Poker continues to show no signs of losing interest, despite various forums and social media comments declaring “poker is dead”. In this article we will show, with empirical data how and why poker is continuing to stay popular.
The WSOP
The World Series of Poker is an annual event that captures the interest of millions of people. Thousands of aspiring professionals and recreational players flock to the WSOP hoping to win a coveted bracelet. The beauty and allure of the event is the sheer diversity of games available, not forgetting the lucrative cash prizes and bracelet itself. Many poker players dedicate months of study and invest in Texas Hold’em training to ensure they are sufficiently prepared for this massive event.
New Variants
The major poker sites are not resting on their laurels. They’ve been utilising their resources to create new tournament formats and poker variants that capture players attention. A few years ago, short deck hold’em was barely heard of. Fast forward to today and all the high rollers are playing it with regularity.
Creating new variants and heavily promoting formats like fast fold poker is definitely keeping poker a booming game, particularly online. There’s also been a heavy focus on Pot Limit Omaha with cash game traffic increasing on most poker sites. This shows that players are willing to try alternative poker games if offered the chance.
Crypto-Currency
It seems as though crypto-currency is swarming the online marketplace. Whilst much of the world is yet to embrace crypto, the gambling world has adapted amazingly well. The ability to deposit and withdraw in seconds, keep some anonymity and play securely is very appealing to users of crypto like Bitcoin. Most major poker sites accept the major crypto-currencies and we think this has helped the increased numbers of users online. It has probably even increased the number of beginners who are turning to poker too. After all, these crypto-investors may be struggling to utilise their e-wallets elsewhere and therefore turn to online gambling as a way to spend and potentially increase their crypto wealth.
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