Poker Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

All of us remember conversations we had with random people 10+ years ago. One of those conversations I remember happen at Commerce Casino. Speaking to a player he said that he was going home to play poker. I questioned this with him explaining that he played for real money on Planet Poker. It was the first time I had ever heard or thought about playing online poker for money. 

I never played or deposited at Planet Poker, but soon after I deposited at Paradise Poker. From memory, Paradise was great with Limit Holdem ring games and Limit Holdem Sit and Goes. I don’t remember them offering No Limit Holdem when they started. At this time in history, Limit Holdem was the game to play in California Card rooms, NLH ring was rarely played. There was another site to play No Limit Holdem. Watching $1-$2 NLH online back then was like watching $100-$200 today. I remember seeing my first $1,000 pot in this game.

Paradise Poker had all the business back then but they were missing something, Multi-table tourneys. New sites were launching and they included MTTs. It was only a matter of time before they lost their lead position. I remember playing at Party Poker when it was only a few tables full of props. Within a few years Party Poker took the lead from Paradise Poker. How? Through marketing. Party was a marketing machine using affiliates and their relationship with CardPlayer magazine to rocket to first place. The site was soon so busy you would have trouble catching a new $22 SNG table with seats open to register. The server location and stability caused more issues where you could count on the site crashing during peak times.

Party Poker was leading the pack but the second largest poker site was making head way with a focus on MTTs. Chris Moneymaker had shocked the world in 2003 when he won the WSOP Main Event. Chris had won his way into the Main Event via a set of satellites on PokerStars. What people wondered at the time was whether this was a fluke or could you become a better player by playing online poker tourneys. The 2004 WSOP Main Event gave us the answer when Greg Raymer, another PokerStars satellite winner, won the title.

In 2006, the USA was well over 50% of the online poker market worldwide. When the USA passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 public sites like Party Poker announced they would leave the USA market. PokerStars decided to stay in the USA market making them the largest online poker site the day Party Poker left. PokerStars marketing strategy focus was to grow poker in new markets. Markets like Germany, Spain, Italy and Russia became the main focus. I remember hearing Lyle Berman giving an interview about why his online site failed, basically saying he couldn’t compete with others in the market. Lyle was correct; PokerStars was spending so much money in Europe it was making it impossible to compete for new business, especially for a new site without USA players. 

In 2011, black Friday removed PokerStars and the other top poker sites from the USA. Full Tilt Poker once the second largest poker site in the world was out of business within a few months. USA players are moving to other countries to play poker and await 2012 which should bring regulated online poker to the USA. Online Poker is already regulated in Italy and France. The taxes are too high, in my opinion, to support a healthy poker eco-system.

What are my expectations for 2012 and beyond?

1. USA will have regulated online poker for people over 21
2. Las Vegas casinos will push for regulated casino games
3. Sites will revamp their rewards programs to make money in a regulated environment
4. Clients will be revamped using the most popular sites as examples
5. A new major poker site will emerge giving PokerStars a run for the top spot
6. Regulated Poker markets will merge together to create super sites
7. A new single player poker skill game will become the most played poker game

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About the author:
After playing poker online and off for several years, Scott Yeates switched sides, developing the PokerStars VIP Program in 2005. He became well-known under the handle, “VIPScottY.” Now Scott has brought his rewards-program expertise to Hybrid Interaction, where he heads Poker Consulting Services and shares insights on the iGamingCRM blog.