It was once considered a game reserved for backrooms of bars and smoky casinos, but in recent years, poker has gone through a makeover. Gone is the notion that you can only play in a casino and that there are no successful women playing on the various poker tours.
But has the sport become as mainstream as fans and advocates of the game had hoped? Well, to answer that question, let’s take a little history lesson and learn why the game has come out of those smoky backrooms and into the public eye.
The Online Boom
The online poker boom started back in 2003, and while it has slowed down a little since then, it hasn’t stopped. In fact, the online gambling industry as a whole has enjoyed steady growth with market value expected to reach as much as $80.65 billion by 2025. And yes, online poker can claim a decent chunk of that pie.
It all started when the aptly named Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker (WSOP) back in 2003. Now, you may wonder what was unusual about his win besides his magnificent moniker. Well, Chris was the first player to win the main event, having qualified through an online satellite.
Here was a rank amateur poker player bossing it at the tables ordinarily reserved for hardy pros of the live casino scene. The effect, now known as the Moneymaker effect, was felt throughout the industry as people began to realise that live poker was not necessarily an exclusive domain. Put your mind to it, and you could make it as Chris did.
Since then the rise of web-based poker has been nothing short of stratospheric. Online platforms started to appear left right and centre, and people in the poker industry began to take online poker rooms seriously.
In recent years, industry heavyweights of online poker such as 888poker have led the way with their innovative tech and eagerness to dip their toes into new markets such as the mobile gaming niche. As a result, the card game moved from the confines of the desktop computer to the smartphone. A move that once again shook the world of poker and led to even more significant changes in the industry.
Poker Becomes Inclusive
One of those changes that went under the radar of the public is that with the rise of mobile gaming, poker has become a genuinely inclusive game. The very fact that people from all over the world can now play without the expense of travelling to a casino is a boon to the industry. Suddenly the market was now open to many people who for a variety of reasons could never play the game competitively.
Online poker broke down the barriers that had, before the internet, prevented casual poker players from improving their skills against anyone but their friends and family. Now, we have a game that anyone, regardless of their economic background or gender, can play.
But of course, the convenience of being able to play online isn’t the only reason that poker has made it into our living rooms.
An Updated Public Image of Poker
As we said earlier, gone are the days when poker was considered a game for the boys in the backroom. With it being an inclusive game with players from a wide variety of backgrounds, it has become a much more appealing spectator sport.
Casual poker fans find that they can relate to the players they see at the table. A possible knock-on effect of Moneymaker’s success. Add to that the higher profile of players such as Phil Ivey and Vanessa Selbst, who both seem to live uber-clean lifestyles, and suddenly poker is now viewed in a very different way to how it was in the 80s.
The WSOP takes centre stage
The World Series of Poker has been around since 1970 when the very first WSOP event took place in Binion’s Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas. Since then, it has become something akin to the World Cup of Poker. It’s what all poker pros aspire to, and casual players dream of.
While it always held a special place in the hearts of poker players, it wasn’t until Moneymaker’s win that the general public paid it much heed. Now, the WSOP event is a massive deal with many of the games televised and thousands of fans flocking to Las Vegas each year to watch their favourite players at the tables.
The heightened publicity around poker’s biggest event means that some of the most prominent poker players in the world aren’t too far from becoming household names. It’s incredible to think that in the space of 15 years, the game has changed so much that these players are now treated with the respect of skilled professionals. And speaking of skills…
Poker becomes a skill
Unbelievably, poker has become a skill that may help you with your resume. We kid you not. Remember Vanessa Selbst, who we mentioned earlier? Well, she’s the most successful female poker player in the world in terms of live earnings having won over $11million at the tables. She was headhunted by hedge fund Bridgewater Associates. The firm was impressed with her skills at the table and offered her a job.
And Selbst is neither the first nor the last poker player to have made the leap from the table to Wall Street. Due to their decision-making abilities and their heads for statistics and numbers, poker players are seen as a safe bet when it comes to specific jobs, particularly those with a lot of pressure involved.
The game requires so much skill that it has taken developers years to create an AI that was first capable of playing the game and then actually winning it. So if scientists at MIT and other major institutes are so enamoured by the skills required to play the game, it makes sense that an employer would be just as impressed. Having said that, it will be a little while before poker goes that mainstream that counts on your resume as a skill.
So to answer the question we asked earlier ‘is poker finally entering the mainstream?’, we’d have to say yes. Just ask your dear old mum what she thinks of the game. The chances are she’ll have a very different perspective on the game than your gran or grandad. So after all that, we’re off to find a deck of cards and see who fancies a quick game, although we’ll be playing for matchsticks.
