Online Poker and its Effect on Tournaments

There is no question that the effect of online poker has been widespread and immense. Online poker rooms were first established in the late 1990’s and since that time there has been a steady rise in players and revenue within the industry. There has been such an explosion of interest that it has been estimated that Online Poker revenues increased nearly 3000% in the four years leading up to 2005. This of course can be attributed to many factors but the most important is the television coverage of poker tournaments like the World Series of Poker.

In 2003, ESPN expanded their coverage of the WSOP from a highlight show to the whole tournament complete with feature tables and even included the “pocket card cam”, allowing viewers at home to see what cards the players had. The 2003 broadcast was also significant because a Pokerstars.com satellite qualifier and poker unknown, Chris Moneymaker, went on to claim the World Series of Poker Main Event title. He beat out the largest ever field at the time of 839 players to win the $2.5 million in prize money. Moneymaker’s win had an enormous effect on the entire poker industry. Every player realized that even they could be a poker world champion and be an online qualifier like Moneymaker.

Since that momentous year, the WSOP has seen a rise in the number of players and prize money. 2004 saw a massive increase in players with 2,576 entrants into the main event. In the years following, the numbers of entries grew and finally peaked in 2006 with a whopping 8,773 players entering the WSOP main event and a first prize of $12 million.

Legislation in the US would have its effect though, with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), passed in 2006, stopping financial transactions for US banks to online gambling sites which effectively put a stop to many US players playing poker online. The legislation did have an effect on the WSOP in the following year, seeing only 6,358 entries and a first prize of $8.25 million in 2007. The WSOP rebounded a bit in 2008 with the 2nd largest ever prize money offered and 6,844 players in the main event and winner Peter Eastgate taking home $9.11 million.

Though the UIGEA has dealt a blow to online gambling, it seems that live tournaments are alive and well and popular as ever.