My roommate has spent the last 12 hours online, winning $8 million and promptly losing it all. Good thing it wasn’t real.

He was feeding his gambling addiction at PartyPoker.com, one of the Web’s most popular online gaming outlets. His fictitious $50 bankroll afforded him hours of fun, moments of glory and, ultimately, a heartbreaking defeat. And even though he’s dirt poor, he can just buy in again for a new round of cyber-betting.

We usually only run a casino out of our common room once a week, but thanks to online gambling, it’s now a 24-hour-a-day operation. The game of choice on Party Poker is Texas Hold-em, but the site offers four other poker styles, including variations of Omaha and Seven Card Stud. The software you download when you sign up connects your computer to a network of poker players around the world, so you can always find a game.

Party Poker also allows financially stable (or seriously addicted) gamblers to play for real money online. It’s illegal to do so from New York state, but there are a number of loopholes to get around that pesky technicality. Sites like Firepay.com give you an online credit card number so that the gambling sites can’t trace where you actually live. This setup sounds sketchy at best, so you’re better off making the drive to Turning Stone Casino & Resort for some real-life hustling.

For more hot gamblin’ action, check out Pokerstars.com.

Site of the Week: AMG All Music Guide

www.allmusic.com

When you’re scouring KaZaA for the real name of your favorite band’s obscure Australian B-side, take a break from music piracy and click to the All Music Guide. It’s probably the most extensive music database online, including all the standard data plus an in-depth biography and extensive discography for almost any artist that has picked up a guitar.

The site even features a music map for some bands, detailing the artists’ inspirations and the younger bands that they’ve influenced. And of course, if you need to buy posters or CDs, they’ve got you covered.

Game of the Week: 3D Pong

www.liquid.se or www.take-away.nu/liquid/pong/pong.html

Pong was cool back in the day. But as mindless entertainment technology advanced to bring us such marvels as Tetris and Snood, the game faded into the virtual background – until now. The nostalgic Swedish programmers at Liquid Media have introduced Pong’s most innovative incarnation yet, aptly titled 3D Pong. (Actually, the creators call it Spela Pong, but who asked them?) It adds an astonishing third dimension to the classic computer diversion and makes an old favorite fun again. If you’re not playing it now, you might as well be stuck in the ’80s. And nobody likes the ’80s.

Published on September 8, 2003 at 12:00 pm