A new study has revealed that 1 in 4 people like to spend more time socialising online than in person.

With the rise in popularity of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, more and more people are doing their socialising online as opposed to person to person.

In the survey it was reported that 26% of surveyed people say that their social lives are more active in cyberspace than in the ‘real’ world and 11% of them said they’d rather stay in over weekends – hmm – should we really be using the word ‘active’ in this sentence then?

With 11 different popular and dominant social networking sites presently in use it does seem easier than, say, getting dressed and walking to your local pub to talk to people over a pint. You can choose between Facebook, Skype, Twitter and Instant Messaging, none of which you need to brush your hair or teeth for – bonus! 

The survey stated that the average UK citizen will spend around 4.6 hours per week talking with friends online and 6 hours talking with friends in person, showing that the gap is closing in – those social networking sites are coming to get you... and then your dog. There was also the bad-ass bunch of 3% who spent 25 hours online!

This rapid change in communication styles could result in some equally rapid changes in language and how it is used – we could soon see the now seemingly normal abbreviated text and online dialect becoming part of our dictionaries! OMG!

We already had a post about the Negreanu/Duke insult throwing silliness earlier on this week. And now, for the sake of having a frivolous Friday we’re going to propagate the gossip and the rumours.

Here goes:

Negreanu recently referred to Duke as a “f***ing c***” in an interview but it seems this is only part of a stream of verbal abuse that has been going on between the two poker pro's since before fame was even a twinkle in their respective eyes. It seems it all started over a decade ago when they first joined the professional poker circuit in the early 90’s. Duke got there first and apparently when they were first pitted against each other Duke was extremely critical of Negreanu and his style of play.

Fast-forward to the beginning of the ‘naughties’ when the feud became public on the rec.gambling.poker forum where a  particular exchange between the two took place after they had played against each other online. Negreanu insulted Duke via chatbox and Duke responded by reporting to the support of the online poker site and Negreanu then sent a hostile email to Duke. At this point Duke’s brother, Howard Lederer, decided to get involved by posting Negreanu’s email on rec.gambling.poker where it remains in the archives to this very day.

After this the criticism continued on occasional blog posts but nothing too salacious, UNTIL the clash picked up again this summer- see our recent Negreanu takes another dig at Duke! post.

Howard Lederer is now back on the scene, saying the following on Twitter soon after Negreanu’s insult about Duke: “Hey Daniel, nice job representing poker and reinforcing that our attitude towards women is still Neanderthal,”

Negreanu is ranked number one and Duke is ranked fifth meaning that Negreanu is the top male player in the world while Duke is the top female player in the world and perhaps this is where the tension is coming from. With both of them at the top of their game who is ultimately the better player? Claws Out!

Doyle Brunson, the 76 year old, 10 WSOP poker bracelet holder, has seemingly upset the poker world after one of his tweets.

The 76-year-old, who is notorious for cracking jokes about blondes and terrorists, unintentionally sent Twitter into meltdown when he cracked a lesbian joke the other day. He told his 345,000 followers: “World's shortest books: 'To all the men we have loved before, 'by Ellen de Generes and Rosie O'Donnell.”

Texas Dolly, who has won 10 World Series of Poker Bracelets, was then immersed with side-splitting suggestions for other titles of the world's shortest books.

Quite a few mocked other poker pros, but the discussions quickly deteriorated to encompass celebrities, politicians and other sportsmen.

Brunson instantly retweeted dozens of them to his hundreds of thousands of followers.

“Getting hundreds of different versions of Worlds Shortest Books,” he said. “I'm picking out the ones i think are funny. Sorry, but u don't have to read.”

Poker suggestions included titles such as 'Caucasian Women I've Dated', by Barry Greenstein, 'Beauty tips' by Vanessa Selbst, ’The Integrity of Online Poker' by Russ Hamilton, 'How to Stay Sober' by Gavin Smith and 'My success as a poker pro', by Jaime Gold.

in spite of 300 people deciding to protest at the incessant jokes by 'inflowing' him on Twitter, Texas Dolly

Notorious for his use of bluffs and aces to deliver knockouts and his over-the-top entrances, Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth kept with tradition and entered the WSOP wearing martial arts gloves and a black and gold fighters robe. He has previously arrived at these events dressed up as Julius Caesar, World War II General George Patton and as a NASCAR driver. But, it seems there is a split between those who like Hellmuth’s antics and those who think he’s tediously over-the-top and showy.

All-time poker great, Doyle Brunson, seems to be one of the latter. He stated on Twitter:"I'm glad I'm not playing today so I won't see Hellmuth make a fool out of himself with his entrance. I can't help thinking it's terrible"

Hellmuth responded by saying: "I love Doyle Brunson… we go out drinking sometimes. … I called him up this morning. I said, 'C'mon Doyle, you and I, we're not the kind of people that make fun of other people.' … It was just a little strong. He said, 'Alright, you're right.' "

Hellmuth expressed his opinion that 70% of the poker world enjoy his dramatic entrances and that it helps to add some excitement to a game that at times can be slow, while Brunson responded on Twitter: "got scolded by PH for my last tweet. Sorry Phil, but I got 103 responses. 99 agreed with me, 4 didn't. I love you anyway, gl in the WSOP."

The PPA has just launched their 'Tweet for Poker Campaign' in an effort to create awareness about the UIGEA’s decision to indirectly outlaw online poker.

Twitter has been used as a communication tool or virtual ‘soap box’ for numerous issues ranging from the dictatorship in Iran to the UK election campaigns, and the Poker Players Alliance is now launching an awareness campaign that urges people to tweet to their local member of US Congress. There is also a US map that tracks all the tweets from all over the country.

The campaign encourages players to fight for their right to protect poker and hopes to overturn the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that indirectly prevents online gambling from taking place in the US through the outlawing of the transfer of funds from financial institutions to online gambling sites.

So we’ve always tried and been proud of our constant communication in keeping you guys updated, informed, as well as entertained and with the sudden growth and popularity of the social networking realms as well as the popularity of poker, We’ve taken it upon ourselves to get onto those social media streams, starting with both Facebook and Twitter, and taking it as we go.  We want to be able to speak to you guys on a real time basis and know exactly what you are saying and want!

James Grant (sits opposite me) explains, “Facebook and Twitter will let people really see as a fully fledged community and let us interact with our players who have developed a kinship with our brand! Our sites are aimed at direct interaction and conversation between our players and our company, and in the case of our Facebook pages we are providing further opportunities for our players to win!”

We’ve created a Facebook fan page that is actually a platform for dialogue between players  well; our brand. We’ve enabled fans to hold discussions, post photos related to both online and offline Poker play, and even offer we are offering freerolls for fans of the brand. James carries on to say  ‘We are using different strategies between each social communication platform, however, it all goes back to our primary objective, speaking to our and players, and our players speaking to us. There’s nothing better than building a personal relationship with our entire network’.

“We were honestly not expecting such a large amount of growth in such a short period of time” we went from basically launching our new Facebook page, to having a huge fan base in a matter of days, and we really could not be happier.” I overhead James G saying.

On a side note: We are hosting Facebook only freerolls for members of the fan page located here