The big time feud just all seemed to disappear as the players were face to face. It actually seemed like they really enjoyed each other’s company like two best friends having a good time around the poker table.

via GIPHY

Some viewers have called this an embarrassment as they had expected an aggressive feud – just as we have seen online. But as Daniel Negreanu said about Doug Polk: “He (Polk) has been very tough online like, I’m gonna kill this guy and calling me names – but when you see him in person he is much softer. That’s very typical for most online trolls“. It really seems like it played out exactly as Negreanu had predicted.

Online heads-up – Who will bring home the gold?

The majority of the heads-up game will be played online. Here Doug Polk has the advantage over Daniel, as this is his speciality. First online game was played on 6th of November 2020. Here Negreanu started out great but ended with short stack as Doug Polk made a strong come-back and played well all through the game. See how it all went down following all rounds.

Round 2

SPOILER WARNING
Round 2 was pretty rough on Daniel Negreanu. Luckely for him he did have a big win from round 1. Watch the whole game below.

Hands played: 424
Overall hands: 624
Result: Polk +$218,292

Overall: Doug Polk +$101,792

Round 3

SPOILER WARNING
Round 3 played out well for the online heads-up expert Doug Polk. He continued to win and gain an even bigger lead.

Hands played: 382
Overall hands: 1006
Result: Doug +$166,239

Overall: Doug Polk +$268,031

Round 4

SPOILER WARNING
Negreanu had his first online win after an intense game with some big hands.

Hands played: 366
Overall hands: 1372
Result: Daniel Negreanu +$87,166

Overall: Doug Polk +$180,865

Round 5

SPOILER WARNING
Another big win for Daniel Negreanu. Daniel now takes the overall lead.

Hands played: 365
Overall hands: 1737
Result: Daniel Negreanu +$206,994

Overall: Negreanu +$25,916

Round 6

SPOILER WARNING
Doug Polk fired back and got back his overall lead again.

Hands played: 637
Overall hands: 2374
Result: Polk +$93,542

Overall: Doug Polk +$67,625

Round 7

SPOILER WARNING
Negreanu is back in the lead with biggest win of the feud yet.

Hands played: 591
Overall hands: 2965
Result: Daniel Negreanu +$222,832

Overall: Daniel Negreanu +$155,206

Round 8

SPOILER WARNING
Another session that ends up with Mr. Negreanu in the lead. A lot of big pots in this game.

Hands played: 457
Overall hands: 3422
Result: Daniel Negreanu +$24,156

Overall: Daniel Negreanu +$179,363

Round 9

SPOILER WARNING
Doug Polk gets back in the lead. But just barely by less than one 40k buy-in.

Hands played: 377
Overall hands: 3799
Result: Doug Polk +$205,521

Overall: Doug Polk +$26,158

Round 10

SPOILER WARNING
The longest Daniel Negreanu vs Doug Polk settion yet with over 4 hours of poker logged.

Hands played: 852
Overall hands: 4651
Result: Doug Polk +$117,624

Overall: Doug Polk +$143,996

Round 11

SPOILER WARNING
Pre-Thanksgiving session that again goes in the favor of Doug Polk.

Hands played: 386
Overall hands: 5067
Result: Doug Polk +$120,023

Overall: Doug Polk +$264,019

Round 12

SPOILER WARNING
This was a big round for Doug Polk that more than double his lead. The game had a lot of bad beats for Negreanu.

Hands played: 684
Overall hands: 5751
Result: Doug Polk +$332,178

Overall: Doug Polk +$596,197

Round 13

SPOILER WARNING
Daniel Negreanu is fighting back and ends up in plus for the day. Still a long way to go for the come back.

Hands played: 476
Overall hands: 6227
Result: Negreanu +$17,780

Overall: Doug Polk +$578,417

Round 14

SPOILER WARNING
Biggest pot yet. 180.000 dollars ending in a flush vs. Flush. Negreanu took it home.

Hands played: 600
Overall hands: 6800
Result: Daniel Negreanu +$10,000

Overall: Doug Polk +$568,417

Round 15

SPOILER WARNING
Negreanu takes another step closer to Polk by winning with a single buy in.

Hands played: 450
Overall hands: 7250
Result: Daniel Negreanu +$40,000

Overall: Doug Polk +$518,417

Final Results

Check back here to see the final results and who will be the final winner of the Daniel Negreanu vs Doug Polk feud.

Have a Poker Feud of your own?

Looking to settle a poker feud of your own?
Check out EasyPoker – the easiest way to play poker with friends (and foes).

Settle your feud using the most beautiful and user-friendly poker app ever created.

Want more poker player stories?

The world of poker has many legends with interesting stories. We’ve gathered some of the best, and are constantly adding more. You should check them out.

Like the story of poker’s biggest playboy, the nutorious Dan Bilzerian.
This modern day Hugh Hefner claims to have won more than 50M dollars playing poker – although critics doubt this story. And now he and his company Ignite risk bankruptcy.

Or maybe the story of ‘the Great Dane’, Gus Hansen, who built a fortune playing poker but ended up losing more than 20M dollars. Read the crazy story here.

Online Poker Fundraiser with EasyPoker

Looking to host an online poker fundraiser?

The current Coronavirus (COVID-19) forces the nonprofit fundraising world to think in new and digital approaches. Social distance is the new norm, and so we all need to adjust and adapt. The EasyPoker app is here to help you. Like a physical poker set, EasyPoker facilitates the game, but with no gambling and exchange of real life money or virtual currencies. You’ll have to manage that outside of the app.
This means that EasyPoker won’t take a cut of any prize money, a so-called ‘rake’ – making it ideal for nonprofit fundraising.

Setting up everything is easy, just follow these simple steps:

1) Download the free EasyPoker app

EasyPoker is free to download and play for both iPhone and Android. Players each use their own phone to play, and so everyone participating in the game will need to have the app downloaded.
Get the app here

2) Sign In

In order to play, you’ll have to create an account and sign in.
Don’t worry though, it’s fast and simple – just sign in using your preferred method. We have this to be able to display player names and show their progress.

3) Create game

Now it’s time to create your game. This is done by tapping the big button that says ‘Create Game’.
You are then taken to a ‘game lobby’, the place all players meet before you launch the game.
If you want, you can edit things like stack, poker style and reaction timer by hitting ‘table settings’ in the bottom of the screen.
Each game of EasyPoker has a unique four digit game code, shown in the bottom of your screen. Share this with everyone you want to have a seat and the table of your game (you can just tab the number and you will get all your most used options for sharing). EasyPoker facilitates games of up to 12 players per table.
If you like, you can tap on each player’s avatar to set an order for your game. This is especially useful if you’re sitting around a table.

Here is a quick video guide of how to get a game going in EasyPoker.

4) Find Game

After signing in to the app, players join your table by hitting ‘Find Game’ and entering your game’s four digit game code. This takes them directly to the game lobby.

5) Play Poker

When you’re ready, launch the game with a single tap on your screen.
The EasyPoker app takes care of everything, and all you need to do is play the cards you’re dealt. Since everything is digital, the app also removes the risk that comes with having players exchange physical cards and chips between them. Ideal for social distancing.

6) Live Stream with Zoom

EasyPoker is a digital substitute for a physical poker set, and as such, it’s ideal for live poker, with players sitting face to face. If you want, you can live stream your online poker fundraiser using a service like Zoom.

In case players aren’t in the same physical room, you can of course have them jump in the Zoom room separately.

Online Poker Fundraiser with EasyPoker

Poker is a great tool for fundraising, and COVID-19 shouldn’t stop your important work. Let the EasyPoker app facilitate your game – allowing you to focus on what you do best; creating a fantastic event and raising money for change.

And in case you need a brush up, check out this simple guide on How to Play Poker.

Featured on Rich On Tech

We’re so proud to be featured on the Rich on Tech podcast. Listen to the whole Podcast Episode on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast (or use the player below).

On the show Rich shares his experience with the app and talks about how he has been using EasyPoker for his home poker games during the pandemic.

Spoiler: The show loves the app!

EasyPoker is free

Get the app here if you want to get the EasyPoker app for your next home game as well.

The Social Dilemma

There is something wrong with social media. The new docudrama, The Social Dilemma (Netflix, 2020) shows how social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. is having a massive negative impact on human behavior. EasyPoker wants to use ethical design to challenge ‘The Social Dilemma’.

Nowadays everything is connected through the internet. We are always online and it is beginning to divide us. We have switched out human interaction for digital convenience. In the documentary, The Social Dilemma (2020), experts show how social media is designed to change human behavior. We are becoming less social, more digitally addicted and forgetting the benefit of technology.

The Social Dilemma & Digital Poker

Here are 3 ways, EasyPoker solves ‘The Social Dilemma’:

Remember, technology is a tool and so is your smartphone. EasyPoker uses your smartphone, to enhance the overall experience and convenience of poker. The technology makes it much easier to play, anywhere and anytime, without the lack of social interaction. The game needs to be played, face-to-face, with your friends and family. Sure, you can better yourself with a 1vs1 online, but the main goal is to interact in the real world.

In a time with social distancing, it is important to remember that social media is not the only way of interacting. If we use technology to our benefit, we can use it to
retain a ‘normal’ way of living. A poker night doesn’t need to involve physical chips or cards.

EasyPoker solved it with one simple tool. Your smartphone. Without
all of the downsides. It is also better to call someone’s bluff face-to-face, rather than getting tricked by an online poker shark or catfish.

Do not become addicted and gamble with your money, time or morals.

You can get addicted to anything. Smoking, drinking, gambling, social media. The list goes on. Poker’s biggest hurdle is gambling. EasyPoker simply removed the possibility in the game. This is part of our approach to ethical design. Less focus on addictive features and more focus on better user experience. We want you to play, because you like the game, not because you are addicted to it. The tech-industry holds a responsibility to become more transparent and less addictive.

EasyPoker is the product and not the player.

Bring social back

EasyPoker keeps improving. Our players contribute with new ways of making the game better. We want to continue to better ourselves and make ‘technology great again’ and bring social back into our daily digital lives. Together.

#1 Product of the Day

At EasyPoker we’re focused on one thing; creating the digital substitute to the silver case poker set.
We want to give you the experience of physical poker, with the convenience of digital poker – allowing you to fire up a game of poker with friends anytime, anywhere. As part of this mission, we recently launched the on Product Hunt.

Take EasyPoker for a Spin

WHAT IS PRODUCT HUNT?

For those of you not familiar with ‘Product Hunt’ it’s a popular website where makers of digital products can upload their work to get feedback, awareness and followers.
Wired describes it as “Tech’s new tastemaker”, and so it’s kind of a big deal – and a great window to showcase your product to the entire tech industry.
Once you launch your project on Product Hunt, the site’s users can read about it, give you feedback and, if they like what they see, upvote it.
Product Hunt has hundreds of new products uploaded every day, and the site picks out a few of these to be ‘featured’.

EasyPoker on Product Hunt

EasyPoker launched on Product Hunt on July 1st and was quickly picked as one of the sites ‘featured’ products. This was of course amazing.
The hunters really seemed to like the app, and users were quick to comment, ask questions and upvote the product. Product Hunt’s featured list is ranked by number of upvotes, and since most attention goes to the top 5 products of the day, we were happy to find ourselves among those five.

It was a great day with a lot of feedback and interaction with users and tech interested people, and by the end of the day, EasyPoker was at the top of the list and awarded the prestigious ‘#1 Product of the Day” badge to flaunt on our website etc – which we proudly do.

What does this mean for EasyPoker?

Being #1 Product of the day on Product Hunt is a great achievement of which we are really proud and honored. Previous products of the day include now big companies like Pokémon GO, Tesla, Slack, Instagram and a bunch of other cool products that we love.

If you follow us, you know that user feedback is something we take very seriously – in fact users pretty much control the priority of our pipeline and direct our focus. This is because we truly want to build this app, not only for, but with our awesome users.

The #1 Product of the day badge from Product Hunt is a stamp of approval more than anything – an acknowledgement for the entire tech world to see. We’ve already been contacted by several tech blogs and media regarding interviews, so look out for that as well.

Thank you all

We cannot thank our users enough for their continued love and support.
We really pour our heart and soul into this app – all day, everyday – working hard to optimize existing features and constantly incorporating awesome new features.
But none of this would be possible if not for the love, help and feedback from our super engaged user base. In the app stores, on social media and on Product Hunt – we see you, and we really appreciate you.

You can check out our Product Hunt campaign here – we’re of course still crazy for upvotes.

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Remote Poker App

It is time to make remote poker simple and easy. Let me introduce something we call EasyPoker Remote. It is no secret that the international pandemic have changed how people all across the world are working and spending their free time. This include how people are playing poker.

The EasyPoker app is originally designed to facilitate poker among friends sitting face to face in the same room. It’s basically a replacement for the big silver case with poker chips and playing cards.

EASYPOKER REMOTE

Replacing the need of psychical chips and cards is still the main focus of EasyPoker. However, the pandemic have shown us that users need apps like EasyPoker to play poker with friends – even when they are apart. And we’re ready to make remote poker easy for everyone.

We know it’s important to have an option to play remote poker. A lot of poker clubs and home games have been closed down by athories. Recently a poker game was shut down in Copenhagen, Denmark, and all players were fined. This is because poker is a big hazard. Sitting close for hours, exchanging chips, shuffling and dealing cards are all potential source of infection.

That’s why we seriously need to rethink how we play poker. Even when we get though the pandemic. Get the Remote Poker App for Android and for iPhone.

NEW FEATURES FOR REMOTE POKER

EasyPoker Remote is not an external app. It’s actually some new built-in features to make the remote poker experience as smooth and seemingly as the traditional EasyPoker games. We added a feature to share the game code through your favorite chat app with a single tap (video below). This includes Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, iMessage and regular texts.
We also added an optional ‘reaction time’. When playing regular poker (and EasyPoker) this is not an issue, but you can’t tell a guy to take his turn if he is doing something else remotely.

A new (literally) game changing feature we incorporated in EasyPoker is ‘Voice Chat’. This makes is possible to talk to your opponents while playing – directly from within the app. Perfect for when you’re not together.

Share game code with a single tap.
Turn on a reaction time.
Voice Chat directly within the app.

And this is just the beginning. We will be adding more features to make the remote experience even better. If you have a feature request then please reach out to us.

Remote Poker – as it should be

You don’t need to compromise the poker experience, just because your game is played remotely. According to a lot of our users, other apps that can host remote games are only compatible with PC/Mac or they are clunky and poorly designed. They have been asking for a remote experience created by EasyPoker, as we seem to catch the right user interface and experience they are looking for.

We are thrilled to hear this from our users and that’s why we have added these new features for the remote poker players all over the world.

Germ Free Home Poker Games

Running a restriction friendly poker game can be hard. As mentioned before, poker is a hazard. It’s very hard to keep your distance when you need to deal cards and bet chips all the time. In this situation you can run a germ free poker game using the EasyPoker app.

This will allow you to get as close to a real game of poker as possible – without having to deal with chips and cards. This also allows you to easily keep your distance, as you can sit 6 feet from each other without having to get up to bet, raise or collect chips. Read this guide on how to host a quarantine friendly poker game.

Bring your Poker Games outside

As you might know, being outside is a great idea when socializing as an enclosed environment with a lot of people is a source of infection. This means it might actually be a good idea to bring your poker games outside. This sounds great as summertime is upon us.

For this you and your friends can also use the EasyPoker app to facilitate your games of live poker. Germ free and no risk of cards getting blown away by the wind.

Get EasyPoker

How to Optimize your EasyPoker Experience

The EasyPoker app is still in, what we consider, a public beta.

By that we mean the app is certainly playable and awesome, but we’re still working around the clock to optimize and better the app and experience. And we are doing so with our users. Laying the tracks while driving the train, so to speak.

But if you are planning a poker night and want to use EasyPoker there are some actions you can take to avoid potential hiccups in the app.

How to create and launch a game

If you have issues while starting a game, check out this video guide on how to create and launch a game.

Before you Start

Tip #1:

Make sure everyone is on a stable network connection. Bad wifi or internet connection won’t give you a great starting point.

Tip #2:

Make sure you and your friends know how to get a game going. It’s fairly simple, but we’ve made a guide should you need it. The most important thing to remember is that we are not ‘sit and go’. Players can not join a game that has already started – they need to be present in the game lobby when the game is launched.

Tip #3:

Free players can make a game of up to 3 players, and Plus+ members can host up to 12 players. Free players can join as many Plus+ tables as they want – only the host is required to have EasyPoker+.

Tip #4:

Tell your friends to stay in the app as much as possible. While it is possible to leave the app mid game and use your phone to do outer stuff, we see that this is oftentimes the cause for issues. Try not to ‘lock’ your phone as well.

Tip #5:

If a player wants to leave the table – have them do so by force quitting the app. We’ve had user report issues when someone leaves the table by choosing ‘quit game’ from the menu, and while we investigate this we recommend you leave an ongoing table by force quitting the app.

We are of course working on a permanent fix.

If you encounter issues

If rebuy doesn’t appear automatically when a player goes bust, have that player open the in game settings and hit ‘sync table’. This should prompt the rebuy function and send a request to the host of the game.

If someone loses connection you should first have that player open the in game settings and hit ‘sync table’. If that doesn’t clear things up, try playing the current hand to the end, if possible. In most cases, things will sync when a new hand is dealt. If that still doesn’t help, or if you are not able to play the hand to the end, have the player force quit the app. When opening the app again, a pop up will appear with the chance to rejoin the table.

And if all else fails try logging out and back in.

Contact our Support

The EasyPoker support is also open around the clock, both on email and through the chat on our page.

Hope this helps, and good luck on your poker night!

Thanks,
Ulrik, COO