Long Live Online Poker

Posted:November 2017

Poker is dead. TV channels are no longer infested with it and bookmakers are no longer pushing their online poker rooms. They have been left to wither and slowly die. In some cases, such as BetVictor, online poker has already gone extinct.

So how did the game, which enjoyed massive popularity at the start of the noughties go from hero to a seemingly approaching zero? And can it reinvent itself and return to the mainstream?

Well, firstly poker is by no means dead. It remains America’s No. 1 pastime and in November online poker room, PokerStars announced its profits were up by 12.5% and brought them in over $220 million for a single business quarter!

PokerStars are the biggest online poker room albeit Party Poker and Unibet are making giant strides. And that is key, as the likes of Unibet have consolidated the poker players from several online bookmakers they have purchased such as Stan James. Nowadays they probably offer the best online poker bonuses for UK players in their quest to continue their growth.

Liquidity is Vital 

Online poker needs liquidity, as players have no interest in visiting a card room which has only a few people to play against. This has been the downfall of many an online sportsbook.

In the early part of the 2000’s Ladbrokes ruled online poker in the UK. They were ‘stand alone’ (meaning you only played against fellow Ladbrokes players and not a pool of players from other sites), they sponsored the Sky Sports televised Poker Million, staged major ‘poker cruises’ for their customers and made millions.

In addition to the Ladbrokes’ Poker Million, William Hill paid for a ‘Grand Prix’ series which was broadcast on Channel 4, Betfair also put their name (and money) to a UK televised ‘Poker Masters of Europe’ (ironically won by Ladbrokes sponsored pro Roy ‘The Boy’ Brindley) and BetVictor financed two series of the ‘Victor Cup’ – one of which was won by Brighton & Hove Albion Chairman Tony Bloom.

But the ball was dropped, online poker is probably best described (internally) as an inconvenience and interest waned as profits from Texas Hold’em and Omaha have evaporated. Consequently there are no big marketing budgets to spend on producing TV poker tournaments and buying airtime.

An Itch for Twitch 

Indeed, this aspect of poker has died but accusations that poker is dead and buried is very far off the mark. Just as the players have flocked to one of the ‘big three’ online poker rooms, aficionados, fans and recreational players are now getting their fix of televised poker, tutorials and vlogs via the new medium which is Twitch TV.

Twitch, an online streaming platform, has enjoyed rapid growth courtesy of its coverage of eSports and eSports is ‘the next big thing’ as far as bookmakers are concerned. They are seeing a colossal number of bets being struck on competitive video gaming.

Therein there is every chance poker could make a dramatic return to the home pages of the UK’s major online bookmakers, not as a game to play but as a game to bet on.

With ‘in-play’ and ‘live streamed’ sports accounting for an ever increasing amount of bookmaker profits and turnover there is no good reason why poker tournaments – particularly old school single-table shootouts – cannot join the lists of ‘slow burning’ sports to bet on nestled alongside snooker and a little down from eSports.

Poker is an incredibly popular game even though it has seen a few recent dips. Time will tell as to whether rooms can make the necessary adjustments to continue to attract the masses.