The Kandu Challenge

The Kandu Challenge may possibly change poker forever. This game was invented by entrepreneur Shawn Riley as a game of skill. This game has all of the resemblence of poker with one important twist.

There is urgency in the United States to make poker fit the bill of a game of skill. This will not only get it out of the UIGEA but will allow the game to be played in pubs and bars across the country. Entrepreneur Shawn Riley had patented some modifications in the usual poker game that do away with the element of chance completely. He calls the new game the Kandu Challenge. This game could change the face of US poker.

The key difference between Kandu and poker is the “flash”. The players are given a glimpse of the shuffled deck when the dealer fans every card in the deck face up before the deck is cut. After the cut the bottom card in the deck is exposed. Players with good memory and adequate poker sense will be able to spot the cards the players will be holding and also the flop cards. Therefore uncertainty over the draw of the cards is removed. Riley has developed a unique table lingo for Kandu, which further differentiates it from poker. Each hand is called a “challenge” and hence the name “The Kandu Challenge”. The ante is called the “entry fee” and the pot is called the “purse”. Kandu does away with blinds but retains the poker betting, raising and checking. The format is Texas Hold’em.

The Kandu Challenge has been on for about a month in Wichita in Kansas. The venue is the recently started Highlands Gastropub & Cardroom restaurant, which is owned by Riley’s father. Riley has set up four tables and charges every person $6 for 30 minutes. and every seat is sold out. The games run till 3:30 am. The money is real, the minimum buy-in is $40 and the dealers are professionals.

Kandu is already the talk of the town in Wichita and a fierce debate is raging whether the game really eliminates chance or the flash is merely an attempt to hoodwink the authorities. One player said that the flash was no good because it was impossible to recall and place the cards. But Riley proved him wrong. He identified certain cards face down and then flipped them over with stunning accuracy. No wonder that he calls Kandu the “the most skill-related game on the planet”. Riley also claims that once he has glimpsed the flash he can predict which player will win the purse one hundred percent of the times.

The Wichita police have had a look in and have given it their clearance. Lt. Mitchell Dunbar said in an interview to the local paper Wichita Eagle, “There is nothing for us to enforce because it is a game of skill.” Racing and Gaming spokesman Mike Deines has not been so forthcoming. He paid a visit to the Highlands Gastropub & Cardroom after reading the Wichita Eagle report. His reaction was, “I’m sure our investigative staff will be taking a closer look.”

Riley is a founder of the World Poker Tour Amateur Poker League bar circuit. He intends to take the Kandu Challenge throughout the country in conjunction with his bar poker league.