Is 2023 the start of the next poker boom?

[quick]

20 years after Chris Moneymaker sparked what was arguably the last poker boom, are we now finally seeing the possibility of another poker boom with the latest news of a wsop ME that has crushed the prior all time entry record ?

After Black Friday of poker in 2011 seemed like poker was on it's way down, and the downswing continued for years. Sure there were some upticks in interest with things like the launch of GGPoker for non US players, as well as some US states legalizing regulated poker again, and some memorable WSOP MEs, but the rail heavens of Full Tilt, and poker on TV all the time era seemed gone. And you had the shift from ESPN to paid PokerGo taking poker off millions of TV screens. Then of course the pandemic which probably hit live poker hard.

But 2023 the WSOP ME is over 10,000 entrants, and 2021 and 2022 saw an increase in poker shows and streams online. And even Tom Dwan is back playing the Main Event!

So is this the spark , will a new Moneymaker rise to win a historic WSOP ME?

Or is it a flash in the pan.

On another note: Imagine if so much poker content like the WSOP ME wasn't behind paywalls of PokerGo and still on TVs across poker rooms, bars, airports, houses, sporting events once again on ESPN? That would really set the spark.

 

[Mortis]

There were sparks of another poker boom in 2019. The main event came close to breaking the record (just 200 less players than the record). Then the pandemic happened and halted everything. Last year, in 2022, it seems like it was back on track with 2019 numbers, and heading back towards another boom. So, yes I think we are at the beginning of another boom - but I think it started in 2019, then paused, and continue where it left off in 2022, leading up to records being broken now. And I think it will continue to grow for another couple of years. It may peak in 2025 before numbers level off... or it could peak next year.

 

[AKQ]

There were sparks of another poker boom in 2019. The main event came close to breaking the record (just 200 less players than the record). Then the pandemic happened and halted everything. Last year, in 2022, it seems like it was back on track with 2019 numbers, and heading back towards another boom. So, yes I think we are at the beginning of another boom - but I think it started in 2019, then paused, and continue where it left off in 2022, leading up to records being broken now. And I think it will continue to grow for another couple of years. It may peak in 2025 before numbers level off... or it could peak next year.

What happened was.....
Enough Poker Players started teaching and getting people interested in a Poker career
Teaching Poker is far past buying a poker book
but not past selling the dream daily on social media sites
The best Chess Players in the world and top youtube stars like Mr. Beast have all taken a liking to texas holdem.
Solver perfect play has been shown to be exploitable and self image theory to be viable
Poker is fun again

PH 3 betting 4 X pot with ace high on the flop
GTFO mother truckers!!!!
(game theory finite optimal) GTO+ white magic+ chip accumulation theory)

I can't play poker for money where I live
Poker is my life though
So I create theory and do it for the Love of the game
I give strategy gifts to my favorite players Dneg(limpin is pimpin) PH (GTFO)
Crafted while studying under the best coaches and players in the world
They said I couldn't beat the solver and they banned me from discussion discord alongside Micheal acevido author of modern poker theory for agreeing with me!!
To prove my strategy
I gave it to Dneg on twitter and told him to use it in the SHR 300K buy in

Guess who got the last laugh!!

There has never a better time to enjoy playing poker and Winning!!!

 

[DS3]

20 years after Chris Moneymaker sparked what was arguably the last poker boom, are we now finally seeing the possibility of another poker boom with the latest news of a WSOP ME that has crushed the prior all time entry record ?

After Black Friday of poker in 2011 seemed like poker was on it's way down, and the downswing continued for years. Sure there were some upticks in interest with things like the launch of GGPoker for non US players, as well as some US states legalizing regulated poker again, and some memorable WSOP MEs, but the rail heavens of Full Tilt, and poker on TV all the time era seemed gone. And you had the shift from ESPN to paid PokerGo taking poker off millions of TV screens. Then of course the pandemic which probably hit live poker hard.

But 2023 the WSOP ME is over 10,000 entrants, and 2021 and 2022 saw an increase in poker shows and streams online. And even Tom Dwan is back playing the Main Event!

So is this the spark , will a new Moneymaker rise to win a historic WSOP ME?

Or is it a flash in the pan.

On another note: Imagine if so much poker content like the WSOP ME wasn't behind paywalls of PokerGo and still on TVs across poker rooms, bars, airports, houses, sporting events once again on ESPN? That would really set the spark.

An interesting post, quick, but I think you have answered most of your own questions.

I do not believe there will ever be another Moneymaker effect, because that moment, the particular set of circumstances have come and long since gone. I believe the interest in poker will ebb and flow but never explode again as it did after that WSOP.

We have never crossed forum paths so to speak but your final paragraph hits the nail on the head, regarding a potential growth of poker.

I have theorized several times the poker industry believes there are limits to the games expansion, a ceiling as such which is why they really do not put much effort into attempting to grow the game. They have decades of data regarding all aspects/habits of casino gambling and my view is they know there is a pie, it generally remains the same size, and if they can take their slice of that pie, they are fairly content.

A few disrupters of sorts emerge, but they are mostly moving the deckchairs. pokerstars has faded as GG Poker emerged but I am not sure the global market is expanding as much as GG is poaching existing customers.

All that said your point about PokerGo is perhaps the most relevant. I have posted several times concerning the short sighted nature of the WSOP selling their souls to PokerGo for short terms gains. When the WSOP live streamed to You Tube millions would watch from all around the world. That content remained on YouTube for anyone to watch at any time. When PokerGo took over the content including all historic coverage was removed and unless you subscribe that is now all off limits. A braindead business move - PokerGo having had zero input into the WSOP historic content.

All anyone has to do is follow the European Tour or the Triton Series to see how many views they get through a series- millions by the time each tour stop finishes. But, they do not have the draw of the WSOP which could generate many, many millions more.

However, that leads us back to the slice of the pie stuff. The WSOP retained, I assume, a share of profits without having the production headaches after rolling over for PokerGo. So though I do not believe the Moneymaker Effect will be repeated, the incremental year on year growth will be limited unless and until the WSOP is free for all to view once more. The WSOP was, and would remain the biggest single draw to poker that exists. The fact it is now behind a paywall but for a teaser dribble of content is ridiculous.

 

[MikeCarasone]

Its certainty appears to be a massive poker boom occurring. Record numbers turned out for the wsop. The introduction of poker on media platforms like twitch and other streaming sites definitely has increased popularity in the game. 12 million for first place will certainly increase the popularity and people will love to play for that price. Glad to see a poker renaissance.

 

[greenlarrow]

Many players are new to poker. But it seems to me that there will be no direct poker boom

 

[Gallarado777]

Yes, poker has become very popular due to its big prizes for the first places and because they began to publish their games on twitch, so more players began to see poker and there are a lot of new users playing it, so I think there will be even more people and poker will be very popular We are waiting for something new in poker

 

[Luca Santos]

Here in brazil, I can tell from what I've seen, our spark even has a name.
This is the man to be beaten. 'YurinerdGuy'

 

[AKQ]

Here in Brazil, I can tell from what I've seen, our spark even has a name.
This is the man to be beaten. 'YurinerdGuy'

super cool guy!!!

 

[hamon08]

I would say that every year for the last 20 years has been a kind of poker boom. And it will continue for a long time. Every year, an incredible number of new players are added, and poker itself is also developing a lot.

 

[arshuns]

Poker has become popular for a long time. And the latest surge in popularity is due to the end of the pandemic.