Credit card roulette is a staple of any poker trip. Here's a simple explanation of the game for those of you unaware of this practice (my parents):

Social lunches and dinners among poker players are very common, but it's always difficult to split up the bill when dining out with a medium to large group. Even with 2-3 people it's always easier to just flip for the bill. So to simplify things when the bill comes (and to add a bit of excitement to the meal's conclusion), everyone gives one credit card to the waiter who is then instructed to shuffle them behind his back. Once shuffled, the waiter is asked to remove one card at a time and place it on the table; the owner of the final card in the waiter's hands pays the full bill.

Like any good game, many variations have surfaced to satisfy our need to randomize the selection of the payee in different ways. Coin flipping tournaments, betting on the number of chips in a selected person's pocket, and drafting numbers 0-9 for the Xth digit of the serial number on a randomly chosen $100 bill have all worked in the past, but something even better has now surfaced: the iPhone Credit Card Roulette app.

My buddy JonnyCosmo introduced me to this magnificent app after a late-night meal last night. You select the number of players, choosing each from your list contacts, and the phone randomly eliminates one person at a time when you place it face-down on the table. The best part about the app, however, is that it keeps track of everyone's winrate at the game. So after a dozen or so trials, you get to see your freeroll equity and luck analysis. How great is that?








Mad props to Cosmo for this great find in the App Store. And, more importantly, good luck to him today playing shortstack ninja at the final table of Event #11 ($2k NL)!