The Economy and Poker

For many years the economy was never a bad factor for gambling when the economy was in the dumpster.  A bad economy was always a reason fro people to gamble.  In the thirties the horse racing handles and illegal bookmaking prospered as people tried to supplement their income or lack of it.  Gaming, as we know it now did not exist and the only legal gaming in the United States was the thoroughbred racing industry and the betting pools at the racetrack.  The bad economy of those days was a catalyst that pushed people to gamble.

This is not true with our current economic situation.  The live casinos in many of the big gaming centers are having a tough time keeping their revenue up and this is a distinct change in the usual situation when gaming and the poor economic conditions meet.

Poker is the one area of gambling that seems to continue to grow.  The tournaments all over Europe and the United States are full of not only the pros, but also the satellite-winning amateurs. The prize money continues to grow and the player count in the torments seems to continue to grow or at least not lose players. The poker rooms in the casinos and online are also maintaining solid interest in the grand of old game of poker.  Maybe the table games and slots are not as busy as they were, but the cards are still being dealt over the felt.  The interest in tournament poker on TV still is packing in the audiences.  The online poker rooms still have the player counts they need to be successful.  So the decline and financial problems you see in the paper and online are really only about the casino operations and not about the poker rooms.  All of this points out that the love of poker with its popularity is holding up under difficult times with the economy.  This is an eye-opener to people who thought poker was just the current fad.  This staying power that poker is exhibiting is impressive considering what is happening to other forms of gaming both live and online.

The interest in the WSOPE, the coming Head Up tournament, High Stakes Poker and the WSOP later this year is just the iceberg tip and not the entire poker world.  Live poker and the even better attended poker online is still actively growing with new players and keeping old players of the game.

Tagseconomy, gamble, gambling, High Stakes Poker, live poker, online poker, poker rooms, WSOP

See also

• Third Way to Poker Tournaments and The Satellite game
  There have been two ways to get into poker tournaments up to now.  A player could pay the full price and enter the tournament of their choice.  The other way was to win a seat in a satellite tournament that you paid an entry fee of say $100 and won first prize in a tournament [...]
• Sunday Night is the First High Stakes Poker Game of the 2009 Series
  This 2009 season first that will appear on Sunday Night is a long awaited event by many avid poker players who enjoy the skill and daring players exhibit on this show.  Rumors are about that the stakes to sit down are going to be higher and this means that there will be some outrageously major [...]