2015 TDA Summit Sponsor: IFP, International Federation of Poker and Match Poker

[MikeB]

The 2015 Poker TDA Summit is made possible in part due to the generosity of the International Federation of Poker (IFP).

One major focus of the IFP is in gaining recognition of poker as a truly skillful "mindsport", much the same as chess. The organization has grown from 7 initial national federations to over 50 today.

The IFP has developed technology to support a new version of poker known as Match Poker (MP). Match Poker adds an entirely new dimension to the measurement of player skill. This is accomplished by pitting the player in Seat 1, Table 1 not only against the other 7 players at Table 1, but also against all other players in Seat 1 at all other tables. To test players' skill, the same hands are dealt to all tables, so Seat 1 at all tables receives the same downcards, Seat 2 at all tables receives the same downcards, etc. In this way, MP reduces the effect of a "bad or good run of cards" and focuses instead on what players do with the cards they are dealt. For example, if Seat 1 receives a relatively weak series of downcards while Seat 5 has a very strong series, accomplishing a minor positive end result on Seat 1 may in fact require the same or higher skill level than a larger positive end result at Seat 5.

Match Poker can be played in both individual and group format and may be conducted as an event within a conventional tournament or in an MP-only tournament. The group format option makes it possible for national teams to compete much the same as in other international sporting events.

The IFP will be unveiling it's latest technology at the 2015 TDA Summit, including a live demonstration of a Match Poker event.

For more information about the IFP, visit: http://www.pokerfed.org       For an overview of Match Poker visit: http://pokerfed.org/match-poker/

[Brian Vickers]

So... bridge?

[MikeB]

Brian: it has been described as the "contract bridge" of poker.

[Brian Vickers]

Brian: it has been described as the "contract bridge" of poker.

Sounds about right.

I am close to 100% sure I've seen a tournament do this many years ago, or maybe it was planned but didn't end up running.  It was either at the Hard Rock in Tulsa or I read about it online.

[Thehux]

Hi Everyone,

Essentially yes it is played exactly as in Contract Bridge.

The major development that has helped bring this variation to life is the use of technology.

You would be right in thinking that running an event such as this with pre-shuffled decks (100's of them) would be simply too labor intensive.

For those in attendance, you will be able to see how technology over the last few years has helped bring this variation into a new light.

I am excited to show you all, and look forward to helping the team at the IFP to demonstrate it in real life.

[Thehux]

Firstly I would like to take this opportunity to thank the TDA and members for giving us the opportunity to showcase our latest Match Poker offering at yesterday's summit.

Secondly, congratulations to the winning team and individual players, I hope that following on from this demonstration, we can expand the discussion on how we can continue to revise all elements of Match Poker so that we can one day arrive at a unified and standardised set of scoring metrics.

We welcome everyone attending today's summit to come by and see the team of Joe, Varun or myself to trial some further Match Poker all day today, or if you would like to discuss any aspect of the demonstration or the structure and format of Match Poker please come by and see us.

Regards

HUX

[Brian Vickers]

Hux,
Many of us were very intrigued by the concept you showed us. 
Some feedback I heard from the room:

On the software, there was no "bet" button, only a "raise." When not facing a bet, pressing "raise" to make an initial bet was a little confusing. If you want to make it just one button maybe rename it Bet/Raise? or better yet just make it change based on the action you are facing.

It still feels exploitable if you have a friend stall on an earlier hand while you write down everyone's shown hands on all future hands and give him this info.  Maybe if no one could go to hand 2 until all were done with hand 1 it would alleviate this a bit, but a person stalling could still get results prior to action being done if his buddy finished the hand first.  This was the concern and I don't know that we found a direct answer in the pamphlet.