After appearing in westerns for decades, the poker player kind of went AWOL from our TV screens for a while. Not anymore. Seems like every other time I flip by several of my supposed 75 cable channels, a couple of guys are staring each other down in a way that can only be the result of playing No Limit Texas Hold ‘em poker.

Though I am not much of a gambler, I love it, and apparently so do a lot of other Americans.

The phrase “poker revolution” is making the rounds. Part of the credit for the surge has to go to the Internet. Playing poker (legally) once meant a trip to a casino, which can be expensive, intimidating and a far piece to drive or fly for most of us. Now that almost all our living rooms are connected by cable and/or satellite signals, anyone can play anytime.

In our underwear or less, if we want to. “Online cardrooms” also allow a player to play some free games and learn the nuances without losing his proverbial shirt.

PokerPulse, an industry research group, reports online poker grew from a $300 million a year industry in 2003 to a projected $2.9 billion this year. The number of online players has reportedly increased to 1.8 million per month, with up to 100,000 people playing online during peak hours.

The year 2003 was a big one for both the online poker industry and the traditional casino game. That was the year an accountant and amateur poker player named Chris Moneymaker put $39 down to get into an online poker game and won the right to enter the World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournament against the best professionals out there. A Knoxville native, Moneymaker traveled to Binion’s Casino in Las Vegas and won the entire tournament - a $2.5 million payday.

The World Series of Poker main event of No Limit Texas Hold ‘em is a live-action tournament that welcomes anyone older than 21 who has valid proof of age (and money). The number of entrants in the event has grown 1,000 percent since 2000, when 512 hopefuls anted up. Moneymaker beat out 839 entrants in 2003.

His amazing “kid from outta nowhere” story inspired more than three times as many people (2,576) to pull up a chair in 2004. There were 5,662 entrants this year.
While eventually these numbers will level off, I think poker is here to stay. For one thing, it is a sport of personalities.

I have a favorite player - Chris “Jesus” Ferguson - and know enough about him to know that he has won five WSOP titles and is a doctoral student at UCLA who already has a degree in computer science. Artificial intelligence is his specialty.

I also have players I hiss at on a regular basis. Chris Hellmuth, known as the “Poker Brat,” is a favorite target of my derision, though he is one of the best players to ante up.

Ages ago my psychology professor lectured on operant conditioning and rats in cages. I remember him saying that rats trained to push a lever for a treat would respond strongest to a variable rate of return. For example, a pellet of food might appear after the rat pushed the lever only twice, but not again until he pushed it eight times. Poker, and gambling in general, is a lot like that.

Players (and vicariously, those of us spectating at home) do what it takes to get their treat - play their best - but never know when they will get a reward. Three kings and a 90 percent chance of winning the hand can turn out a loser when the last card (known as the River card in Texas Hold ‘em) turns out to be a two of clubs, giving your opponent a flush.

How far away from casinos and smoke-filled backrooms has poker come? CBS Sports will televise parts of the upcoming ProJo Poker tournament at the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City, their press release calling “‘Average Joe’ Poker players to come play against other recreational poker players for a shot at the world’s top poker pros and nearly $40 million in prize and bonus money….” Absolute Poker joined other online casinos in organizing tournaments to raise relief funds for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Poker may not challenge baseball, football and basketball for primetime anytime soon, but I don’t think it is just a fad, either. Fads come and go; gambling has been here since Eve bet nothing bad would happen if she took a bite of that apple.

by Dave Russell

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 19th, 2006 at 7:53 pm and is filed under Poker Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.