Chris Halverson’s Blog

Oh man, poker is everywhere. Not trying to scoop Iggy again, I’ll leave the real poker news to him, but just thought I’d show some other spots where poker is showing up. The Register is a British news site, today they have an article entitled VeriSign calls ICANN bluff in world’s biggest game of poker. OK, in my (well, part of my) industry, this is actually pretty big news. The title, of course, jumped out at me. Let’s see what else they have to say:

We’d been wondering what VeriSign was up to. Leaning back, but carefully observing. Making the odd snide comment, but all the while shifting its cards in its hand and plotting its next move in the world’s biggest game of poker.

The prize? Control of the Internet.

ICANN on the other side of the table has been in confident mood. It called VeriSign in an earlier round, had better cards, and won. ICANN was relaxed and chatty, telling everyone how it was in charge of the game.

It’s sitting up straight now though. VeriSign has called ICANN’s bluff and laid down on the table four Kings - four of a kind. The kitty has built up. Whoever wins this hand looks set to take the whole game.

Wow. Then at the end:

Whatever way you look at it, VeriSign has put down an extremely strong hand on the table. ICANN needs a straight flush - it won’t manage 10, J, Q, K, A, but it might get 3,4,5,6,7. It will take a hell of a lot of work and persuasion to get the relevant parties onside though - especially when all of them will have some sympathy with VeriSign’s position.

But, as with all good poker matches, it would be foolish to discount the other shadowy figure at the table. The ITU is due some luck with its cards. Who’s to say that the inter-governmental organisation won’t draw gasps by throwing down a royal flush and walking away with the entire takings?

Not bad really.

Let’s just hope this doesn’t mean that poker has jumped the shark yet. I’m just getting started!

This entry was posted on Friday, February 27th, 2004 at 7:12 pm and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.