Casinos and Internet poker rooms have both experienced exceptional growth in the past decade. Both live and web poker offers something to everyone and as a game of skill, rather than chance, its appeal extends to those who are more intellectual in their approach to gambling. Stores are now offering poker chips, tables and other merchandise of all types, many authors are now specializing in poker books, and poker instructors are now offering lessons to eager students.

 

Top 5 Reasons for the Online Poker Boom

 

The Lipstick Camera

The lipstick cam is a tiny camera built into the table in front of a player's seat, first used by the World Poker Tour in 2002. The WPT's lipstick cam gave viewers the drama of watching a player peel back his cards to reveal his hand, a feature lacking in previously televised poker tournaments. It also made it possible for commentators to give viewers insights into the strategic mindsets of players. This made the game more appealing to mass audiences, who were happy to support the fledgling web poker industry.

 

Deposit Bonuses

After the World Poker Tour gave mass appeal to the game in 2003, the handful of online poker rooms then in operation cashed in on the new shift towards playing on the Internet by offering new players modest deposit bonuses that were easy to clear. This enticed people who had watched poker on TV to try the game at little or no expense. That first wave of Internet poker rooms included Paradise Poker, Party Poker, UltimateBet and PokerStars.

 

Poker Tournaments

The World Series of Poker became one of the focal points for poker's growth right through 2004 and 2005, due to Chris Moneymaker's unanticipated win in 2003 and ESPN's broadcasts of the event. The WSOP became so big after 2003, it had to move away from Binion's Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas to the roomier Rio Hotel and Casino off the Strip.

 

The UIGEA Forces Poker Sites to Look for New Markets

In 2006 US Government authorities began enforcing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, and this artificially shifted the bulk of the online poker industry to other markets overnight. Small markets around the world became worth pursuing, and the European market in particular was heavily courted. In late 2006 Party Poker started to attract more players from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the geographic zone where 67 percent of its daily revenue was generated.

 

Online Poker Becomes a Way of Life

In January 2003, $11.1 million was wagered on web poker sites. That number skyrocketed to $136.1 million by September of that year. At peak times today, as many as 70,000 players can be found in virtual poker rooms and it is a billion dollar industry despite the noise about UIGEA restrictions. Online gaming remains popular, and went from cult pastime to worldwide phenomenon in less than a decade.