Poker used to be a truly game played in private, behind closed. Professional poker players would be thought of as con men, or worse. Wow, has that all changed.
Three key things have happened that created the boom. They have caused poker to become a big money maker. It’s an interesting combination of events that led to this happening.
Planet poker, in 1998, becomes the first online poker room. Casinos had been online since 1994. With people playing poker in their living room the evolution starts.
Poker has been shown on television since the late 70’s. First by CBS, and later taken over by ESPN, a one hour show of the WSOP main event was shown every year. The audience was small and things were going nowhere.
The next step actually was created first. This is the “pocket cam”, the camera that shows you the cards the players have. This was patented by Henry Orenstein in 1994, and first used in Europe in 1997. This invention would prove to be instrumental in the poker boom.
2002 becomes sort of a stepping stone to the poker explosion. Having picked up the WSOP coverage again, ESPN uses the pocket cam for the first time. Also, the WPT (World Poker Tour) is formed and in 2003 will air the first season of the tour, with the pocket cam.
The use of the pocket cam gets more people watching. The fact that the viewer can see what the players have increases the drama, and exposes the strategies. ESPN decides to show a lot more of the event the following year.
For the first time, they will get action from beginning to end, and add air time. Pocket cam will be used even more. What happens in the 2003 WSOP changes the poker scene completely.
With increased coverage the whole world sees Chris Moneymaker fight his way through the field of 839 to win the event. He outplayed many of the best players in the world in the last two tables. But, Chris is just an online player, having earned his $10,000 entry from a $40 satellite event.
This astonishing result has a profound effect on the poker world. This proves that, unlike other sports and games, you can beat the best and be the world champ. The game takes off.
The pocket cam got people watching on television. The internet made poker available to everyone. Chris Moneymaker gives us all hope that maybe we can be the world champ.