It’s a numbers game

Poker is viewed by many as a game of strategy and wit. Unlike many other gambling games such as slots, roulette and baccarat which rely largely on Lady Luck, poker has definite elements of skill, patience and ability attached to it. If anything, the numbers speak for themselves. From 2001 to 2005 online poker revenues grew by over $2 billion.

The benefits of online poker far outweigh those of land-based casinos for many reasons. These include costs involved in travel, accommodation and time needed to frequent these casinos. Besides that there is the very real element of unskilled poker players not feeling comfortable gaming alongside the pros at bricks and mortar casinos. But mostly it’s the costs of maintaining physical poker rooms that make it hard to promote on a mass scale.

Driving costs down

Online poker rooms are not based in any geographic region, cyberspace is their domain and multiple geographic IP addresses are able to access the game. The stakes are significantly lower, as is seen in the low costs to players of participating in online poker games. As a case in point, freerolls are often free to enter. Another popular online poker play is called satellites. These tournaments award winning online poker players entry into real-life poker tourneys.

Big names like Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer are household names in online poker today. The WSOP (World Series of Poker) tournaments are now highly anticipated annual events showcasing the best of the poker world’s talent. In 2005 PartyGaming launched PartyPoker and quickly went public on the FTSE with initial offerings of $8 billion in stocks.

Making big money

The online poker sites generate revenues through several channels. First off are the small percentages of all player deposits, known as the rake. Other ways are entry fees into tournaments, bets against ‘the house’ and of course interest earned on player deposits – which is significant.

Keeping a watchful eye

Online poker has been prone to collusion between players and even hi-tech wizardry aimed at viewing hole cards. However, the net on illegal activity in online poker is rapidly closing as the game’s checks and balances are brought into line. Enhanced security features, anti-fraud prevention measures and efforts to combat player collusion are firmly underway.

The big online poker sites include a handful of compliant networks such as PokerStars, PartyPoker, iPokerNetwork and Full Tilt Poker. Between them most of the online traffic is shared.