The 2003 Poker Boom explained: Rounders

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  • Published September 19th, 2012 in Poker

In this series I’m going to try to outline the major forces that came together to produce the 2003 “Poker Boom” and why these forces will likely never be repeated again. In my opinion there were actually five factors that had a hand in creating the Poker Boom:

  • Chris Moneymaker
  • Positively Fifth Street
  • Rounders (poker is a skill game)
  • Online Poker
  • The Hole Card Camera

It’s really hard to factor the importance of each in the grand scheme of things, since they all essentially played off of one another. So in this series I’ll take a look at each factor individually and explain its role in the 2003 Poker Boom and how it meshed with the other aspects of the Poker Boom.

Rounders

Without Rounders there is likely never a Chris Moneymaker, or at least not by that name. Rounders was considered a box office flop, but like many movies that don’t translate well in the cinema the movie gained a cult-like following among young men, especially in high-school and college.

With an infusion of new, young, blood into the poker world in the early 2000’s Rounders brought many new players into the poker world, many finding the game in home games in dorm rooms and even online.

Rounders legacy is still going strong in the poker world, where it is considered the best poker movie ever made by virtually every serious poker player. The movie was so influential that it has basically taken over the poker lexicon, and convincing a whole generation of young men that poker is a game of skill.

Rounders and Chris Moneymaker

Moneymaker credits the movie for kindling his interest in poker. So the above statement I made saying without Rounders there is no Chris Moneymaker could very well be true!

Rounders and Positively Fifth Street

Where Positively Fifth Street brought middle-aged players into the game, Rounders worked on the younger generation, covering pretty much all bases except for women.

Rounders and Online Poker

Rounders fueled the online poker rooms in the early days of the industry. While college kids started playing the game in their dorms they also started using the Internet to learn about poker and stumbled upon the burgeoning online poker industry. Anyone playing at this time surely saw an influx of screen-names with “KGB”, “Worm”, and one very infamous online moniker “Leatherass”.

Rounders and the Hole-Card Camera

Rounders was the hole-card cam before the hole card cam. Thanks to the magic of movies we were able to see hole cards, and get a glimpse at where poker was heading in just a few short years.

 

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  • Posted in: Poker
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