Has Online Poker Peaked?

Online poker room operators across the board are reporting that there is less action at the tables than there was at the height of the online poker boom. This is leading some to suggest not only that online poker has peaked in popularity, but that the current decline in the number of players could continue indefinitely. Whilst we can understand the former conclusion, we do not believe that online poker is on a slippery slope to oblivion by any means.

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To understand why online poker might have peaked, we only have to look back at what happened when that peak was in full swing. Those who have been playing online poker for some time may well recall that at one point online poker was being promoted everywhere. It was featured in television soaps, mainstream newspapers were talking about the ‘poker craze’ and magazines were reporting on big ‘zero to hero’ winners. Lady Gaga even had a hit with ‘Poker Face’.

As a result of all this – and the generous sign up bonuses that many poker rooms offer as a matter of course – new players were opening online accounts at a phenomenal rate. The important thing to recognise here is that a sizeable number of those players weren’t getting involved because they actually enjoyed playing poker, but because they were swept along by the mood at the time. In short, online poker was extremely fashionable, and many people chose to get involved for no other reason than it was considered ‘cool’ to be a poker player.

Fast forward a few years and online poker is no longer the fashionable craze it once was. Add to this the facts that the world has suffered the worst recession of modern times and that the majority of those who chose to get involved for the heck of it lost money by playing poorly (poker was never the ‘bluff at all times and get rich quick’ opportunity that many assumed it was) and a decline in numbers was really quite unavoidable.

However, none of that means that online poker is on the verge of extinction. The game has millions of players all over the globe who participate in poker games because they love playing poker. Those players won’t be quitting poker to move onto something more fashionable, and they won’t be discouraged by slightly less action at the tables. Instead, they will continue to play the game they love and new players who want to pursue poker for its own sake will continue to open new accounts.

So, has online poker peaked? If we are referring to the peak of popularity that the game has enjoyed over the last decade then the answer would have to be yes. That said, we need to remember that poker has been around for a very long time, and there may well be more peaks of popularity that breathe new life into the game in the future. Whatever the case, as long as there are serious players around the world who enjoy playing poker for the sake of playing poker – irrespective of whether or not doing so if fashionable – the game itself will be with us for a long time to come.

William Briggs