Poker has been around since the early 19th century, when it was developed in the US and players enjoyed the game on Mississippi casino boats. Poker has managed to withstand the test of time since and is still one of the most played casino games of all time. But at no point in time was the card game more popular than in the mid-2000’s, when it reached the masses thanks to both live television coverage and online poker.
The period 2003-2006 is broadly considered the peak of poker’s popularity, when the card game experienced a huge rise in global popularity. Although most poker fanaticos will still remember this poker boom, we’re talking about a period that’s nearly 20 years behind us, therefore leading to the following question: is the younger generation still into online poker? Let’s take a closer look at online poker in the mid-2000’s and poker twenty years later.
What made poker so popular?
From a general perspective, people who started embracing poker were fascinated by how they could use practice and skills to win a casino game and make money. Poker online only nourished these dreams as the prize pots and cash game stakes reached millions of dollars. A number of other incentives contributed to poker’s rise, including the following:
- PokerStars started offering World Series of Poker prize packages rising up to multi-million dollars.
- International TV channels started broadcasting live poker tournaments, transforming skilled players into worldwide poker celebrities.
- A large number of new online poker rooms were launched in order to capitalise on the global poker boom.
- Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 Main Event, gaining himself a prize of $2.5 million. For many poker fans this moment sparked off the Poker Boom.
It’s kind of difficult to point out precisely when the poker boom ended. Some would agree that 2006 is a turning point in the card game’s worldwide dominance. But the game’s popularity didn’t really stop until the 15th of April 2011. This is the day the United States Department of Justice decided to prohibit the world’s biggest poker websites in order to stop large scale money laundering — commonly known as Black Friday in the online poker community.
Poker’s recovery after Black Friday
We all know how that ended. Online poker has really never recovered after Black Friday and people, especially young people, ask themselves a valid question whether poker is still profitable in 2021 or not. We believe it is. It’s been over 10 years since Black Friday changed the world of online poker forever, but we’re happy to see a recent change in the online poker industry. We are seeing more and more signs that poker is recovering right now and the reason for the industry’s recovery is kind of remarkable: poker experts claim that it is due to the coronavirus crisis that people have found their way back to the online poker rooms. Land based casinos were closed for months, pretty much forcing people to try their luck online. As the debate about the legalisation of casino websites in the US and new online casinos in Canada heats up, brighter days seem to be ahead for poker and this future generations.
Can the new generation please stand up?
It has taken a very long time for the industry to recover from the events of Black Friday, but the first signs are rather promising. Just like in any other sports, professional poker has also had its share of legends. Names like Doyle Brunson, Chris Moneymaker, Stu Ungar, Phil Ivey, Sam Farha, and Erik Siedel are just a few names in the list of the best poker players that made millions of other poker players dream about professional poker. It’s 2021 now and we can’t wait to see a list of new poker pros taking over and inspiring millions of other players. It’s been too long. It’s your turn now.
