Joe Barnard is the Chief Operations Officer of the International Federation of Poker and the Executive Director of the UK Poker Federation. He'll be logging in on the 13th of May from 8pm to 9.30pm (3-4.30pm EST) to answer questions!
The International Federation of Poker champions poker as a skill game, with observer member status of the International Mind Sports Association and SportAccord. It has over 50 member states and works closely with Harvard and the recently established Mindsport Research Network.
It also promotes a variation of skill called "Match Poker". This involves the same order of cards being dealt to all tables, viewed on individual smartphones and the tables' community devices, so each team receives each set of hole cards in the same positions. Scoring is based on the net change in chips for the team, and the team's collective skill in playing these hands determines their finishing position - not the cards themselves.
Here's a video from IFP's European Nations Cup in Cyprus which used the smartphone "Match Poker" technology:
As well as being involved in the UK Federation of Poker, he is also organising the Oxford Cup this year - a live student poker tournament whose last edition featured Gus Hansen as it's special guest.
Please feel free to ask anything about the International Federation of Poker, Match Poker, the Oxford Cup or anything about Joe!
Joe Barnard AMA
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