With the incredible buzz leading up to this weeks announcement that’s almost certain to be a confirmation of the rumored Apple Tablet, one has to wonder how well this thing will work for online poker playing? First, a few questions will have to be answered:
What will the OS be for the Apple Tablet?
Right now it appears that it will be powered by a version of the iPhone/iTouch operating system. If that’s the case there’s no current online poker site that has a real money application that will work. The main challenge here is that apps must come via the iPhone store and since that’s a US based operation, there’s no way they’ll let a real money poker site such as Poker Stars host their app. So don’t hold your breath that there will be a true native poker room that you can download for this particular Mac just yet.
If the OS is the standard Mac OS, the answer is simple. You can absolutely run Mac Compatible poker sites such as Full Tilt Poker or PokerStars on your Apple Tablet.
Will gesture based input work as well as a mouse?
It’s pretty much a given that a developer will have to completely rework an applications input controls to work on the Mac Tablet. Hard-core online poker players may be a little slow to adapt their style to a gesture based app. Since most of them prefer to multi-table, it’s not clear right now how effective this alternate form of input will work vs. a mouse.
I personally think that the Tablet can be a great platform for playing online poker. Not having to lug out a laptop for a quick session of 2/4 Omaha at my preferred poker site is a good thing. Only time will tell if the masses feel the same. In the meantime, let’s see what the folks out of Cupertino have to say when we all learn the specifics later this week!
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