Jul 09, 2019 It hasn’t happened since the poker boom began with Moneymaker’s win in 2003 — or even since Rounders, Planet Poker, and the buildup to the boom that started in ’98 — and only a handful of ex-champs have even come close in these last two decades. But Moneymaker is in there with 681k in chips. If the golden, innocent age of American poker wasn’t already over, it truly is now. Whether there is a another poker boom on the horizon, or the game instead enters a sort of Dark Ages, remains to. When will the poker boom be? There are hundreds of thousands americans just itching to play online poker again. The next poker boom will be, the day online poker opens up in the USA. (legit sites). Keep your eye out for the backgammon boom until then imo.
15:0702 Dec
Over on the TwoPlusTwo forums, there has been a long discussion going on about how we can make another poker boom.
Wishful thinking many will say. But is the idea so far fetched?
With a big change in direction from the management team at Pokerstars, albeit, one designed to improve the health of the games for the long term, a majority will no doubt feel sure that we will be lucky to still have somewhere to play in ten years, online at least.
I think the first thing we need to all accept is that the 2005 style golden age is never coming back. Most people do of course, but the remainder are still clinging on to some hope that a new market will open up and supply a massive amount of fresh unaware players. They haven't given up on their dream of a repeat of the 'Moneymaker Effect'.
But where could a new market open up in today's world?
Post Black Friday saw the number of Russian players rise considerably. But news as recent as October tells us that things might be changing over there. The Ministry of Finance spoke to Russian news outlet Kommersant,
Under the law, citizens of Russia are prohibited from participating in gambling and lotteries in Russia and abroad, including via the Internet.”
Not the news you want to hear if you have your fingers crossed for another poker boom.
Chinese players on Pokerstars are noticeably greater in number on the cash tables than even just a couple of years ago. Obviously given the size of China's population there is always some hope, and there has been some interesting news over the last year or two.
Back in July 2014, the Asia Pacific Poker Tour hosted the first ever major tournament series to be held in mainland China, the Beijing Millions. Hosted by the Beijing Poker Club, and co-sponsored by Pokerstars, the event was a massive success. The last man standing was Chen Qin, from China, who outlasted a field of 2732 players to pocket a cool 675,000 Yuan, (approx $110,000 at the time).
The Beijing Millions beat the previous record for number of players in a non-US poker tournament set in Brazil 2013.
Chinese players are now reported to be flocking to Macau in greater numbers than at any other time in the past. There was also a large group of Chinese players who travelled to the World Series of Poker 2014 event in Las Vegas. Six Chinese players cashed that year for almost $250,000 in prize money. This summer they managed 24 cashes albeit for less prize money.
As far as the head count is concerned, China could be the boom that the poker world is waiting for. The interest appears to be there as well, so what's missing?.
What do we need to set off the same kind of spark that we saw in the USA following Chris Moneymaker's victory in the WSOP main event in 2003?. The answer is probably in the question. We could be just waiting for the first major title winner from mainland China. It really might be as simple as that. World Series of Poker, World Poker Tour, European Poker Tour, it doesn't actually matter which.
When a Chinese player travels to take on the best the rest of the world has to offer and hits the jackpot, then the rest of the players have somebody they can try to emulate. They will gain self belief and want to be a part of any potential Chinese poker revolution.
Back to back WSOP main event winner Johnny Chan, although born in mainland China, spent only the first five years of his life there before moving to Hong Kong, and eventually to the USA at age eleven. He is seen as an American now, but the biggest issue is that he comes from an older generation, a generation of live professionals that has found itself almost superseded by the internet whizz kids.
To act as a figurehead for Chinese poker professionals and hopefuls, the person we're looking for needs to gain attention worldwide while remaining in China. We need somebody who can rise to the top of the high stakes cash game rankings or the tournament scene, live or online.
The other market with a lot of potential for fast growth is Latin America. There have been very few laws passed in the region concerning online poker, and this can only been a good thing. Pokerstars saw the potential back in 2008 and created the Latin America Poker Tour (LAPT) and seven years later we see a series with fantastic support from not only local players, but from the rest of the world. A famously fun loving part of the world with great weather has attracted players to come and visit so they can play some poker in an exotic environment.
My own experience is that I haven't seen close to as many Latin Americans on the cash tables as I expected. There is so much untapped potential going to waste in what is a huge potential market. But earlier this year in July there were headlines about a big merger between the LAPT and the Brazilian Series of Poker Millions to create the biggest poker series in Latin American history. It seems logical to expect a massive marketing campaign to accompany this tie up, which could be a major catalyst for an influx of new players in the local poker economy.
So there we have two areas which could blossom at any time in the coming few years. We shouldn't forget Russia as well. It's always possible that if the Kremlin decides to clarify the legal situation in a positive way to allow its citizens to play online poker, then we could see many new players from that market also.
What other factors are at play here?
The single biggest factor damaging the quality of the games over the last ten years has been the move in some countries to only allow their citizens to play against other players in the same country. If this trend continues it might not matter if a new market increases rapidly in size, we might not be able to take advantage.
Another serious change came in Greece a couple of years ago where it was decided to start taxing players daily on their winnings. In effect making the games unbeatable.
We know that we are at the mercy of our law makers no matter where we live. There's not a great deal we can do with respect to keeping the games in a workable state, every year that things remain in place to allow to us to play is a bonus.
Gambling has always polarised opinion. I'm sure that everybody else out there that has had the dreaded conversation with their parents about leaving a perfectly good job to play cards on the internet for a living, understands this. With so much negative publicity out there about all forms of gambling, if things take a turn for the worse regarding regulation then our cries of 'It's a skill game' will sadly fall on deaf ears.
Never forget that it could all come to an end next month just as easily as a couple hundred million new players from China could sign up to play small stakes cash games and multi table tournaments next year following a Chinese victory in the WSOP main event.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments below.
Will There Be Another Poker Boom
The short answer is yes. And the reason is that the new World Series of Poker Main Event champion is a New Jersey native and credits legal, regulated online poker for his $8.15 million victory.
Scott Blumstein may not be the next Chris Moneymaker. The global online poker environment has changed too much in the past decade to allow for another poker boom on that type of scale. But Blumstein has the potential to spur growth in the United States poker market due to the unique circumstances surrounding his win and the current status of the game’s legality.
Who is Scott Blumstein?
The 25-year-old poker player hails originally from Morristown in New Jersey but now calls Brigantine home. He played football in high school before moving on and graduating from Temple University in Philadelphia with a degree in accounting.
Blumstein has been playing poker since his college days, as his first live tournament cash came in the summer of 2012 in an Empire State Poker Championship tournament, in which he finished second in the $165 No Limit Hold’em tournament for $3,817. He returned the following year and won that event while winning daily tournaments at Parx Casino.
It wasn’t until he really began to put in the serious time and effort as a poker pro that he scored big. That happened at the 2016 Borgata Summer Poker Open in Atlantic City, where he won the $500 buy-in event that kicked off the series for $199,854. Not even two weeks later, he finished 14th in the $2,500 Championship in that series for another $13,507.
All the while, Blumstein had been playing online poker via the regulated sites available to New Jersey players. He won more than $147K in total since the sites became available, scoring 23 wins and multiple final tables on the Borgata, PartyPoker, and WSOP New Jersey sites.
New Jersey Grinder Roots
While Blumstein described himself as “just a kid who loved to play poker,” he also called himself a grinder. He put in years of online and live play, learning from his experience and especially the plethora of hands available to play online. He enjoyed cash games and tournaments, both of which require unique sets of skills. And all of those skills worked together to bring him to his first WSOP Main Event, first cash in such a large tournament, and ultimately to the final table where he dominated most of the play. His opponents were tough, but Blumstein took his chip lead to the top and won the biggest, most prestigious tournament of the poker year.
Still in shock & I'm not sure when it will sink in completely but for right now I'm just enjoying the moment. All the support means so much!
— Scott Blumstein (@SBlum2711) July 23, 2017
As he told the Associated Press, “The best way to get better at anything is through repetition and practice. When you play online in New Jersey, it’s hard for any live pro to see even close to the amount of hands I’ve probably seen in the last two years.”
While he seemed to play quite a lot of online poker on Borgata, PartyPoker, and WSOP sites, Blumstein took a sponsorship deal at the WSOP final table to wear the 888poker patch. (888poker is the lead WSOP sponsor, and the two companies often collaborate in poker ventures.)
The Blumstein Boom?
There is no guarantee that Blumstein’s success will catch on and create a poker boom of any kind, as much of that remains in his own hands. However, he has many of the qualities that make for a standout poker ambassador; he seems to be a humble, grateful, intelligent, college-educated, family-oriented, hard-working, friendly, and down-to-earth person.
In all post-game interviews, he was also quick to point out that he was prepared for the WSOP Main Event because of the online poker he was able to play legally in New Jersey. Blumstein clearly knows how important it is that the game be allowed to grow in the United States and the obstacles that currently stand in its way.
The possibility of a poker boom is not only in Blumstein’s hands, however. Should 888poker choose to embrace the champion and invest some marketing dollars into a campaign, there are numerous opportunities to grow poker on many levels. Based on the success of 888 in many betting arenas around the world, the company knows what it takes to capitalize on an event and use it to grow the brand.
It remains to be seen if 888poker will use everything in its repertoire to make the most of the moment, and if Blumstein will be willing to take the opportunity if given to him.
Possibilities
There are many possibilities to grow online poker in the US. His home state’s neighbor, Pennsylvania, is currently struggling with gambling expansion that could include the legalization of online poker. Other nearby states like New York and Massachusetts have also recently debated and considered it.
Meanwhile, however, there are several dangers lurking on the federal level that could outlaw online poker in the entirety of the country. Members of Congress and the current US attorney general seem willing to do what it takes to satisfy casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who wants nothing more than to ban online gambling everywhere it is possible. Whether a bill like the Restoration of America’s Wire Act or a Department of Justice decision to redefine the Wire Act, dangers to online poker continue to lurk.
A poker ambassador who hails from the online poker sites of New Jersey, where the games are safe, regulated, and based on skill, may hold the ability to influence the general public as well as political figures. There could be ad campaigns, lobbying efforts, legislative testimony, and any number of other ways to change minds and create awareness.
As with everything else in politics and poker these days, time will tell.