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Poker.co.uk - Poker News Archive
Tuesday 27th July 2004 The Poker Revival
It is now commonly known and widely reported that poker is enjoying a revival of fortune after years of being relegated as an unfashionable relic of the gambling industry. Casinos are adding poker rooms, tournaments have become hugely populated, and celebrities are providing the icing on the cake by joining in on the new trend. Online poker has often been featured in the list of factors which have contributed to the rise of interest in the game- particularly in terms of tournaments, as online players have started to enter the arena of the professional- and crucially have started to win.
While commentators have made much of and rejoiced in the new momentum poker is enjoying one of the hands that fed and is now reaping new rewards. Figures recently published by PokerPulse.com recently have exhibited just how much this game in the online casino arsenal is gaining from the hype. Specifically, the statistic that sums up just what a phenomenon is taking place is this- that the online poker industry has grown by 700% in the last year. The PokerPulse site hosts a page devoted to industry wide statistics. At the time of writing, it featured a figure estimating the total amount of money wagered in the last 24 hour period: US$107,345,682. That’s just over US$100 million in what is termed ring games, meaning non-tournament online varieties, in one 24-hour period.
In any industry, such a rate of growth would be at once unimaginable and way beyond any realistic, yet ambitious, goals. It is now online poker’s turn to have endless lists of causes for this new cult movement, attempting to explain why so many people are now playing this game online. After spending the last year being listed as a reason for land based poker’s revival, this is now being inverted as lists now appear citing the land based version being one of several factors to contribute to this outstanding performance of the online arm of the game. Other contributing, and necessary factors are: the development of technology, the television coverage of the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel in the US, celebrity endorsement and, as the industry has grown, the now expanding range and availability of games, and the accompanying coverage and promotion employed.
This could all just be a case of good timing, extraordinary luck, that all the pieces were in place and came together at the same time, to create an online sensation. Whilst this commentator was reading up on the industry however, one factor seemed to recur in all the articles and musings written. If a point in time, or one factor was to be pinpointed to explain such a boom period it would have to be the day that Chris Moneymaker, an online player of poker, took away US$2.5 million as the winner of the 2003 World Series of Poker. Whilst momentum had been building for both branches of poker, this one fact seems to have been a primary reason for the growth to become so exponential. An online amateur of the game, Moneymaker penetrated the professional world of poker and won in his first tournament.
It’s a defining modern day version of a rags-to-riches tale. From his name to the prize money, his amount of experience against the status of the event he was in, a sentimental script writer could not have done a better job of writing a story about seized opportunity. The effect of this shocking event was to open the sport up- make the world of poker seem instantly more accessible, and fundamentally, the prize funds up for grabs instantly seem more obtainable. For online poker the success of Moneymaker bore another level of fortune- it proved that playing the online game taught the skills that could help make you the best poker player in the world. As Ben Affleck, himself a recent victor, recently commented, the game of poker itself is intoxicating, holding a level of drama and tension that has made it compulsive viewing and compulsive playing. Players are in with a chance of big wins if they have both the skill and the mettle to wear down their opponents, and of course, if that essential element of luck is on their side. The technology and media coverage are huge reasons for the continued growth of both land based and online poker. The great impact of Moneymaker’s win is adding that x-factor that industries, sports teams, movies and pretty much any other enterprise you can think of require, to capture a public’s imagination.
For poker that x-factor lies in the fact that anyone can become the best.
Source: OnlineCasinoNews
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