The New Era in Poker History – Online Poker

Online poker rooms were introduced in 1998, but they really started to take off in 2001 and then the industry exploded in 2003.

Pre-Online Poker

The exact origins and age of poker is disputed, but poker as we know it has been played for around 200 years. It is a game that was enjoyed by soldiers in armies and from them it spread to households all around the world. It became a game that was played between friends and for more serious competition, poker rooms were opened. In 1970, the first World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournament was held and so the age of poker tournaments was born. Up until the late 1990s, poker was always played in a land-based setting.

Online Poker becomes Popular

With the advent of the Internet and the increasing accessibility of Internet in people's homes, online gambling began to become popular. Many people were still skeptical of gambling online, but with increased security measures and a range of safe and secure payment options that are available, online gambling has increased in popularity. Online poker is no different and dedicated online poker rooms were established.

The First Online Poker Rooms

The first online poker room was opened in 1998. It was known as Planet Poker. They set up a rake structure of 5% with a maximum of $3 and this has remained the standard set by many other poker rooms today. Paradise Poker was established in 1999 and it became very popular. Poker Spot then opened, but they failed in that they had problems collecting credit card deposits and therefore could not pay their winners. Poker Stars and Party Poker opened their doors in 2001 and they became extremely popular and have remained that way up until today. In 2004, the online poker industry exploded with the increasing popularity of online gambling and online poker tournaments. More poker companies entered the poker world around this time, including Full Tilt Poker and Noble Poker.

Concerns Regarding Online Poker Rooms

Many poker players remained skeptical about gambling online. Particularly following the scandal with Poker Spot when they 'lost' the records of all of their credit card deposits and could not pay out their winners, players were worried about transferring money over the Internet. Many players still preferred to play in land-based poker rooms. These concerns were greatly alleviated with the emergence of e-cash. Companied such as NETeller allow players to deposit into an online account without using a credit card or wire transfer and they can generally withdraw their funds speedily, as well. This helps to decrease fraud which is a benefit for both the poker room and the player.

The Success of Online Poker Tournaments

Poker tournaments have been offered for many years, but they really developed a good name for themselves when Chris Moneymaker qualified for the 2003 World Series of Poker through a small buy-in satellite event at Poker Stars. Moneymaker went on to win the WSOP tournament – his first live tournament – against the best known names in the poker industry. This event gave the online poker industry more free publicity than they could ever hope for and the industry exploded.