Poker And The Financial Crisis
There’s no way around it, times have been tough. The economy has struggled and everyone has been cutting back; spending less, investing less and enjoying less disposable income. This seems like bad news for the poker world, but is it really? How has the financial crisis affected poker?
How the Financial Crisis Has Affected Poker Tournaments
One thing you would expect as a result of the financial crisis is fewer poker tournaments. This has not been the case. Online tournaments cost the poker sites nothing to run and they come in every buy-in range, so finances need not be a deterrent. Live tournaments are still running regularly as well, however, there have been some adjustments.
Fortunately, these adjustments have been in the favor of the players. Today’s live tournaments offer more starting chips and longer rounds. Players in today’s fiscal environment want more bang for their buck if they are going to plunk down money for a poker tournament, and today’s poker tournaments are responding.
How the Financial Crisis Has Affected Cash Game Play
Online at the highest and lowest stakes, there doesn’t seem to be any noticeable differences. The well-known names are still slugging it out at the highest stakes games, trading money back and forth, although there may be slightly fewer unknowns joining in than there may have been a few years ago. There are also plenty of players up for playing microstakes games. At medium stakes games, there may be a bit stiffer competition than before, as some of the consistent losers may have decided to pull out.
Poker rooms are still running plenty of live games, although the highest stakes game at Bellagio’s Bobby’s Room has taken to lowering its stakes from the stratospheric $4000-$8000 down to $400-$800 or even lower at times.
How the Financial Crisis Will Affect the Future of Poker
Some of the players who left poker during the financial crisis may well never come back. These players may have been consistent losers without even realizing it and may be surprised and delighted at the growth of their bank accounts since cutting out poker.
However, one would hope there will always be new players discovering the game for the first time to pick up the slack. A quick look at the some of the most popular online poker blogs doesn’t show any signs of poker taking any bigger hits from the financial crisis. And hopefully, these blogs are one of the reasons for new players finding their way to the online tables, splashing new money into the poker community.
July 16, 2009
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