What caused poker decline?

Psyanide14

Psyanide14

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Hey all. A bit of background first. I used to play online poker back in the early 2000s pretty regularly and watched the world poker tour th3 first few seasons (even got them on DVD). Then got married, had kids, yada yada yada.

I recently started playing again and watching the world poker tour on sports net here in canada (since hockey’s over). I noticed when they scroll the previous years winners of the same tournament it steadily increased for the first several years then it dropped off quickly. What caused this?

Was it the Great Recession in the states or something else. Just a curiosity question. Hope that’s allowed. Thanks.
 
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Smokewood

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Black Friday.

Online poker causes all poker to be more popular.
 
NoPlace4U

NoPlace4U

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Black Friday was a mayor hit to poker popularity.
 
Polytarp

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There was a NHL strike around 2007-8 which made me look around for something interesting and I discovered online poker. There was a real boom around this time and a lot of great value could be found. Black Friday, insider cheating and a few other things put a damper on things.
 
57noona

57noona

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Black Friday caused people to move away from poker. I feel like now people are starting to come back to poker.
 
mk0523

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There's been many threads like this before on here in the past. The real quick simple answer is government restrictions(making it harder for people to deposit) along with major sites issues at places like UB/Absolute Poker and Fulltilt(made it so people didn't trust online poker due to the cheating scandal at UB/AB and ownership stealing $ from players at Fulltilt) made it less popular.
 
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da22duke

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Black Friday was the big hit. People tried to keep it going for months afterwards but over time people just faded...
 
Psyanide14

Psyanide14

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LOL. I was reading the replies and everyone was mentioning Black Friday. I had to goggle it because I couldn’t figure out why the big sales the day after US thanksgiving would cause less people to play poker.

Now I understand. (That occurred during my poker hiatus )
 
DefinitelyNOTaMurderer

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As others have said Black Friday was indeed a huge hit to the popularity of poker. However, I forsee online poker being legalized in all 50 states in the next 5 years. More states are starting to realize the cashcow that they are sitting on with gambling. Much like state liquor taxes and in some states the marijuana tax. With sportsbooks being allowed in certain states the future looks good for all forms of gambling as a whole.
 
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wb403n

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Was going to post pretty much exactly what DefinitelyNOTaMurderer posted (another member from Washington). I believe that the states will continue to legalize online poker as well, and we will definitely see an increase in popularity.
 
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I hope we do see a huge upturn. I started playing online in 1999. I was a member of BlueSquare Poker, Ladbrokes and several other British bookies. There were always huge payout freerolls kicking off seemingly every half hour round the clock, and finding games with healthy amounts of players was a cinch.

I have recently got back into poker online, and sadly my report is that its almost dead! I'm playing on the so-called leader in the poker world, pokerstars and partypoker. I play small stakes SNG for now (eg. £3-15 Fifty50, or 9 seaters) and I get the same players every match!

Also the MTTs I join are all offering Rebuy and Late Reg. There isn't any option for the standard knockout (no rebuy/ no late reg). ***I'm still hoping I am wrong about that and that I just havent found them, because I really just wanted to play standard MTT without worrying about richer people rebuying several times and adding-on.
 
Psyanide14

Psyanide14

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I find the same thing with regards to MTT. Almost all have rebuys or add ons and I find the late registration annoying. Some tourneys I have seen people joining an hour later. You start the tournament with a couple hundred and you think you are doing good but then look at the tournament info and see you are 196/547. Annoying for sure. Of course late registers are going to have a much smaller stack compared to average and blinds.
 
jaymfc

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quoted from an article on the front page of CC "wsop 2018 MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS"

The 2018 WSOP Main Event had the second most participants in its 49-year history (7,874), a clear sign that poker is anything but a dying breed.


:) :) :)
 
Herkstwin

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I have to agree that poker seems to have peaked a few years back. Black Friday was an issue for the USA, not the rest of the world. Since there were a lot of US players, there was a drop in online poker.


Things seem to be picking up again.


For the most part I have stopped playing online poker, but continue to play live as much as I can.
 
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freestocks

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It was before black Friday. There was a critical mass at the WSOP and WPT. The increase couldn't continue.
 
TheNutz4You

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acr is terrible about late reg. almost every mtt they offer has at least 3 hours of late reg and some of the bigger GTD one's have 5 hours of late reg. Most sites offer rebuys and add on and a crazy amount of late reg so they can offer and MEET huge guarentees to draw people in. They should lower the GTD and make late reg 2hrs MAX imo.
 
Eric Salvador

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This year the WSOP Main had the second largest field ever. Black Friday turn a lot of people away, but its back now
 
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I am Brazilian and my perception about the fall of Poker is as follows:

1. I did not hear about Black Friday because I was on hiatus, but analyzing it today, I noticed its effects. TV poker programs, like poker stars, have stopped ticking and national poker sites have been outdated after this date.

2. I believe that some of the old poker players were young people who believed in the "promise" of easy enrichment provided by poker at that time. Since then, other "easy" forms have appeared, such as YouTube and Instagram. That is, these other platforms that show rich people have taken the focus of youth. Nowadays it only plays poker who really likes it.
 
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Roger1960

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Of course Black Friday, that is what got me the most, not being able to find a good place to play.
Then watching the WSOP got harder to watch, instead of being available you have to pay to watch. I haven't watched one in a number of years. I have finally watched pieces of it on You Tube. I don't have cable tv anymore, I just roll with the internet. I used to love to watch, my brother and I would make a night out of it. Now not at all.
Too bad the people who do watch only watch the final table where the blinds are huge and it is usually all in or nothing for a few players. This makes them think that at the beginning everyone goes all in. lol
 
iamtoldurghey

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This---

I think this is about spot on .

There's been many threads like this before on here in the past. The real quick simple answer is government restrictions(making it harder for people to deposit) along with major sites issues at places like UB/Absolute Poker and Fulltilt(made it so people didn't trust online poker due to the cheating scandal at UB/AB and ownership stealing $ from players at Fulltilt) made it less popular.
 
zviko

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people adapting to the game very quickly based on technology that increases awareness of the sport. Newcomers winning more and more.
 
MrPokerVerse

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With anything that booms, it will correct. The buy in in for WSOP isn't for a lot new players. Online decline like others have mentioned, BF took a lot of wind of the sails of American players.
 
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Poker on-line is just not the same as live. Part of my game is being able to read people; pick up on their tendencies as so on, but I have not been able to translate that skill successfully to on-line poker. So after several years of trying, I only play small stakes on-line. Like others have stated, live legal games are everywhere now so I think people , a lot just like me, prefer the live version of the game we love.
 
Psyanide14

Psyanide14

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Unfortunately I live in a province with no casino and thus no poker rooms. The occasional charity event but that’s it for live. And since I live on an island I can’t drive elsewhere to play so I’m stuck with online.
 
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