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Virtual Workers and the Global Labour Market pp 95–116Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

It‘s on the Cards: Emerging Employment Relationships in Online Poker

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Part of the book series: Dynamics of Virtual Work ((DVW))

Abstract

Holts and Surugiu describe an emerging form of work among online gamblers and show how it is challenging conventional categories of employment and self-employment. The authors draw on in-depth interviews with professional online poker players in Romania who are involved in staking—an arrangement whereby a player is provided with money in exchange for a share of the winnings. In order to investigate how staking fits into existing typologies of employment, the authors examine how the work of staked players is organised, the extent to which the players are able to exercise autonomy and control in carrying out their work, contractual relationships, and how staked players are recruited and rewarded.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    ‘Bankroll management’ is a term well known among professional poker players. It refers to financial discipline and managing money that a player invests in poker.

  2. 2.

    The cards held in a poker game, usually comprised of five cards.

  3. 3.

    The research was carried out as part of a doctoral thesis by Kaire Holts at the University of Hertfordshire (UK).

  4. 4.

    All quotes are direct translations and may contain language and grammatical mistakes.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Creative Economy Research Centre, University of Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire, UK

    Kaire Holts & Romina Surugiu

Authors
  1. Kaire Holts
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  2. Romina Surugiu
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. London School of Economics, London, United Kingdom

    Juliet Webster

  2. Hertfordshire Business School, University of Hertfordshire, AL10 9AB, United Kingdom

    Keith Randle

Appendix 5.1

Appendix 5.1

Sample of the study. Respondents quoted in the chapter are marked with nicknames

Nickname

Gender

Age

Role related to online poker

Involved in staking

Andrei

Male

33

Owner of a poker company/full-time professional player in the past

Yes

Costin

Male

N/A

Full-time professional player

Yes

Boris

Male

25

Part-time professional player

Yes

Mario

Male

30

Full-time professional player

Yes

Claudia

Female

22

Full-time professional player

Yes

Adrian

Male

28

Part-time professional player in the past

No

001

Male

30

Recreational player

No

002

Male

22

Part-time professional player in the past

No

003

Male

41

Full-time professional player

No

004

Male

N/A

Owner of a poker company

No

006

Male

42

Recreational player

No

007

Male

33

Part-time professional player

No

008

Male

33

Full-time professional player

No

012

Male

33

Full-time professional player

No

015

Male

20

Part-time professional player

No

016

Male

22

Recreational player

No

Copyright information

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Holts, K., Surugiu, R. (2016). It‘s on the Cards: Emerging Employment Relationships in Online Poker. In: Webster, J., Randle, K. (eds) Virtual Workers and the Global Labour Market. Dynamics of Virtual Work. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47919-8_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47919-8_5

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-47919-8

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