It’s about this time of year when the headquarters of the International Federation of Poker locks its tinselled doors and deals one last hand before departing for some festive fun.

While we put our feet up and look back on an historic year for the IFP, you can watch exclusive footage from The Table, the IFP’s first official World Championship which took place in London in November, starting on Monday with the “bluff, re-bluff, re-re-bluff” hand between the two stand out players from the event, Victoria Coren and Raul Mestre.

Check back on the IFP blog on Monday for that. For now though we’d like to wish all our members, readers and supporters, happy holidays.

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Duplicate Blog2The 12 teams taking part in the first International Federation of Poker Nations Cup on the EDF Energy London Eye will be making poker history. But they’re not the first to try this intriguing form of the game. That was left to the attendees of three trial runs of duplicate poker pioneers who laid the groundwork for what’s planned to take place in London, in November.

Three special events were staged to iron out the duplicate creases with teams of players, made up of students, amateurs and professional players taking to the baize to play hundreds of hands, dealt identically on each table, testing not only the players but the game itself, fixing any teething problems that might be harder to solve while suspended hundreds of feet over the River Thames.

In the first trial, staged in the Victorian debating chamber of the Oxford Union, duplicate poker followed in the footsteps of Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein and even Kermit the Frog, to withstand the cross examination of the nation’s brightest students. The resulting win for Scotland made them the answer to what could become one of poker’s more unusual trivia questions.

Following Oxford there was London, where an extended competition seemed to bolster the argument that duplicate poker allows skilful players to succeed. Barny Boatman, John Duthie and Neil Channing were part of the UK Federation team which went on to finish second behind a team from Imperial College. But all three pros finished best.

Then a third trial, this past Friday, the last before the Nations Cup begins on 17 November. Changes included a switch from no-limit to pot-limit, after consultation with the likes of Boatman and Channing, which encouraged more post-flop play. British pros James Akenhead and Sam Trickett, members of the UK team, had their first attempt at mastering this purist form of the game.

The result? Another win for Imperial College – a duplicate win so to speak.

It’s with great pleasure that we introduce the new and official blog of the International Federation of Poker.
As is customary with this kind of thing, the IFP blog will be where you can find all sorts of information, news and even fun stuff about the IFP ahead of what promises to be an exciting few weeks, even if we do say so ourselves.

If you’ve already visited the website of the IFP (LINK) you’ll know the details of what that involves, with the Nations Cup (a Duplicate Poker team event) and The Table serving as a world premiere of sorts for what the IFP is all about; two new events which should turn heads around the poker world. Not a bad way to get things started. These form part of the latest stage of what has been a swift evolution for the IFP, formed in Lausanne, Switzerland, back in April 2009. Back then a core group of 12 member nations established poker’s first official governing body, electing Anthony Holden as IFP President, with the intention of securing Mind Sport status for poker. Now, just 18 months later, there are 36 member nations, including the United States, with more members on the way. And, in a world that often views poker in unfavourable terms, the status of poker as a skill game is much improved.

Those aren’t the only changes. The new IFP Facebook and Twitter pages are now up and running, a place to find videos, quizzes, polls and anything else we can think of. The IFP also has a new website, which will be changing here and there over the coming weeks to include articles, comment as well as details of the latest developments where the official governing body of poker is concerned.
Have a look now and you can be among the first to register your interest in all things IFP. We promise more big news announcements in the coming weeks, including how you could be playing at The Table in 2012.

 

The International Federation of Poker (IFP) has announced details of Duplicate Poker, the Mind Sport variation of the game.

Borrowing concepts from Duplicate Bridge, the poker equivalent creates the intriguing prospect of staging tournaments, played either by teams or individuals, in an environment free from the “luck of the draw” – the perfect way for poker players to highlight individual skill rather than good fortune.

Details of Duplicate Poker have now been made available, published in the IFP website Librarypage, detailing not only how the game is played, but also how the deck is prepared for each hand and how the unique structure has been devised. In addition, the strict security procedure is also examined in depth.

The creation of duplicate poker marks the next step forward in poker’s long journey towards recognition as a ‘skill game’ in the eyes of the world. It also highlights the continued work of the IFP, bringing further credibility to the game in a political climate which, in some countries, makes playing the game harder, and in some cases illegal.

While that battle rages, poker can, for the first time, be played in an environment free from the whims of luck, thwarting those who consider the game to be nothing more than gambling. No running good, no running bad; it’s now all about playing good or playing bad.