Could The Metaverse Fundamentally Change Online Poker Gaming?

If you have played poker at any site such as Bet365 Poker, then you will no doubt be aware that the way these games are run tend not to be too different from one site to the other.

Of course, each site will have its own table design, its own cards, its own logos displayed on the screen, but the actual mechanics of the game and how it is presented is pretty much uniform across sites.

That being a view of the table top down, with your opponents cards shown face down, and your own cards displayed next to your name, with the community cards shown in the middle of the table.

Ever since the advent of the Internet and the Poker Boom of the 2000s, this has been the way poker is presented online, either on computers, or via mobile devices and it seemed, that is how poker would always be played.

But is that actually the case?

With the new Metaverse on the horizon, or Internet V2.0 if you prefer, what will these major changes to how we use, access, interact and indeed present ourselves online in this new digital universe mean for games like online poker?

It is well worth thinking about because just as the development of the Internet and online gaming saw a massive change in how people played poker as well as increasing its popularity, there is every reason to think that once the Metaverse starts to become the norm, that it too could alter the future of online poker gaming forever.

Why? Well, let’s explain why and it all begins with how people will interact with the Metaverse.

What Is The Metaverse And How Will It Be Different To The Internet?

One of the problems people have when it comes to the Metaverse, is that there is no standard definition of what the Metaverse is, or will become.

Many people just assume that the Metaverse will be a bigger, faster and more connected version of the Internet, and while that is to many extents, true, it does not begin to fully expand on just how different the Metaverse could be.

• Wholly Immersive Experience

Currently, when we interact with the Internet, we tend to do this in an observational role. We interact with the Internet via our mobile phone, laptop or tablet device using keys, or a mouse or touchscreen technology.

However, we are divorced from the actual internet itself, the hardware that we use creates a buffer between us and our actions in the digital world. With a click of the mouse, the press of a key, or the movement of a controller, our digital wishes are performed but we don’t experience it, just observe the effects of our actions.

With the Metaverse, that could well change. That’s because the idea behind the Metaverse is more than just being a bigger, faster and more linked internet, but that it will provide a wholly immersive digital experience.

What does that mean? Well, perhaps it is easiest to think of this in terms of the current VR technology that we have.

With Virtual Reality as it stands, you can wear a headset which when used with controllers can transport your digital self into a game. You still utilise controllers to control your actions, but other actions, such as body movements, moving arms or legs or the head, will be represented virtually on screen.

At the moment, this technology is still relatively in its infancy, but it is becoming more widespread and people are certainly getting the hand of what Virtual Reality has to offer.

And that is the point of the Metaverse; it won’t be just Internet V2.0, it will be a place that you can visit, albeit digitally, but the experience will feel far more immersive and ‘real’ to people.

• So How Does That Translate Into Changing The Face Of Online Poker?

So if the Metaverse comes to be as it is planned, how will that change online poker?

Well, first of all, the big change would be that you are able to view the table as you would if you were in a real world casino.

Companies could create digital poker rooms, which you can visit and where the digital version of yourself, your online alter ego in effect, would be seated at the table. You would of course be able to observe the other players sat at your table just as you would in the real world.

Now, you may say that this is all well and good but it is nothing more than a gimmick and won’t really change how poker is played online, but bear with me here.

As technology advances, we are starting to use this technology to translate more of ourselves and our bodies movements and reactions into games.

Now imagine a VR headset that not only transports you into the game, but which monitors your eye movement, your heart rate, your facial expressions, how much you are perspiring, how nervous you are, and then represents all of that online in the Metaverse poker room.

Suddenly, you can now use this information to get reads and tells on opponents, which is perhaps one of the biggest issues that is prevalent in online poker at present.

You are essentially creating the ability to have a real life poker room with all the benefits (and hindrances) that comes with it, but in an online setting and that is available to players all over the world.

There are some sites that allow users to pick Avatars to represent them at the tables, but in the Metaverse, this won’t be necessary. You’ll have your own digital persona, who you can design, dress, style, enhance or improve in any way you see fit.

• Use Of NFTs

I can also see in the Metaverse, online poker sites offering the digital equivalent of WSOP bracelets, which you can then wear at the tables to show you are a playet of repute. These may well come in the shape of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) that will have real monetary value.

The scope here is truly enormous. Imagine huge poker tournaments with thousands of players, competimng against each other where your body and mind could betray you allowing an opponent to get a read, or the flip side, being able to get a read on an opponent so you are sure they are bluffing, or not.

This is what the Metaverse can offer and when this technology becomes more widespread, as it eventually will, it is my contention that this will change how we play online poker forever.