Poker Help System

Describe your idea and concept of your work in relation to the festival outlines:

Poker is a card game with millions of people playing each year around the world hyped up by television shows, films, poker celebrities and of course the lure to make fast money. Casinos, online internet websites, school students, university students, teenagers to adults all participate in both legal and illegal poker gambling. In a single game a person can win money equivalent to working full time for the most of their life and could lose it all in one set of cards. When you haven’t played poker before you don’t know how fun it is depending on your own personal characteristics and values. But to compulsive gamblers the fun is detracted by the pure urge to win and win bigger every time losing its original appeal. This is dangerous in one main outcome, debt. From a few hundred dollars to a few hundred thousand dollars to a few hundred million dollars the debt in gambling with poker is never ending depending on who you are and how you play.

I have been playing poker for almost one year but playing without real money. The urge to risk all the money I had to double or triple it for income without anyway of paying it back if I lost was when that actually scared me because at the time I had mixed emotions about how good my poker skills actually were.

The emotions and psychology involved in playing poker is enormous especially if you play hard and win big. When playing poker I found I lost control and was in the entire moment, the moment to win and win more. But because of that I usually lost what I had made and felt guilty and disappointed for a long time until the next day when I would try again. This is the same out come for many people around the world. I have not personally experienced debt from playing poker but the stories and interviews of recovering poker addicts and poker debt are shocking and brutally believable.

My concept is to help poker gamblers in every stage of skill level and desire by creating personal self-awareness while playing poker. Peer support from photos of friends, family and even strangers will help. The atmosphere the photos create can make the poker player come back to reality and out from the clutches of their fantasy of winning more which in most cases brings on a losing streak.

What kind of communication approach do you use?

The communication used for this design is based on visuals and text questions and suggestions. On a small portable piece of paper or a poster in view of the player a design using universal coloured symbols of red, orange, green circles together with self-awareness registration texts and photos of loved ones creates strong communication to the player. Five circles (2 red, 2 orange, 1 green) represent traffic lights and are supported by text questions and suggestions, which creates self-awareness and motivation while playing poker. Photos of loved ones enforce the actions by the player to break free from the game or rethink their circumstances if they begin to drift to far down towards debt.

What are in your opinion concrete benefits to the society because of your communication?

1. Trying to keep poker players out of debt by choice of safer self controlled actions.

2. Bringing players out of debt who still play poker, with greater self-awareness and self-control.

3. A stronger self-awareness during game time to ensure greater value of game time and opportunities outside the poker game.

4. Happier families, friends and couples etc. that aren’t connected to any poker debt links.

What did you personally learn from creating your submitted work?

Doing the creative development of the idea/concept and design with structures based within it helped me explore my love of playing/watching poker. Making a stronger attitude to avoid debt from playing poker and influencing others to be more cautious in the game. The great benefit of family and friends to heed you into the right direction if you stray to far in and can’t get out of the game.

Why is your work, GOOD communication WORK?

Through research, there are a lot of bias government assistant gambling campaigns to direct people away from even participating in poker; or sneaky ads from gambling companies to make people play more poker.

My design helps people understand the self-awareness and self-control needed to play poker within individual limits. Also, advising the risks of ongoing development of playing poker for to long of time periods using physical and mental attributes relating strongly to colours, people, questions and suggestions to get the player to re-think their circumstances.

Where and how do you intent do implement your work?

Small wallet and purse size print design for personal use when playing poker at any time and any place. Posters at casinos, pubs and gambling orientated locations for poker and also online Internet banner ads.

Did your intervention had an effect on other Media. If yes, describe the effect? (Has other media reported on it- how? Were you able to change other media with your work- how?)

I would of liked to test my Poker Help System design for real with poker players to get better results for development but I have not. In the future I plan to develop it further.