Texas Holdem Poker - Today
The Texas Holdem poker phenomenon has taken the country by storm. There are reportedly over 100 million active poker players worldwide. Poker’s popularity is largely the byproduct of technology and several recent trends: 1) online gaming, where players engage and socialize in real-time over the Internet, and 2) the broad publicity created by high profile TV shows like the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and World Poker Tour (WPT). With all the poker-mania, there’s a modern day "gold rush" underway today. Analyst estimates are a bit sketchy, but some estimate that people will spend up to $4.5 billion U.S. in 2005 on poker-related items of every kind, including: * Online poker room play * Poker tournaments * Online poker room financial brokers (e.g., Firepay, NetTeller, Citadel and others) * Casino poker rooms * Game units for your TV * Poker chip sets and dealer buttons (you can even get "collector" edition dealer buttons signed by the pros - got some as Christmas presents this year!) * Poker tables and instructions for how to build poker tables * Poker software (poker odds calculators, poker games, home tournament organizers, tournament director kits) * Texas holdem poker rule and starting hand cards * Poker schools and training courses * Poker books and strategy e-books * Poker hats, shirts and clothing items * Local poker clubs * Free Texas Holdem poker stuff of every kind imaginable. To give you an idea of how many people are now playing with real-money online, have a look at PokerPulse.com. PokerPulse keeps tabs on the top online poker rooms and tracks how many real-money poker games are running at any point in time. Some estimates based upon these statistics suggest that online poker room companies are turning over in excess of $110 million U.S. every 24 hours, with hundreds of thousands of online players active any given evening. So, with the worldwide inertia that poker has today, how far can it go? Will it be like the CB Radio - a brief flash in the pan and then suddenly - poof! Will it be just another fad and memory, with occasional reminders like Smokey and the Bandit? Hard to say for sure, but with the momentum, advertising and so many young people, including many teenagers and children playing across the Internet, it could be that the poker big bang has occured and its expansion has only really begun... As with many new, controversial phenomenon such as poker, there's the social morality aspect and question: Is playing poker gambling? Is it really just a game of skill? The question of whether online poker rooms are just as much about gambling as traditional casino games and online bookie operations is certainly one that is shaping some industries, and creating some others. Before we look for the answers to those questions, let's explore what the actions of certain parties might lead us to believe. For example, the traditional credit card processors (MC, VISA, AMEX, PayPal, and others) decided to discontinue use of their credit card services to fund player's online poker accounts. Today, there's a whole cottage industry that has sprung up to fill the enormous demand for transferring funds between bank accounts and online poker room accounts, processing untold millions of dollars each day. Try advertising a poker-related item through Google's AdWords or the Yahoo/MSN equivalent (Overture) and you'll quickly find they have a category known as "Gambling URL" that'll come into play. Any website that could be related to online poker rooms is considered a "gambling" site and advertising services are thereby refused. So, what happened as a result? Well, aside from these companies losing advertising revenues, it's forced the poker industry into fierce competition for the poker-related search "namespaces". Try searching for something using keywords like "Texas Holdem poker" and see what you find. It's amazing at how clogged up the search engine namespace has become, with every search engine optimization (SEO) technique and trick known to man being used by poker website owners in an attempt to gain visibility, page ranking and routing of more visitor traffic to their websites. In my opinion, the answer to the question "Is playing poker gambling?" is - it depends. It depends on the player's skill level. If you're a highly-skilled player, then IMHO it's not gambling - it's playing a sophisticated game like chess, where you not only must defeat the opponents but you must also use strategy and play the odds in order to win. You beat the odds by playing only certain starting hands from given positions at the table, adjusting your play based upon the game situation, understanding other players' styles, and by developing a strategy for winning, throwing your weight (chip stack) around at the right times, and by sitting out at other times. No, it's far from gambling for many of us. However, for those who don't possess the requisite skills, it is gambling more often than it's not, since skill is much less of a factor for such players. Since the basic rules are deceptively simple, people often have no idea why they're beaten. What makes it very different from traditional casino gambling games, though, is that you're not playing against the house. The online poker room takes a "rake", a percentage of the money that's in play (e.g., 10% or so), which is how the online poker room generates revenues. It doesn't really matter who wins or loses, since the poker operator always gets paid for hosting the game. I'll cover popular online poker rooms in a future article in more detail, but suffice it to say, there's gold in them there hills and the claims have been staked by the market leaders, who are raking in fortunes providing their sophisticated online service businesses to millions of eager players worldwide. Since these business aren't allowed to operate within U.S. borders, they're virtually unregulated (at least by U.S. standards) and new ones continue to pop up every month. Now I don't want to make it sound like everyone who plays online is playing with real money - quite the contrary. There's an enormous number of players who just use "play money" and have a real blast playing and socializing via the use of instant messaging and interactions through the online poker room site. So, is the poker phenomenon a trend or just another fad that's destined to take it's place in our video library, beside Smokey and the Bandit and that CB radio wave that crested in the 1970's? Hard to say for sure. One thing is for certain. A lot of people are having fun playing in online poker rooms, at traditional casinos and in their own home games - while an army of others are supplying that demand, and making a boatload of money in the process. Until next time - Good Luck! Rick Rick Braddy is an avid writer, Texas Holdem poker player and professional software developer and marketer for over 25 years. His websites and Texas Holdem poker software helps people become better players. If you're a poker player, be sure to visit his Texas Holdem poker websites and learn how you can play better Texas Holdem poker, too. |
Other Online Poker Articles
The Growing Popularity of Internet Sports Gambling Do you love to gamble? Maybe you like to play card games, or bet on racehorses. A lot of people are captivated by the art of gambling. I consider gambling an art because I realize that gambling is not all about being lucky. I observed that professional gamblers have become so skilled that they don’t have to rely on luck. Take for instance those ...Beware Gambling Can Increase Your Debt Problems Are you the type of person who likes to take a gamble from time to time on things such as the result of a horse race? Would you say that you have an addiction to gambling? Do you lose more money than you win when gambling? Are you in debt? Are you hoping to reduce your debts by gambling? In this article, I write about a friend of mine who tried ...Best Online Poker Rooms There are so many online poker rooms to choose form, that making a selection of where to play can be a pretty daunting task. Playing online poker can be entertaining and very profitable, but to get the most out of your online poker experience, you need to choose a site that’s right for you.If you’re a beginner, play for free, or sit in on ...Poker Chip Cases: Aluminum, Wood, or Acrylic Poker chip cases come in a variety of materials, styles and price ranges. With some poker chips being a large investment, it only makes sense to protect them from theft and damage. If you are one of the thousands who like to play with premium poker chips, then the choice of what poker chip case you use makes a difference to you. While others may ...Online Poker Site Room If you have been considering signing up to play online poker, you may have some questions about what to expect in an online poker site room. Knowing a little bit about what online poker has to offer can help you begin play in these exciting games. Different poker sites of course offer different features to its players. However there are some sta ...Top Rated Poker Affiliate Program It is a well known fact that a top rated poker affiliate program can help you to make extra revenue by simply placing a banner on your website while also improving your placement within the internet.A top rated poker affiliate program provides an excellent opportunity for you to earn money because they offer the most generous affiliate pa ...Free Poker Games There are many sites that offer free poker games online and this number is increasing all the time. Online poker is an attractive pastime for many people that can be enjoyed from home. While some sites offer a variety of free poker games for you to play, yet other sites specialize in one certain type of poker. Some of the free poker games that a ...Affiliate Poker Room Are you frustrated with all of the phony money making offers on the Internet? Would you like to make a little extra cash, but don’t want to waste your time and money on a get rich quick scheme? Then you need to find a good affiliate poker room. This will allow you to sign-up for free with nor risk and send referrals to the affiliate poker room. ...Best Online Poker Rooms- Where Should You be Playing? Poker is one of the fastest growing sports in America today. It is getting so popular, in fact, that it is spilling over onto the World Wide Web. However, we all know the dangers of putting personal information on the internet for all to see and poker generally involves money of some sort. The following information will help to direct you to ...Texas Holdem Tournament Strategy - Poker Tournament Fundamentals This is the second in the Texas Holdem Strategy Series, focusing on no limit Texas Hold’em poker tournament play and associated strategies. In the first installment, we examined a real-world tournament scenario and how to handle a particular class of difficult players – the "maniacs", aggressive, wild players that are commonly encountered in to ...Tips for Sports Betting The following are some tips that can help you to earn big payouts from your sports bets online. Before placing a bet, collect as much information as possible. The best way to win as many bets as possible is to prepare in advance. Gain as much knowledge as you can of the sport you are betting on. Always look for updates on personnel changes, coac ...The History of Poker Chips Gaming chips have been made from a wide range of materials in an almost infinite variety of styles since the birth of gambling and the need to keep track of winnings. The most common material types used today in the manufacture of modern poker chips are plastic, clay composite, and acrylic composite. Clay chips, the oldest of the bunch, have bee ...Football Betting Football betting is almost a national pastime—albeit one that is generally kept under wraps. With the advent of online casinos, football betting has a whole new avenue. It used to be much more difficult to bet on games than in the past. Maybe you’d subscribe to a couple magazines, read the newspaper, and listen to sports talk radio to get a s ...Birth of Gambling 101 The history of gambling is as old as human existence on earth. Homo Sapiens have always been fond of gaming. Gaming or gambling was a part of primeval man’s life too. The primary reasons to gamble in those times were amusement, utility and pleasing the deities. As human rationality and advancement enhanced with time, gaming became a source to ma ...NFL Wagering There are some important points to consider in sports wagering, specifically in NFL wagering. One of them is NFL wagering picks. NFL picks are pieces of information which specialist on NFL make while analyzing games, teams, past games, players and all factors that can make an effect on the outcome of a game.Picks can be general or deep in ...The Choices in Online Casino Gambling The development of the internet has transformed the web into a virtual casino. Players can play different games and make some money from it.One of the conveniences that online gambling has given to players is that there is no need to travel anymore. The person can play this for hours just sitting at home.Since there are many sites ...College Betting Pro football is traditionally the most popular avenue for sports betting—whether it’s in Vegas or an office pool on the Super Bowl. College betting is just as prevalent as pro football betting. However, it can be a bit more difficult than pro football betting.The reason is pretty simple: there are far fewer teams that are in the NFL tha ...Video Poker Slots - The Only Slot Game You Can Beat Consistenty Video Poker Slots are fun and are the only online slot game where you can use a degree of skill to tilt the odds in your favor.Fact is, it’s the only slot game where you win consistently and here we will look at video poker slots and how you can win.How to play Video Poker SlotsVideo Poker is a form of draw poker and has t ...Online Casino Free Cash Bonus Means Sometimes No Money At All Giving away online casino bonuses by casino operators seems to be the easiest way to attract gamblers. There are many types of bonuses out there - match bonuses (or sign up bonuses), deposit bonuses (when you transfer funds via Neteller or Paysparks) and free cash bonuses (also known as no-deposit bonus). In this article I will explain you how t ...How to Profit at Online Poker Over the Long Run The first and most important step is to take notes. Use a spreadsheet. Write down everything. Write down your time, bankroll and end result for each table played at. Why you won, or why you lost. Also note the casino site if you play at several. Never stop taking notes. I have notes going back for several years. I have found that playing at lowe ...Easy Ways To Make Money Today, there are umpteen easy ways to make money effortlessly. These avenues may be legitimate or illegitimate, but they share the common trend of providing easy money. However, it must be said right now that "easy money" is just a euphemism for a way to make money in a non-traditional way. There is no such thing is truly easy money.Betti ...How to Play Keno Keno is one of the easiest gambling games to play. When you learn how to play Keno, you’ll be able to find a Keno game in just about any Las Vegas casino hall or online casino. Similar to Lotto, Keno originated in China and was brought to the United States by Chinese immigrants in the mid-1800s. One of the best reasons to learn how to play Keno ...Gambling Stories One of the oldest sources of entertainment, a combo of games that involve not just players but most importantly money, has a history of making millionaires as well as turning many of them bankrupt, gambling is an activity with a difference. Since time memorial gambling is the favorite pastime of people across the globe. For some gambling is the ...Asian Gambling Resorts The continent is studded with the casino destinations. It can be called the oriental gambling or the eastern gambling extravaganza. The most happening spots for gamblers can be found all over the continent of Asia. The legalization of gambling in most of the Asian and specially the South-East Asian countries had given a spurt to the industry in ...Football Wagering Football wagering is the gambling activity with the most demand on the sports wagering industry. NFL Football has attracted millions of persons to their stadiums, reached millions of televisions across the world and encouraged American football fans to bet on the sport, pushing NFL football wagering with great strength.For those of you th ...
|
