The one word that sums up Poker perfectly is Chris. Plus, he’s not the only one to have won the phrase.
Moneymaker’s 1999 WSOPoit was rather modest for a while. By comparison, many of the events that followed would be award shows for the most consistent, well known poker players in the world.
Then a funny thing happened. The bigger the poker playing community, the bigger the tournaments became. Some of the biggest names at the time like Paul Wasicka, Howard Lederer, Jon Lane, Phil Ivey and more all made final table appearances. The Phenomenal Greg Raymer won the single player tournament.
subsidies from satellite television also turned poker into something more than a game of luck. It started to show the game as a physical activity to be taken seriously as opposed to just a game.
Burning Dollars
Moneymaker’s success led to a dramatic rise in poker’s popularity which has only fueled the rise of the game’s culture. With every tournament that came after it, people’s interest was piqued and excitement soared.
Another name to come after Moneymaker was another record setting poker player Greg Raymer. He not only won the satellite event at the WSOP that had been set up by Chris Moneymaker, but he also ended up winning the main event, earning a record $2.5 million.
Now that the sport of poker has reached the stratosphere of popularity, it only makes sense that it would become a game that takes the world by storm. Thousands of people play not because it is extremely exciting and they have a lot of money at stake, but because they love the game.
Football games used to be the mainstay of sports television. Little did everyone know that the World Series of Poker would be a welcome change. Poker is what you call a sport when the game itself is the depictions of a sport.
In the beginning, poker was spread widely, but news of it got back to its home page rarely. Then in 2003, the internet boom saw the number of online poker rooms increase tenfold in a single year.
Until that point, few people played poker in the real world. The game was still associated with gambling and people who loved poker but could not get into gambling had a alternative. Online poker rooms were free to use and it was much more convenient to just pick up a card and say “Here, have some poker hands,” than actually drive to a casino.
The boom has since broadened to include primarily the world-based PokerStars, Roulette and others. The use of television in the poker era was also phenomenal. Poker was ahead of the curve for television. While poker in general got a new attention avenues, media exposure was gradually spread to include the PokerStars and Full Tilt brands, as well as others.
Today, all eyes are on PokerStars as it continues to grow to beyond all recognition. Recently the two biggest “sister” sites Full Tilt and Party Poker join the Cash Games. With the new exposure, not only online but on TV, the game of poker is only getting better.
Party Poker’s exposure was provided by the high-profile ID tournament that aired in the U.S on several cable networks. With all the attention, particularly from the American television viewers, it was only a matter of time before players like Phil Ivey and others joined the madness.
Cash games in general are getting more exposure as well thanks to a series of articles onsites like Gambling Times, All In Magazine and blogs on occasions like this one.
For newer players or those who have been jumped into the tournament scene by way of a satellite, the contest is very different. s/he must play in a rebuy tournament where s/he stacks the odds against himself. Of course, the odds are in his favor and the leanings are again in his favor. The leanings aren’t necessarily against the player but against the player who is considered an aggressive and shrewd player. Therefore, when s/he sees an opportunity to steal the blinds with a repurchase and steal the pot, the chances are he will take full advantage.
Hopefully, this gives you a little taste why you should play cash games online, and why you will lose more often than you win.