Is poker still HOT? or NOT?

With a tear in my eye, I say NOT. I remember 3 or 4 years ago when the WPT blazed onto my Canadian t.v. station. Wow. Hole cards? You mean we're allowed to see them? WOW. All of a sudden I knew why these guys were doing what they did. Poker explosion. Everyone and their neighbors thought they had the right stuff to be a WPT hero. You had to wait in line to buy a set of knock-off, Chinese made poker chips. I had to turn games down, there were so many to choose from.

Now...
The WPT has posted yearly financial losses since its inception; how much longer can they continue promoting tournaments?
The U.S. government wants to smother poker on the internet (another reason to be thankful to be Canadian, we can gamble our last dime away on-line legally!).
Everyone who jumped on the poker bandwagon has either improved to the point that we're just trading money back and forth, or they've recognized that they have no chance at being the next Johnny Chan and have quit the game for good.
And mostly tellingly...no one can remember where the hell they put their poker chip set when a game finally does roll around these days.

I think NOT too - but I don't see that as a bad thing. As a Realtor, I kind of relate it to the real estate market - when it's good, EVERYONE is a realtor. When it's bad, everyone leave and the ones left standing are either really good or really enjoy it. I think poker is the same. Awhile back it seemed everyone and their grandmother was playing - resulting in too many donks and not enough people who understand and respect the game. I for one would prefer for it to not be popular and look forward to the day when I'm not tossed from a tournament by some donk that doesn't know (or care) wtf he's doing.

Oh really? Take a look at the October thread and you may see some surprising graphs. Some CC players seem to not just be trading money back and forth.

Obviously its not as rampant as it was a few years back. It's still very popular though IMO. I too feel that it's better this way. With less people just jumping the bandwagon nowadays, the level of competition is much better for me.

i sure hope so... im a college kid and just starting up. I'm taking it pretty seriously reading books and whatnot but some of my other friends see me turning profit so they assume they can and just dump their money to all the successful players so im sure theres alot of people out there like them that think its easy money

As far as I am concerned, Poker will always be hot. It may not be as 'popular' as it was 3 years ago, But I hate popularity, popularity is for the sheeple of the world i.m.o.

I'll go for style and substance over popularity any day.

Example, I'd rather be with Gong Li than Paris Hilton.
Yeah Paris Hilton is more popular, but she can take a hike.
Gong Li is hotter, smarter, classier and has more substance i.m.o.

I definentily think the big boom is over, but holdem will always be around. It was inevitable really, nothing can grow that fast forever. The fact that alot of people in the US are afraid of getting in trouble for playing online hasn't help matters much either.

There was just an article about this on the ESPN Poker Club, I believe. Basically the boom is over in North America, but is very much alive in the rest of the world, especially China, where there are billions of potentially new players.

Also, because it's entertainment, poker's popularity will tend to be cyclical. Kinda like Pro Wrestling. Once the US reverses the UIGEA and the average person can easily play online, it'll probably increase in popularity again.

There is no such a think as too many donks. I want to win, it is much harder to win when everybody knows what they are doing. Bring on the donks!

I would say so............... It's still hot.... with new members and players playing every day......... If it's not than we stand no chance in making much money if everyone playing is highly skilled....... I hope it does get better. soon.............

I think the "illegal for u.s. players" has hurt more than we know. I have a good friend who refused to play because it is "illegal" even though he was a very good online player before the idiotic legislation was passed. Once it is overturned ( ) I think we will see the return of many players. And when china comes online ....omg

WPT may be faltering, but isn't that a $25,000 buy-in for most events? Plus the related costs?

'Poker' is hotter than ever. Check around. When WPT started, it was one of very few events. Now $5-10,000 buy-in events are everywhere, weekly. In many cases, overlapping. Players are having a hard time deciding where to go 'this week'. A cruise, a resort, a major casino, China (the fastest growing world poker market), a 'Charity' tourney, 'Celebrity' events, high stakes cash games, and the list goes on.

It wasn't long ago that Pokerstars reeled with announcing 100,000 players online AT ONE TIME. At this writing (on a Sunday) there are 156,643 players online at Stars alone. Using just that one site as an example, growth has been, and continues to be, exponential. If it weren't growing, why would sites like Stars be willing to add more and more so-called 'pros' to their endorsement list? Endorsement and 'pro' lists are growing weekly.

Even casinos are accommodating the constant increases in players. Not wanting to expand floor space for poker rooms (which do not make as much per hour as 'house advantage' play) they are adding computer poker to their allocations. In Las Vegas, Excalibur just removed their live poker room and installed banks of live computer poker games. No more dealers, no pit costs, less dedicated floor space, just more poker players.

If there wasn't an increasing market, there would be a decline in strategy books being written. Now there's a new one every week. Just how many 'strategies' can there be? As many players as continue to join the games, live and online.

As 'entertainment', WPT started the TV craze on Travel Channel. Now poker is on the Game Network, ESPN (2 channels at least) covering current events and old footage from years back. Even the Black Entertainment channel has a Black's Invitational Poker show (which by the way - isn't that racist ??). There's a few more I can't think of right now. Does this really look like 'falling off' the grid ??

It's big, getting bigger. Online there were a 'few' sattelites to major events. Now there are countless 'step' programs - sats to the sats to the sats to the sat to the Main Event sat, to the REAL Main Event. Qualifiers, to the quarter-final, to the semi-final to the BIG one. Falling off? - you must be joking.

Games even keep expanding to accomodate more players. Popularity is growing for HORSE, SHOE (or HOSE). Omaha, Razz, all 7 card games, returning 5 card draw to scheduled events and if that isn't enough, sites and casinos are scrambling to add Badugi and online, Stars just added the '8-game' and Full Tilt just added their SnG Matrix.

If you think it's falling off, you aren't really watching the growth.

In my opinion I would not see a decline in poker as a bad thing....there are pros and cons I guess. First of all a decline in poker won't really affect anyone who plays at the level that 95% do which is to make some extra money on the side....there will always be ample tourists at local casinos that want to take a shot at winning some poker money so they can tell their friends...

As for the people who think they want to be a pro a decline in its popularity might actually be good for them since they would have a more likely shot at winning a large tournament since there would less competition...I mean like anything I would expect to see the numbers of people playing in the WSOP to decline eventually but probably not for a couple more years when the novelty has completely wore off...

Now obviously the main benefit to the huge popularity of poker over the last years has been the increased amount of "wannabe poker pros" who go play poker at stakes that are extremely too high for their bankroll and lose everything they have to the "5%ers". "5% ers" being those that will always benefit from the influx of donkey poker wannabes....or an increase of popularity for a more politically correct term....

sorry for the lose terms but I cant think of any better word to use....no disrespect!!

I gotta say that while interest has cooled somewhat, and what with the US trying to put it in the freezer, poker is still pretty hot. I meet new people every day in real life and am surprised to see how many are into the game. Not to mention that while the US is trying to put an end to our gambling fun there are still plenty of nations out there who are not. So as long as interest continues to grow and as long as we can keep our respective governments from from pulling our plugs... it will continue to be hot.
For me, the lvoe of the game has never dwindled... whether I play well or not I still enjoy it and will continue playing on and offline until they come and pry my chips and cards from my cold dead hands! LOL

So according to your post, 5% of players are poker pros that make money and the other 95% make money from poker on the side?

So who loses the money?

Without the people who have no idea how to play poker, those 95% will soon turn into losing players. In fact, it is the medium skill players that benefit most from the donks, as the high skill players usually play at levels the donks do not attempt to play at.

Didn't play back in the day when the games were "easy" but frankly you can kinda suck in the scheme of things and still make good money at low/mid stakes so long you have a good understanding of the basics.

The reason games are harder is partly due to the fact that there are many more resources available now (forums, training sites, coaching etc) so just make sure that you take advantage of those and you will still have a significant edge over most of the poker population who probably don't spend much time thinking about their play/leaks etc. Another thing is paying attention to table selection. Unless you want to be playing nosebleed stakes one day and hope to be one of the top players in the game (ie. nobody here), simply advoid good players and play on fishy tables that are well suited to your style.

With any luck the USA will legalise online poker and all the rich fish who have hardly played in several years will flock to the sites but even if that doesn't happen there are still many horrible players even at the "tougher sites".

Really? Ever heard of/seen Guy Laliberte play?

Also note that the medium players who win and move up will be fish from the perspective of the high-stakes pros.

Its the people that play reasonable enough to continue but not good enough to win in the long run that people make money off of. They are the ones that get a good streak going long enough to assure themselves they are kinda good and they keep putting money back on. And its still hot by the way, most of the casinos in northern california are still adding more holdem tables.

LOL I play micro stakes but do you know how many rich people just want to have a good time playing poker? They dont care if they lose a thousands of dollars playing, they can afford to and they enjoy themselves. Theres plenty of money in the high stakes games, especially because the games form when the fish come in.

i dont really play in casinos that often but i do find myself playing every weekend with friends and having a good time. we all love to play poker and if we are sitting around on the weekends we can always count on each other for a poker game. i jjust cant get enough of poker and neither can they. i mean just playing low stakes poker with friends is a great time.

I think its less popular but also agree that boom continues overseas (outside of europe/ US)

But it now has an established player base, has live tournaments which advertise it all over the world and cant see it fading away anytime soon.

Poker is hot. The numbers online are stronger than ever. Just about every town I've been through has some type of game, even if it is at a bar and they play for merchandise or vouchers, or league play. Home games are getting organized to the point where they send a player to the WSOP at the end of the year.
I live in Florida. We are fortunate enought to have two casinos in the area. Two tournaments daily plus cash games. The tourney registration is only open for about an hour and the field closes out. It is popular in this area.
One trend I have noticed is that i've bet a lot of adults lately that don't know how to play, at all. Poker is not about hookers, tequilla and crime, but when I mention poker to some people they look at me sideways. WTF!
I saw plenty of benefit tourneys in California for Cancer, Assoication of Retarded children, ASPCA, etc.. but not around here. WE should make next week the official "teach a kid to play poker" week.

I would think Guy is simply looking for something else to do. My guess is that he could loose every hand over the next thirty years and not spend the interest on his account. You may have that inpression but I think that very fact makes him very dangerous to the rest of the so called "non-donks" out there.

I will say that right now there is a decline in the number of players that you see playing poker. The reason I blame is the economic state of the world. When people don't have as much disposable income they don't play as much poker. However once the economy turns around you will see a lot more players. Just wait and see.

Sorry, I didn't answer the question. My vote is for Not. Cooler than that of three to four years ago.

I say poker is still hot. With the economy like it is, we have eliminated our multiple trips to Vegas. But the economy doesn't keep us from loading 100.00 in Full Tilt and playing every night. Does the economy cut out your means of recreation?
Oh, we are planning a trip to Vegas in April and it'll be a good one!

Obv what guy loses at poker (a lot) doesn't dent his net worth, but it definitely increases the net worth of those with whom he plays poker. Pros still make alot of money off "donks" it is just that those "donks" might very well be considered very good players at lower stakes (players taking shots, "good" players that can be spewy/tilty, rich fish, etc.)

Anyways, what we really need is a poker boom in asia...if China and South Korea get the poker bug like they seem to have with computer games could get a whole new player base that aren't very good.

I think that what your are seeing is because of what the goverment of the United States has done to control poker. If you look at all the major sites they, run on Eastern Standard Time. Even though they are base outside the US. What that says is that the biggest market for poker is still the US. The market in the US had cooled the first year that they enacted that law to control credit card payments, but if you look at this years World Series there was an increase in players over last year. So it may be cooler here in the US right now, but it will still keep growing. There are to many people that at this time do not have access to a live casino, so online will continue to grow. When enough people are bringing in to much money from these sites the goverment will change its mind because they want the tax money.

Thing that suck about too many donks is that you can be playing you're best and get blasted by some jackass who shouldnt have even been playing with you. Especially in tournaments.

Haven't you heard? The government killed online gaming...

With the economy hurting, its definitely leaving people with less disposable income to spend on things like poker. After the poker boom the game was oversaturated, how else can you explain so many WPT events and big tournaments. As Matusow said, in a few years the only people entering tourneys will be those staked by Lindgren, Pokerstars, and Full Tilt. A lot of the money from the poker boom has gone into the pockets of casino owners, now its drying up and some Vegas rooms are even closing.

Its not in the US maybe. But playing poker is hip and trendy even in arab nations - I know because in Saudi Arabia, they offically shun this but is quite popular underground)

Also, investing your $$$ on a poker table has more potential gains than investing on US stocks atm:-)

i guess this was the post that got you into the freerolls. lol. Good local feedback. I live in B.C. and have friends in Florida. We don't have quite as much local tournament interest as you.

i would say that for north america the poker boom is well and truly over. sure there are a ton of players but poker just isnt as big anymore as what it used to be. i read a story during the wsop how the organisers were really worried that they couldn't get a large enough field due to dismal Day 1A signups that they actually blocked the player count on the blinds clock until all the day 1s were over.

however, i can assure you that poker is still hot in other parts of the word. europe is now in its boom period, similar to north america as evidenced by the strong performance of the ept. the wsope means nothing much over there, its the ept that is the really prestigious tournament. asia will be the next hotspot and myself living in an asian country, i can tell you that poker here is starting to get huge. mentioning the names daniel negreanu or phil ivey doesn't produce blank stares and "huh?"s anymore and theres always a game of poker going on around colleges and the coffee shops. it seems like in 5-8 years time, all the big pros will come down to asia to play (think of the massive fields and prize money, asia is huge!) and there will probably be a wsopA

i think poker gets popular once or twice in everyones lifetime. its one of those games that comes and goes with popularity like trend. it might be dying down right now and i think with the decline of the economy it will continue to lose popularity but dont worry my friend it will come back. and i wouldnt neccesarily say it was poker in general that got popular it was one game in particular texas hold em. how many donks do you know that jumped the poker bandwagon that know how to play anything but hold em or refuse to play anything else