It’s official. The world is gizmo-gadget obsessed. Even in gambling. I reckon it stands to reason that if you grow up in the digital age where everything is virtual and everyone has a password like they have a cellphone, it only stands to reason that, like newspapers before them, poker tables are rapidly going the way of the doo-doo. The Pokermate Table not only gives players touchscreen interfaces to use for game play and betting, it’s also yet another guard against card counters who seek a legal, but wholely frowned upon gaming advantage.

The idea comes from the fact that more and more gamblers are learning the game from online casinos, and as such, simply are more used to playing the game virtually than holding a pair of aces and eights in their hand. There’s a main screen for everyone to keep track of the game from a bird’s eye view. It also calculates pots (and side pots) and rake, and keeps track of everyone’s chips — all without error. And the interface even automatically deals players their virtual cards and players just tap on the corners of the hand to reveal the cards.

But seriously, aside from winning virtual pots that credit your account, where’s the fun? Where’s the excitement of holding that one card short of a flush and drawing that card you need and actually holding it? The feel of the wax, staring intently at your opponents face over their hand as you desperately try and crack their tell? And where’s the fun of not being able to toss in your chips or sliding a gigantic pile into the center as you go all in? It’s kinda spoiling the fun like electronic slots ruined the whole jackpot experience.

It may go a long way towards catching cheaters, but this gizmo doesn’t sound like fun to me.

Hat Tip - D’Vice
[ Pokermate table makes the game digital. But where’s the fun in that? copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

20Q Puzzle
Forget all those daft mediums and clairvoyants in big flowery dresses - this awesome little gizmo can read your mind again and again for under a tenner.

You can have this for ?9.95

This way you can know exactly what the speed limit is at all times, even when you've just transitioned from a high speed area to a low speed one that cops like to ticket in. In fact, if this system is good enough, it could be a decent excuse to tell the popos that their speed limit signs were too obscured that even a 30FPS camera couldn't make it out. [Kicking Tires via Oh Gizmo]

via Dvice

via Dvice

via Dvice

via Dvice

The aptly named Tyrant alarm goes one step further, visiting upon the incorrigible slumberer the double incentives of cash and embarrassment. If you fail to rise when summoned by this evil white block, it will take over your cellphone and start to dial random numbers from your address book, presumably narrowcasting your snores to the various ladies (or gents) in your life.

Of course, you could deal with this the same way as you do your existing cellphone alarm: Hurl the phone across the room and, gently letting your eyelids succumb once again to gravity, listen to the satisfying smash of plastic on plaster.

Here at Gadget Lab, we've been toying with a more effective approach to getting our recalcitrant bloggers out of bed in the mornings. An alarm which tilts the bed back, pulls the sheet tight over your face and drips water steadily onto your terrified visage as you gasp for breath, the prospect of a day's blogging seeming sweet in comparison to impending death. It's called the WaterBoarder.

Product page [Alice Wang via Oh Gizmo]