Current poker boom - how long can it last?

[3rdCheckRaise]

I think the ratio of winning player to a losing player is a lot bigger then 5:1 in lower mid limits. Most of the people do not keep accurate records of their winnings and loses( and loses are more important). One winning night in 8-10 sessions makes them come back night after night for more. Lossing 10-15 BB a night is something they can easily do and not notice a serious damage in their budget...

[djack]

I'll go on record as saying that I don't think the peak has hit us yet.

I got good at poker right before the 2003 WSOP, so when it started airing, it was golden for me. I could tell that the games online got softer. But I don't really know what poker games were like a few years ago.

There are tons and tons of college kids playing out there who can't wait to turn 21 so they can go play poker. This will keep the games decent for a long time, I think.

I think the fadness will wear off at some point, but I think poker on tv is hear to stay.

And that's why I just may buy some WPT stock. Caveat: I haven't really analyzed the IPO yet.

[daveymck]

I think we are a long way from the peak of popularity, I cant talk about in the States but here in the UK we are starting to get a number of the main poker programming WPT etc plus some UK based tournies on TV with the final of the poker million being on two weeks ago live on the main UK sports channel.

There is no real casino culture over here with very few people ever visiting one (I have been to one but didnt play as I thought BJ was a mugs game even back then). Deregulation here might help but I suspect we will see the Gutshot model taking off round the UK. A cardroom with also a nice bar, coffee food and internet room but no other casino games. No oppressive casino atsmosphere and they are getting in a young professional crowd, in the last two weeks the beginner night has gone from 70 up to 170 last week, god knows how many will be in tonight.

There is talk of a European Poker Tour and sponsership coming into the game.

I think though it will affect the bottom end of the market some people will graduate to the higher limits but I suspect most will stick to recreational play messing around at the lower limits like at the moment with football they kick a ball round in the park with their mates.

Form the UK perspective I suspect the fact that a number of celebrities (and ones with a clean reputation like Steve Davis who no american will know) are seen to be playing on these tournies on TV takes away the seedyness of it although I still have had to explain to a number of relatives that I am not gambling in the normal sense.

[Sheriff Fatman]

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Form the UK perspective I suspect the fact that a number of celebrities (and ones with a clean reputation like Steve Davis who no american will know)

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Not necessarily - he plays the Pool circuit nowadays.

[TylerD]

Yea but is anyone actually watching these shows (apart from "us"), I would be really interested in seeing some viewing figures.

[MarkD]

I know lots of non-poker playing people at my work are watching poker on TV. Alas, I don't get the right channels so I am not able to watch it very much but I think it's a good sign that non-players are interested in the game now.

[SinCityGuy]

I've been thinking about this lately. Thirty years ago, a person making 1BB/hr in a 15/30 game was making a decent wage. Today, $30/hr is probably a lower middle-class wage. Twenty or thirty years from now, it might even be close to minimum wage.

In normal occupations, jobs periodically get cost-of-living increases. This doesn't happen in poker. If you don't move up in limits, you will not be able to keep up with the cost of living in the long run.

[mrbaseball]

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Have the blackjack, craps, and roulette games dried up in casinos around the country?

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I think there is a difference. Those are pure action games. In comparision poker is woefully slowpaced. Plus at a place like the Bellagio you often have to wait 30 to 60 minutes just to get in a game. Plus there is the stigma of real professionals. I know people who won't go near a poker room for this fact alone. They (rightfully) feel they will be picked clean. The poker fish don't feel this way but lots of people who gamble do. They will risk dropping lots of money at blackjack or craps but won't risk looking like an idiot in poker.

[Ulysses]

People who think gambling at poker is like gambling at blackjack and craps most likely haven't played very much blackjack or craps.

[Ed S.]

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Prior to poker I used to crush both Yahoo and Cases Ladder euchre ladders. I love that game

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I still play every now and then at yahoo. But it's been mainly online poker. But I'd be interested what your username was while you played. If you played in cases ladder and played yahoo ladders then odds are that there is a great likelyhood I would know you or know of you.


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Ed S.