Blind Mans Online Poker

Published: Tuesday, November 08, 2005 Online-Casinos.com

BLIND MAN'S ONLINE POKER

An ingenious answer to an online poker problem

University of Massachusetts undergrads Jeremie Spitzer and Paul Silva, motivated by a blind friend have devised a way in which blind or sight impaired folks can enjoy online poker, and readers can check it out at their site Allin Play.

Braille decks of cards have been around for a some time, but clearly are not helpful online and so the physics and computer science majors put their heads together in an attempt to create online card games that blind and sighted people could play as equals. The answer proved to be a screen reader software that describes aloud what is on the screen.

Extensive field research and beta testing completed, the innovation was launched in 2002 with Crazy Eights followed by Five Card Draw Poker.

Now the duo is moving on to the most popular game of them all - Texas Hold 'em, which is being beta tested and evaluated by volunteers and will soon be rolled out on their site.

"The World Series of Poker and Celebrity Poker Showdown have become household names," says co-founder Spitzer. "We're excited to bring this phenomenon to people who have, until now, been left out."

The concept has caught on and the AllinPlay site has several hundred blind or partially sighted persons in its database.

The American Council for the Blind has sponsored AllinPlay poker tournaments, and some major computer training centers for the blind are using the site to motivate new computer users. Recently demonstrated at a Smithsonian symposium, the card room is considered to be a good model for basic navigation.

While most players use a screen reader, the games can also be interfaced with screen magnifiers for those with some vision, or with Braille output, for those who prefer these devices over a screen reader.