About Us
The
beginnings of poker in North America are obscure and opinions vary as to its
origin. New Orleans and Riverboats are credited with spreading the growth
throughout North America. Those smoky back rooms of yesterday have been
replaced by magnificent Casinos of today.
World
Series of Poker in 1986 brought Texas Holdem to prominence. Since early 2000,
there has been a huge surge in the popularity of this game due to televised
events such as the World Poker Tour. With the advent of the table cams,
tournaments have become a spectator sport. Today the internet provides all the
excitement of poker in homes around the world. All these forms of technology
not only made poker a spectator sport, it has allowed millions to play for free
and wager millions of dollars per day on the internet. Mr. Gardiner, like many
others, became absorbed with poker on television. As a new player, visits to
casinos proved intimidating. Online* poker rooms were a great place to learn
but lacked the personal interaction of live games. This sparked the idea of
combining the online style of play to live casino play.
The
concept of Electronic Poker Tables was developed with the collaboration of
Ronel Alfonso and Don Gardiner.
The next
objective was to develop an ergonomic efficient table design and develop the
game interface with a program incorporating all the rules of the game of poker.
The table design inspired the name Fat Diamond.
After
some trials on a single computer with the interface and rules of play the
first simulator prototype was built. Within a couple of months a full working
table was built running Texas Holdem Poker.
All
indications during testing pointed toward a very effective user friendly gaming
table. With the help of an initial group of investors, we moved toward creating
a prototype for testing at a private test lab. The objective was to certify the
table met all the requirements of the various gaming commissions. With our
second prototype, we made our first trip to
BMM Test Labs in Las Vegas, Nevada. BMM is a major international
independent test lab for casino products. Their inspection uncovered a number
of shortfalls to the table before it would meet the requirements of Gaming
Commissions certification. Within a month a third prototype was built to
address all the issues that were uncovered.
In
December of 2005 we received a Compliance letter from BMM Test Labs.
As of
July 2006, Fat Diamond has registered in California
with CGCC, DGC and US DOJ Johnson Act.
Check
some pictures from our product launch at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas
Nevada, USA.
*Online gaming is prohibited in most jurisdictions in the USA and
Canada. Fat Diamond does not endorse nor recommend internet gambling.
