Poker Popularity On The Rise

This article attempts to investigate the reasons why poker has become increasingly popular in the last few years.

Lets play some poker! This is often heard in a London pensioners residential home - the most unlikely of all places. More and more people are turning to poker these days. Poker has shown an unprecedented growth in popularity in the last few years. There are many reasons contributing to this.

Poker has always been the favourite card game of many people. It has been on television since the late seventies but never managed to gain much popularity. One simple invention changed everything in the nineties, when - thanks to technological advances made around that period - it has become possible to use small sized unobtrusive cameras to show viewers the hole cards of the contestants while the hands were being played out.

Up until this point, viewers could only guess whats been happening in the game. This invention - called pocket cam - made watching poker on TV much more interesting, broadening the public appeal.

Another important step was the opening of the first online poker room where players could play for real money. Free poker online  was played as early as the late 1990s in the IRC chatrooms, but the first real money poker game was dealt on a dedicated online poker website in January 1, 1998.

After this, the popularity of the game skyrocketed. Poker players have finally found the right medium that could get as many players involved as possible, from the furthest corners of the world. Now, players can play their favourite game in the comfort of their own homes. Internet poker shows steady growth as more and more people discover the convenience of online poker rooms.

The final step was, when a relatively unknown player called Chris Moneymaker surprised the world by winning the WSOP World Championship of Poker in 2003. Chris got his seat by winning a $40 online satellite tournament. Since then, online poker exploded.

Winning tournaments like this is no longer the privilege of the elite. With the right skills, everyone can be a winner and this appeals to a lot of new and prospective poker players. With the world seeing an amateur player winning against some of the best players in the world, poker really has taken off.

Article Tags: Online Poker

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