Online poker is still relatively new, starting in 1998 but really hitting the online industry big in 2002.
The first online poker room was Planet Poker, launched in 1998.
,
was the next major
player, launched in 1999 and is still one of the leading online poker rooms. Paradise Poker, with
their ad campaigns, excellent software, and international audience, really took
online poker to the next
level. Paradise Poker was the first online poker room I played at, and I still
frequent the room. In 2001, the other major
online poker rooms appeared -
,
, and
.
Online poker exploded in 2003
when poker hit mainstream television in the US. The World Poker Tour debuted on the Travel Channel in
March of 2003, and became the highest rating show in Travel Channel's
history. The World Series of
Poker also received a lot of coverage from ESPN. In 2003, over 800 players participated in the
No Limit Hold'em main
event at the World Series of Poker, the largest
turn out ever, and internet play contributed to this
record. That record would soon be broken with the World Series of Poker in 2004, when 2,600 players
competed for the grand prize of $5 million. It is estimated that almost half of the entrants qualified
to the tournament via online poker satellite tournaments! In 2005, this record would again get demolished
with almost 6,000 entrants into the
WSOP!
Both the 2003 and 2004 World Series of Poker champions were online poker players from
- Chris
Moneymaker and Greg Raymer. These results helped boost and legitimize online poker and online
poker players.
Hollywood became enamored with poker and poker's popularity sky-rocketed, and so did online poker.
In addition to the World Series of Poker coverage expanding in 2003 and 2004, and the World Poker
Tour turning poker into a new national pastime, Celebrity Poker on Bravo, Late Night Poker, Poker
SuperStars Tournament, Heads-Up Challenge, and a slew of aired tournaments all hit the airwaves
in 2004 and 2005.
Most of the major poker professionals have accepted and adopted the online poker medium. These
top
professionals now endorse online poker rooms and actually play in the online poker rooms. Chris "Jesus"
Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Erik Seidel, John Juanda, Phil Gordon, Andy Bloch, and Erick
Lindgren endorse
,
Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke endorse
,
Mike Sexton and Shana Hiatt are spokespeople for
,
Doyle Brunson opened up
his own online poker room franchise with Doyle's Room, and the list goes on.
HollywoodPoker.com and CelebPoker.com both entered the online poker industry cementing
the ties between
Hollywood and poker.
In 2005, driven largely by the US, online poker is close to a $2 billion industry.
Today, the online poker leader is
PokerStars which is twice as large as the next largest poker room (Full Tilt). However, there is plenty of
action to be had at many of the online poker rooms, since the influx
of new online poker players continues to increase. The number of real money online poker players is increasing
by as much as 100,000 each month.
Online poker is real, honest, and a lot of fun. The poker rooms are audited by major international accounting
firms (like Price Waterhouse Coopers, for example), they are becoming publicly traded billion dollar companies
(PartyGaming), and the industry does not appear to be slowing down, with more online poker rooms entering the
industry and more online poker rooms planning on initial public offerings.
One of the concerns regarding online poker is its legality. In the United States, the legality of online poker
is still very unclear. I, personally, was playing with friends at a Starbucks by the beach. Police officers walked
in and watched us play. I asked them point
blank if what I was doing was legal. The police officers responded
with - "Of course it's legal, poker is legal in California." Then, I heard the President of the United States
announce that online poker was illegal throughout the entire United States. And then, the World Trade
Organization overruled President Bush's declaration...
What I do know is that MOST online poker players are living in the United States. I know the last two
World Series of Champions were online poker players. So, I'm not worrying about it.
Online poker is a great way to practice your poker skills,
whether for
play money or real money, and gain valuable poker experience. You can play single table tournaments,
huge, multi-table tournaments, and ring/cash games at all different stakes. The experience is invaluable, and
a lot of fun!
