PARTYGAMING

If I had been taken to vegas at it's inception and introduced to blackjack and then told of all the technological advances that were to befall the world of gambling over the next 50 years I would have quickly read this simple card game it's last rites. And yet it is still vegas's main draw, for 3 reasons.

1) It is easy to learn and play.

2) Gambling is not a fad. Seeking an adrenaline rush is in our nature. Blackjack has stood the test of time because it serves out the rush. No need for flashing lights.

3) People are attracted to the game because technically you can beat the house.

Point 1 - Before the advent of the internet, casino poker was high stakes, intimidating and with enough rules and need for playing technique to put off the average punter.
Point 2 - Once introduced players find the excitement from playing poker far greater than blackjack.
Point 3 Actually having your fix and winning is arguably the most important reason and also applies to poker. Although with poker you win from other players not the house.

The success of lotteries are down to their scale. The game once again is simple. People are willing to play at only a 30% payout for the chance of winning a seven figure sum. The scale of the leading poker sites offer tournaments with similar sized payouts, much better odds and you participate, with your entertainment lasts several hours instead of 2 minutes. Importantly for poker, the more people who play, the higher the prizes and the more attractive it becomes to new players.

The article that quoted poker was a fad used as evidence that wpt shares had fallen 50%, (it failed to mention that they had risen 100% the weeks preceding due to takeover speculation), it then used a growth of viewing figures for WPT as evidence of a fad as the rate of growth had decreased.

Poker will continue to grow as it expands across the world. The States will reach saturation first, but with 88% of players coming from the USA which represents less than 5% of the world population the story continues. European population alone is 1.5x that of the US. Margins will reduce from 60% to 30% through increasing bonus schemes and taxes, however these will be outstripped by the growth.

When things reach a certain size they stick. Poker will evolve and the style of the sites will change, but the game itself will remain as popular as ever, just like blackjack has in vegas, NFL in the states and soccer in europe.