INSIGHT
to open online accounts when within the
confines of Nevada and New Jersey. Other
operators have acted similarly, such as
Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel and Casino,
whose marketng team is doing much to
encourage people to start playing online
poker (and casino games) on Borgata.com.
There’s nothing that slows progress like
waiting for legislative action, but at least we
can confidently say that progress has been
and is being made.
4. There’s PokerStars. Then there’s
everybody else
In possession of dozens of licenses to
operate its online poker software in
jurisdictions all over the world, Amayaowned PokerStars retains its complete,
unassailable stranglehold over the #1
spot for online poker rooms. Among
their holdings, and by no means is this a
complete list, are:
●●
The best online poker software (by far!)
●●
Secondary online poker brand Full Tilt
Poker
●●
The insanely popular European Poker
Tour live event series
●●
The top poker ambassadors in the world,
including Daniel Negreanu and Vanessa
Selbst
●●
Just-signed globally recognized football
superstars Neymar and Cristiano
Ronaldo
●●
Practically endless goodwill from anyone
who has ever played a hand of online
poker, for having swooped in to buy Full
Tilt Poker and reimbursed pretty much
any player negatively affected in the
wake of Black Friday.
Beyond all of that, PokerStars is of course
doing everything it can to try and gain a
foothold in the legal US online poker market.
In short, if any one organization can be
credited with enabling people to have a
positive outlook with regard to the future of
the online poker industry, it’s PokerStars.
5. Poker media have “gotten it” and
upped their game
I don’t know exactly when the light bulb
went on, but at some point the poker media
finally “got it”. Sites like PokerNews.com,
Pokerlistings.com, and PokerUpdate.com,
among others, started making efforts to
target recreational poker players with their
content. By “target”, I mean create content
that’s designed to engage and entertain
people for whom poker and online poker
are casual hobbies and leisurely pursuits.
It’s THAT audience that’s referred to when
the statistic of “there are tens of millions
of poker players around the world” gets
brought up in conversations.
Furthermore regarding that content,
the top brass at an increasing number
of poker media outlets have clearly
understood that “good enough” just isn’t
good enough anymore. Whether it’s via
podcast, live reporting, video package,
basic poker strategy articles, “traditional”
rich media-infused long-form journalism,
newly developed poker-themed TV shows,
or even Twitch, I’ve consumed more
awesome poker media content over the
last few months than at any point in time
since I became interested in poker as a
young adult.
With the poker media continuing to
churn out premium content, it’s no surprise
that poker fans remain engaged while
people who are ɕ