The classic card game poker has been around for a long time. In 2022, a lot of people are playing online poker with players able to play on a myriad of devices including tablets, phones, computers, video game consoles, laptops, and much more.
Online poker also allows users to play opponents all over the world as long as they have an internet or data connection. 2003 was when the poker boom really started to take off and stretch worldwide, with events like the World Series of Poker being shown to the masses on a national level. This led people to seek out playing poker as it was more accessible than it had been in the past.
Unfortunately, in 2011, the government would pass indictments slowing down some of the biggest names in online poker; this day was known as Black Friday. From that point on, a lot of poker platforms had to change and rebuild how they handled rewards, as most platforms now don’t host real money games. Fast forward back to today and Black Friday hasn’t stopped people from participating in the exhilarating game, as it’s suspected that more than 120 million people play poker online.
As we approach 2023, it’s evident that online poker will continue to grow and attract more users; here are four reasons why.
Legalization
Right now, online poker is legal in seven states in the US: Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Connecticut, and West Virginia, although only five have providers offering games. As these states have legalized online poker, there are other states that are working on bills that will see the light of day in early 2023. States like New York, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, and North Dakota are slowly but surely working toward the legalization of online poker. Naturally, the more states that legalize the game, the more turnout we’ll see for players looking to make a profit themselves.
Accessibility
The biggest player in the rise of online poker is accessibility. Before the poker boom, the card game was more of a mystery and looked down upon in some circles. Now in 2022, there are so many options and ways to play online poker, both in terms of types of games and mediums to play on. At a minimum, as long as you have a smartphone, one can immediately download an app and hop into a game without many problems. With online poker playable on PC, phone, tablet even current-gen video game consoles, there are more ways to play poker than ever before, thus contributing to the rise.
Affordability
Playing online poker is extremely affordable and doesn’t have to be the huge bank risk some perceive it to be. Black Friday made it difficult for these companies to host real-money games, so many of the big poker platforms pivoted to playing for tokens. This means users don’t have to put their actual money on the line if they want to have a good time. Naturally, if you’re in a legal state, you can bet as much as you want, but a big reason for the rise of online poker is that the amount of risk has been taken down to almost nothing making it easier for people to play without worry.
World Events
Another factor that’s been somewhat overlooked in the rise of online poker is the world events over the last decade or so. Of course, we can talk about COVID and how it kept people inside and more apt to experiment with games like online poker, but the evolution of technology has helped too. Now one can play multiple games at once on numerous screens against a plethora of opponents. Combine this with all the previous factors we discussed, and it’s a no-brainer that online poker has caught on and will continue to rise in popularity moving forward.
