The Explosion Of Online Poker

When I was first approached about helping promote a new online poker site
back in 2001, I was intrigued by the growth possibilities this game promised
for the future. Regardless, I did not have a clue that it would explode into
the size that it has. Although the poker revenues online were nothing to sneeze at
back then, (around 80 million dollars), the growth to come was at that time unfathomable.
By the end of 2010, it is expected that the online poker industry will have exploded to close to
7 BILLION dollars.

Amateurs Fuel Growth

Although poker would have grown on its' own merits, it would be rather short
sighted to believe that it would have reached the extremes it has without the
famous WSOP win by amateur Chris Moneymaker in 2003, and then by another
amateur in 2004, Greg Raymer. The dreams that they created for the
everyday player were a huge facet of the explosive growth of the online and
offline poker industry during the past 7 years.

Cheating Scandal Interrupts Growth

The thing I had a tough time with in the beginning was the integrity of
the online game. It seemed to me that there were too many possibilities
for the game to be cheated. Unfortunately, I was not wrong.

When Absolute Poker and UltimateBet were caught in a cheating scandel,
it was a wakeup call for everyone who thought they were playing on a level playing field.
It was alleged that players on these sites were pillaged for over 20 Million dollars.
Many players simply walked away from the online game when those scandels surfaced.

Today, it is believed that the holes that allowed cheating have all been plugged.
Whether that is true or not, until there is evidence to the contrary, it will be
up to the individual players to decide whether they are getting dealt with fairly
at the online poker sites.

Rush Poker...Boom or Bust?

In order to keep the players interested, online poker, not unlike any other industry,
must keep coming up with different venues. The latest twist is taking online poker
by storm. They call it Rush Poker. Available exclusively at Full Tilt Poker, Rush Poker
is touted as the ultimate high-speed poker experience.

This revolutionary new poker format is designed to minimize your wait time between hands
and keep you in the action at all times. Whether you’re playing a Rush Poker ring game or
a Rush Poker Tournament, you’ll join a large player pool and face a different table of
opponents every hand you play. When you fold your hand, you’ll be rushed to a new table
for the next hand immediately.

Will Rush Poker become a venue of choice for online players? Only time will tell. I have
heard both pro and con. I will say however, those who thrive on living on the edge seem
to be hard core fans. If you want to give it a try, click here to sign up today!