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The History Of Online Poker
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Looking Back at The History of online poker
Although online poker is barely ten years old, online gambling in some form or another has been around since the early nineties. It was most likely the popularization of online casinos and sports books that ultimately gave investors the itch to try out an online poker room. So in 1998 the world of online gambling started a new chapter when Planet Poker debuted as the world’s first online poker room. Planet Poker touted features like playing poker without cigarette smoke and you could play poker anytime you wanted. These very features are probably what have made online poker so huge. But despite Planet Poker’s pioneering efforts for online poker the room never became the powerhouse that one would expect out of the industries debuting room. They did however change the game of poker but competition, environmental factors and a host of other problems would keep planet down during the formative years of the Industry.In 1999 one of the most famous names in online poker was born: Paradise Poker. Paradise was a lavish and colorful room that boasted superior software and features to Planet Poker. Although not completely responsible for keeping Planet Poker down, Paradise certainly became a competitive force to be reckoned with when it hit the net in 1999.
The big dogs come to town
With the stage set for online poker by Planet Poker and Paradise Poker, competitors started to hit the market and in 2001 the two biggest names in online poker began hosting games. Party Poker and Poker Stars would become the two largest poker rooms in the world over the next five years. Poker stars would become world renowned for its excellent tournament selection while Party Poker was the hands down champion of ring game action. If there was a game you wanted to play, Party Poker would have it and at any time of the day. Poker Stars gained even more popularity when Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker in 2003. Moneymaker won his way into the WSOP through a satellite tournament at Poker Stars and suddenly everyone thought they could win a online poker tournament and with a story like Moneymaker’s, it wasn’t hard to think that either.
After the entry of Party Poker and Poker Stars to the market in 2001 a throng of other online poker rooms would open and the poker boom had begun. Suddenly poker was not just a game that middle-aged men played in Las Vegas or Atlantic City, but everyone could play and a new influx of fresh young poker players blasted onto the scene. Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars are now the largest online poker rooms in 2010.
UGIEA and the current poker environment
Unfortunately the poker boom in the United States faced a slight road block when the Unlawful Internet Gambling and Enforcement Act was signed into law in October of 2006. While the law is vaguely written and very ambiguous, many of the biggest names in the poker industry suspended real money operations with American Players. Party Poker, who claimed that 75% of their poker revenue came from American players, was one of the biggest casualties and their stock price dropped over fifty percent when they withdrew from the American market. Many other rooms such as Paradise Poker and the rapidly growing Ipoker network also withdrew from the American market. Even Planet Poker, the pioneer of the industry completely suspended real money play to comply with UGIEA. In the wake of these large rooms withdrawing from the American market, other rooms like Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars have soared in the aftermath of UGIEA by still accepting American business.
Although the current state of online poker might be slightly different than it was three years ago, a few things are still certain in that online poker is here to stay and the game is still seeing excellent growth. While popularity and growth in the United States may be stagnant during the wake of UGIEA, online poker is just beginning to make an impact in Europe and the future is bright as ever.
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