Blockchain-Based Poker – How Is It Changing the Game?
3 minutes
Posted by: Ivan
The idea of using Bitcoin and other blockchain cryptocurrencies to run gaming platforms is revolutionizing how we think about this kind of digital online activity. In the wake of the pandemic, people are doing more things remotely, and blockchain-based gaming and other transactions dovetail with this in a big way.
One thing that is always changing in today’s modern world is technology, and the gaming industry has traditionally been quick to pick up on new trends. Here are some of the ways that BTC and other coins are revolutionizing how we play online poker, slots, and more in the era of decentralized finance.
Security of Funds
One of the biggest ways that blockchain-based gaming changes how we approach gambling and gaming tables is by innovating how transactions are managed.
People have different names for this in the fintech community. One way to refer to it is “consensus-based verification” with decentralized finance. Or, you can talk about permissionless transactions and a frictionless transaction process.
The key here is that people can get into digital interactions without traditional verification and custodial finance management processes!
For example, the Virtue Poker platform offers unique security for player funds. Backed by the Malta Gaming Authority and designed according to DeFi principles, Virtue Poker is the only current noncustodial fund management system of its kind and is being applied to quite a few cryptocurrency gaming activities.
With its noncustodial sidechain build, Virtue Poker represents a blockchain escrow system where players don't have to give over control of their funds to an outside third party. Instead, the value gets entered into an Ethereum smart contract system and credited to the player for the purposes of gaming on the platform.
Portability and Anonymity
Basically, with today's digital wallets, players can add value to many different online systems with a simple click of a button. They'll know that their funds are not going to disappear or be held hostage by some vendor.
At the same time, another big selling point of blockchain digital assets, in general, is that they are not subject to the kinds of changes that fiat currencies go through when things change with a nation's central bank.
So although the dollar may respond to activity from the Federal Reserve, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies respond only to their own markets, not tethered to traditional market activity.
All of that means that players can take an independent store of value and use it to trade, invest for profit, or use it in a cryptocurrency casino context. These are some of the most important advantages crypto wallets have over traditional poker payment methods.
Play-to-Earn and New Gaming Models
There are all sorts of neat, attractive gaming options being created by engineers on these cryptocurrency casino platforms.
Some of them revolve around the play-to-earn concept – the idea that a player should keep accruing value as they play.
You'll see, for example, certain special offers being given to entice players to the table, but unlike some of the tricks of the trade that traditional casinos used, these are actually legitimate financial offers with their own value!
Provably Fair Gaming
You can’t really talk about how blockchain has changed the game without going into what's called provably fair gaming or PFG.
Without this kind of algorithmic system, players wouldn't have confidence that the cards were being turned without bias or that the roulette wheel, as it digitally spins toward one of the virtual pockets, is being spun fairly.
We know that computers can generate random numbers and results, but without looking at the source code, we don't know if they truly are. That's where the PFG algorithm comes in.
For instance, the FortuneJack Bitcoin casino uses a PFG algorithm to reassure players that everything that's going on is above board.
Slots, roulette, blackjack – any traditional casino game can be made into a digital online gaming experience. The same goes for different poker variations, including everyone's favorite Texas Hold'em.
Many of the best visual games are spectacular in their graphic engineering and linked to different choices in terms of paylines, betting options, special features, and more. All of this is to say that blockchain-based gaming doesn’t require players to give up on any part of the experience they’re used to with traditional online casinos.
This is just a small part of the changing landscape that crypto has brought to online gaming. Innovators are always coming up with more: more functionality, more freedom, and new ways to make these types of games attractive to a larger audience.
Check it out yourself, and you’ll see just how easy it is to get started. Whatever your game may be – poker, slots, roulette, blackjack, or one of many other table games like 3 Card Poker, blockchain casinos have it all.
