It’s 2010. We really should be on some kind of space odyssey. Hell, we should be on the sequel. I am willing to accept that I still don’t have a flying car or a robot butler, but do I have to accept playing cards with the same dead trees we’ve had since Gutenberg? Actually, no, I don’t. There are two innovations currently on the rise that allow players to holster their decks in favor of touch-screeny goodness–the Apple iPad and the Microsoft Surface.

First, a word on the iPad. To me, the main draw is the interface. The iPhone made navigating cell phone features not just easy, but fun; the iPad does the same for laptops. There is something exciting about not using a mouse and traditional keyboard to browse the web and interact with apps. It’s new, it’s shiny, I want one. One of Apple’s first apps for the iPhone was a Texas Hold’em game, so I have no doubts that a poker game will be available for the iPad soon if they aren’t already. I am confident it will be fun, on-line enabled and, unfortunately,  “play money”. In other words, no matter how slick the design, I won’t be playing more than a couple games before returning to Full Tilt and the like.

Apple’s app store is a walled-garden as they say in the tech world. This means corporate has to approve every app before the unwashed masses gets their grubby little hands on it. Full Tilt has little incentive to make an app for the App Store because it will either be denied or lack real-money play.

So why do I even bring up the iPad? Because it is the shape of things to come. “Me-too” tablet computers with follow Apple’s lead. If history has taught us anything, these new tablets will be less elegant yet more open than Apple. Imagine Full Tilt ported to a touch-screen tablet running a Google Android or Chrome OS? Sign me up!

The Microsoft Surface’s gambling application is already apparent. The consumer electronic blog Engadget has already featured a video of the Surface running a poker table. Picture a Surface at your local casino. You place your drink on the table and it lets the bar know when you need a refill. You place your credit card on the table and the transaction provides you as many digital chips and you’d like. Your cell phone pairs with the table over bluetooth or Wi-Fi and displays your hole cards. The touch screen recognizes all the gestures you already know. Tap the table to check in poker or hit in blackjack. Swipe your cards forward to fold. Drag your chips into the pot as if they were real. Who needs a dealer?

Of course, we may want a dealer. I doubt casinos will ever run their whole operation as a Microsoft Surface farm, but it would be a great supplemental option. Expect to see them soon. The future is now.

You always had the ability to ask me something via email, but now the whole community can see the answers.

Ask here

I recently tested the service, and by God it works! I won three games and gained a total of nine followers. How many did I lose? None. I’m just that good. So if you have been recently unfollowed, take comfort in the fact that I just don’t like you anymore.

The said game is, by all accounts, lame. You shake your mouse which shakes an image of a gorilla. I would have gone with an image of dice, but what do I know. The fun is in the risk and reward of followers, not the game itself. You can pick which followers you are risking, so there is no need to worry about losing your BFF.

This is a novelty that you might want to play with if you have followers to spare, but until the game is less gorilla oriented and more poker oriented, I’ll pass. As soon as I double or nothing on @PokerPlasm that is.

On Twitter? You can follow me @Grundy.

I don’t know much about the cast save for their quotes on the promo site, half of which reference huge losses in the past. I suspect they were picked for the same reason all reality TV personalities are picked–their personalities. These kids may be good at math, but this isn’t as simple as card counting. The dichotomy of an emo with violent tendancies (the usual reality star) and a good poker player don’t jive. If they had Hellmuth and Mike “The Mouth” that’d be something. If you can’t tell, I’m not expecting them to live up to the show’s premise any more than “The Bachelor,” but hat’s off to G4 for making a season “prize” that costs them nothing. The Internet and Vegas fish are footing the bill, quite diabolical.

One aspect of the show is a room of the shared house called the “Tilt Room.” Basically, it’s a room full of breakable, yet harmless, objects to serve as an outlet to unleash their bad beat rage. I must say, if I don’t make it through the season, I will be interested in watching a YouTube mash-up of these scenes. I’m sure we will all relate.

I’m not one for reality shows, but it’s nice to see a new poker program debuting. Unfortunately, it may be too late. The days of the Celeb Poker Spinoff and 24/7 WPT tourneys on the tube have come and gone. Texas Hold’em has been revived in our pop culture, but it is not nearly the craze it was a few years ago. I feel old. My expectation of M2M is that it will be a generic reality show with a sugary poker coating. I’ll give it a try, but I doubt I’ll make it to episode two.

Please let me know what you think in the comments.

P.S. If you think I’ve been short on content this week, I do have new post written for GrandSlamPokerSource.com.

Updated: Additional wallpapers available on the Media page.

Save that link into your mobile device of choice and read your favorite poker blog on the go! And yes, it is iPhone optimized.

Poker is getting younger, cleverer, duller and much, much richer

The Economist on poker.

MyHellsColdDaySpace

In addition, if you are a Facebook user, I have created a related group.

Hell’s Cold Day in your Facebook

Personally, I don’t think anyone should vote on just one issue. There are much more important things going on in the world then whether or not you can gamble freely. How you think the future President of the United States will handle the war in Iraq, or the economy, or education for instance, is more important. They are bigger issues. That being said, I still like Ron Paul.

This is a poker blog, I’ll stay on subject. Ron Paul was a big supporter of the Poker Player’s Alliance as a Texas congressman, and the only of the presidential candidates to personally meet with many poker pros in support of their cause. This means more to me than just that Paul supports poker, he supports of our freedoms in general. If you are unsure of Ron Paul, the next best bet for the cause is a democrat. Any of them, but in particular Obama or Richardson. I really like Richardson because I feel he has the best aspects of Obama and McCain and few of their faults. To read more about the candidate’s position on internet gaming refer to The Presidential Candidate Scorecard.

Since Richardson and Paul will probably miss their party’s presidential bid, I will probably have to settle for Obama (my third choice, not bad.) For now, the primary’s are the time to vote for who you really believe in, so get out their and vote.

On-line gambling, at least as it pertains to poker, will become perfectly legal. I’m saying the legislation that hurt the on-line poker scene, which I previously blogged about, will be overturned. I’m also saying that on-line poker will be explicitly stated as legal and formally taxed. When this happens I expect US based poker rooms to gain market share over those abroad. I expect sites like Harrahs.com and Binions.com to win out over PartyPoker.com and other overseas sites. FullTilt and PokerStars will continue to thrive if they keep the television pros’ endorsement.

This will be a good thing, despite taxation. For one, we will no longer be out-laws. The sites will also face the same regulations of major US casino’s. As it is now, if PokerStars decided to cancel my account and not allow me to withdraw my bankroll, I have no one to turn to. The courts and the Better Business Bureau aren’t going to assist me with a currently illegal activity.

Why do I think this will happen? The poker community has been lobbying very actively this past year and from what I’ve heard, most congressmen are on board. This all started with pork-barrel legislation (well if not started, at least escalated) which is increasingly frowned upon by the public. Top all that off with the substantial financial swing this would bring to our national debit and economy—legalizing on-line gambling would get us out of the looming payout to the European Union and open up a new tax avenue­—I say the time is now.

You gottta admit, it is at least more likely than legalizing marijuana when they are all but outlawing nicotine these days. Mark my words, on-line players, this will be the year that you will be brought back into the fold.