PokerWorks

Online poker sites have always used random number generators (RNGs) to guarantee the randomness of the cards dealt in any tournament or ring game. The computer-generated systems meet certain licensing requirements and ensure that players cannot detect any patterns as the cards fall. But one website - RealDealPoker.com - looks to change that by using replicas of actual decks of playing cards.

It was announced on December 2 that Red Planet Gaming and Gioia International Limited entered into an agreement in which the latter will acquire software for RealDealPoker.com that will allow it to use a shuffled deck. The design of the software is one that will give the players a feeling of being in a casino or home game by offering a cut function and burn cards. The Cut N’ Shuffle will automatically take a replica of a deck of cards, scramble and shuffle it, and then deal to the players as in a live game. Gioia has also designed a system called Game Check to enable players to audit the results.

It was through an independent research company that Gioia discovered the public interest in using decks of cards versus the traditional RNGs, and after four years of development, the launch is only months away and scheduled for February 2010, though RealDealPoker.com is already allowing players to sign up and create their player profiles.

Gioia founder and CEO Gene Gioia said, “This is a unique moment in the company’s history. In addition to assembling a first rate management team, we have found in Red Planet Gaming Inc a partner who shares our passion for bringing a truly fair game of poker to players around the world and changing the face of poker online as we know it today.”