Sitting down at a live poker event can be the most intimidating experience in a casino (aside from hitting on the hot girl sitting next to you). It is the one game where your composure and game play can impact the outcome as you try and read/bluff your opponents. It’s not you versus the casino and a dealer who wants you to win (so that he receives tips), but rather you versus someone else who’s spent way too much money at the clubs. Your voice cracking or heart racing could cost you hundreds and that’s what many people love about poker.
For those that enjoy the game but haven’t got down the bluffing part yet, online poker is the perfect way to live out your fantasy of being a star. You can literally jump around after hitting quads while trying to suck more money out of the guy sitting across from you. There’s no need to hide that emotion as he can’t see your face or sweat dripping down your face.
Online poker become a phenomenon back in 2003 when an accountant named Chris Moneymaker won the land based World Series of Poker after qualifying at an online poker site. The WSOP with its $10,000 buy-in had been typically reserved for the serious and professional poker players. But with online poker sites qualifying players for the tournament, the regular Joe had a chance to compete with the pros. Chris Moneymakers win brought a huge media spotlight to the online poker industry and gave legitimacy to the industry. There was a made rush of players coming online and opening new accounts who wanted to get more action than their regular monthly game with the guys. Plus the speed allowed by playing online meant that you didn’t have to wait for your drunk friend to deal. And for those that had developed their skills, the possibility of playing at more than one table existed – increasing ones return.
Online Poker continued to flourish and grow. With the passing of the UIGEA in 2006 the biggest player in Party Poker was forced to leave the US market, making many wonder what would be left behind. In came PokerStars and Full Tilt who competed head to head for bragging rights with Poker Stars becoming the most dominant force in online poker world wide. That was cut down somewhat with Black Friday in April of 2011, and although Poker Stars continues to flourish, the US market is waiting to see who will take their place in that market.
Innovation within the online poker market has been scarce over the years. A company called PKR has seen mediocre success with their 3D poker, but many feel that it was too much of a video game to appeal to the true poker player. In 2010 Full Tilt launched what was the one of the biggest innovations in online poker with Rush Poker. The concept behind Rush Poker was that with a huge volume of players, at any given time there are literary thousands of people who have folded their hands and are waiting for the game to play out before they can play again – someone smart said why don’t we just move all those players to a new table. Once you folded, you are dealt into a new hand, against new poker players. It was an instant hit and would be too this day if Full Tilt was shut down by the US government.
