Poker on your laptop
That sounds dirty. "Poker on your laptop". LOL.
Reading AcidJoe's post in the "I want to get better" thread reminded me that I have a couple of questions for all of you laptop poker players out there.
I recently bought a laptop. It's my first one, and it is being shipped this week. (Dell XPS M1710 for those who care... http://reviews.cnet.com/Dell_XPS_M1710/4505-3121_7-31789682.html ... SEXY beast.) I don't understand wireless technology. Can I sit on a train now and play poker? How about a plane? Can I walk around the city and find a patio that will connect me with the world? Coffee shops? Do I have to pay for it, or does a laptop just look around and try to find free signals?Â
Can I bring my laptop to work, and have it look for an available wireless signal? If it finds one, is it illegal/immoral for me to make use of it?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Reading AcidJoe's post in the "I want to get better" thread reminded me that I have a couple of questions for all of you laptop poker players out there.
I recently bought a laptop. It's my first one, and it is being shipped this week. (Dell XPS M1710 for those who care... http://reviews.cnet.com/Dell_XPS_M1710/4505-3121_7-31789682.html ... SEXY beast.) I don't understand wireless technology. Can I sit on a train now and play poker? How about a plane? Can I walk around the city and find a patio that will connect me with the world? Coffee shops? Do I have to pay for it, or does a laptop just look around and try to find free signals?Â
Can I bring my laptop to work, and have it look for an available wireless signal? If it finds one, is it illegal/immoral for me to make use of it?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Comments
More and more, internet access is a metered service (the metering usually kicks in after a set number of gigabytes of traffic). Using somebody's connection without permission costs them money (in theory), so don't do it.
Having said that, most people put at least some basic lock on their network to prevent unauthorized use. If you know how to break this and bother to do it, then you probably don't have any compunctions about the legality of it. A victimless crime and so on..
 Wireless laptops are not unlike wireless phones.  In order to connect to the internet wirelessly, there needs to be a nearby router providing the internet connection. Â
 There are several areas in larger cities that are called "hot spots" that allow you to connect to the internet with your laptop (In K/W there's a bar called Edelweiss near my house), though I'm not certain how secure these connections are or if you'd want to be logging in with passwords and user id's.... places like office buildings and such usually have wireless now too, but you'll need to have access to it, usually through an account or a password of some sort.
Mark
The first is virus. This could be any other computer on the wireless network that has the virus, now that you are on the network, you could be infected too. A software firewall (like zone alarm) can protect you from these types of viruses. This is probably your biggest threat from public wireless networks, trusting other pcs out there. A virus could install a keystroke recorder, then everything you do is wide open!
Secondly is packet sniffing. Basically you trust that the communications are not being monitored in any way. Bank sites and stuff use secure connections, etc for the transmission of passwords, encryption, yadda, yadda. Does poker software? I haven't checked personally on my network at home, so I don't know. The poker site might say more about it.
From my house I pick up no less than 5 wireless networks, 3 of which are wide open! These wireless routers make it super simple to protect your connection and only allow "authorized" access.
The biggest problem I have playing on the laptop is the tap-touch keypad. So many misclicks. Actually first hand of a SnG I accidentally min-raised with 7-2o UTG. Hit the straight on the turn, went all-in, called twice, another player with a 7 and a flush draw .... which hit on the river. $5.50 down the toilet! Stupid misclick touchpad thing.
As far as wireless technology, its been pretty much answered by Mark/Adam (DrTyore/WaterLooser).
Sorry just had to dig. Congrats on your new baby. If I am walking down the street past a cafe and I hear someone screaming about a bad beat, I'll know it's you.
LOL. Â Ass. Â ;)
Thanks very much for the responses guys... I think I have a better understanding of what I'm in for. Â At the very least, I'll get a wireless router (password protected) and play on my balcony. Â Or, maybe I'll plug it into my plasma... I wonder what the resolution would be like. Â HUGE poker.
I picked up a wireless mouse and keyboard. Â I plan on using this as my desktop, as well, so I want to be comfortable.
Thanks for the tip on the misclick issue beanie.
Personally, I'm a big fan of using the touchpad to be used for clicking while surfing the net, doing work on the laptop etc etc. I guess its more of a personal preference.
/g2
1. Get a mouse......
2. Get a mouse.....
I got a nice retractable with a usb port for $25 at best buy.
3. I do know bars, cafe's etc that offer free internet access, some will charge you for it. Some companies (ATT is one) offer various wireless hotspots and you can purchase a user name and passworld for XXX dollars per month (just like the porno sites that I know nothing about). As long as you can reach their signal you sign in and you're all good.
In Montreal I purchased 30 minutes of access for $2.99 which I used to bet my horse and a few ball games, post here and check company e mail. In Indianapolis I purchased 24 hour pass in the indi airport for $7.99 US.
I will not check into a hotel unless they offer me wireless access (preferred) or high speed lan connection. Again the front desk will give you an access code to log on.
Next on to the possibly immoral stuff. From my office which has a wireless connect which is secure I can also access people's connection who don't have it secured. Which means if I didn't have an internet connection I could use theirs and possibly damage their network through malicious behavior. I have picked up unsecure connections and utilized them for small periods of time. Remember if you log onto a unsecure network their is a possibility that your computer can be accessed as well.
And yes Via offers wireless access on the train that is pricey unless you take some of their long term options which if you train a lot may make sense. I did monitor the quality of the connection out to Quebec City and it really varies. In some places (about half way between cornwall and kingston comes to mind the connection wasn't even their or dropped. I wouldn't want to be 4th in a $500 SNG with that connection.
I have generally found you get what you pay for. If a bar offers you free high speed internet while drinking and it's dsl basic from bell, just what to you think the quality will be with 5 people on.
Enjoy the laptop All_Aces I have found it to be a great tool (not just for poker). You can usually find access for a price anywhere.
Hope this helps, and if you want to know more specifics just PM me.
I'm glad I got one! I've used a laptop, briefly, on the set of PNL, and it was immediately apparent to me that the whole touchpad/button thing would get REALLY annoying really fast. Also, it's not comfortable for my wrist to operate that way.
Yeah, that had occured to me. If I'm ever playing in a place where the connection is sketchy, I'll stick to cash games, if anything.
That's what I was hoping... maybe if I have a laptop with me I can get back to finding the time to write one CPP article/month, etc.Â
Thanks for the help.
The Inspirons are very nice... I was checking out those as well. Really, what I got is excessive for what I need, but that's how I roll.Â
I used to play games like Doom, Half-Life, etc. That is what the XPS is designed to handle. Maybe when I get it I'll get back into those games instead of playing poker.
Probably not, though.
"vnc via ssh"... I'm not sure what that means. If you could go into a bit more detail I'd appreciate it. Thanks!
This is just a way for you to access your "home/poker" computer via your wireless connection. So if at home you dont have highspeed or whatever, then it wont work well. Best used if you do plan on using cafe hotspots and stuff like that where you think security might not be that prevelent.
Doing it this way you will be technically pokerring from your home computer remotely. And with ssh incorporated you will be encrypting the data from the wireless laptop to your home machine, which will make it even harder for sniffers/etc to see your data.
Ok, here is my main question:
Do you play a lot of poker on your laptop, and is the wireless connection reliable and secure enough to use? Say I want to play poker at school where theres wireless...is this something I'd want to, and be able to do?
Yep! About 2 months after I got my laptop I sold my desktop because I hadnt turned it on in over a month! I also often play at school (in class
The one thing that did catch me off guard is the orange button on the front to indicate the wireless connection was a push button. If you push it it will disconnect the wireless, repushing it will re-establish the connection. Otherwise the wireless connection is as stable as the internet connection behind it. I use my home wireless connection in the garage with the wireless router in the basement with no problems.
In class, that is my dream...
Been there, done that
Banned!
I've done the whole connect the laptop to the LCD thing at home and it's great for poker.
I have a 37" LCD that i connected the laptop to the wireless keyboard and mouse. It's actually insane joy playing holdem that way, but at the resolution output you can really only play 1 or max 2 tables.
My opinion of a UofW degree continues to go down...way down.
The most important decision: what colour of light do I want to eminate from the speaker and vent grates? I went with blue, but I feel like a change there's always 15 other choices!
They have these crazy new things called Memory Keys or something like that. Basically, I plug it into a USB port in my old computer, drag and drop everything I want to keep (email address book, pictures, videos, articles, etc etc ETC) and then I carry the tiny little memory stick ten feet over to my laptop and it all appears magically. Technology. It's wonderful.
Now I just have to figure out what programs I'll never use that came with the laptop, and delete them. Then I need to make sure my old computer is wiped so I can give it to my brother. And then I need to buy a wireless router so I can take this thing all around my place. I'm very excited about all of this.
Woo hoo!!!
I made one mistake in my purchases though... I saw a nice printer, and purchased it without really getting the details on the specs (ie size and weight). The thing is HUGE. Laughably huge. I laughed out loud when the Purolator guy dropped it off. It's about the size of an old school 20" television set LOL. And about as heavy... like, it's a small office multi purpose MACHINE that is entirely ridiculous for my particular needs. Oh well, the rest of the stuff is all good.
Enjoy your new toy! What I did when I got my laptop in terms of useless program, is I just wiped (formatted) the harddrive and just reinstall Windows with the CD they provided and whatever other programs (there wasn't any) that came with the computer that I need. Much faster than going through each one individually.