Even though online poker was not mentioned as one of the driving factors of Internet growth in the early 2000s, it was. Following the sector’s dark period, which some classify as starting in 2006 when the US government passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, online poker seems to have rehabilitated itself and is doing more than well.
A recent YouGov survey showed its popularity is growing in the UK, with participation jumping to 10% in 2024 from a previously noted 5% in 2021. The same research points out that British people in the eighteen to eighteen age range display the highest level of interest in this pastime, which should not be surprising, as they are the digitally most savvy demographic. Globally, the industry, per Custom Market Insights, is expected to hit yearly revenues of $170 million by 2023, as it reportedly is growing at a pace of 12% yearly from 2022, and it is no wonder that many tech startups are now emerging that are focusing on it. We elaborate on this below.
The Blockchain Boom
Bitcoin was invented in 2009 by a mysterious person named Satoshi Nakamoto. It piqued only a few people’s interest for a year or two after its availability. Still, the poker sphere was one of its earliest adopters, and the site SealsWithClubs appeared online in 2011, accepting Bitcoin. It was created to be a retreat for US card gamblers who had no place to play after Black Friday, which many called the sudden 2011 strict enforcement of UIGEA.
SealsWithClubs, better known under its acronym SWC Poker, was basic and did not have terrific competition. Still, it was US-friendly, and usable enough, and it led the way for other more advanced platforms to follow in its footsteps. In 2020, another era of web use was upon us, as we entered the Web3 epoch, fueled by the rise of crypto and NFT. Decentraland, as a shared virtual space, perfectly encapsulated where entertainment is likely heading. It is an open-world browser-based platform with a functioning blockchain economy run on the Ethereum network. Inside it, people could interact with others and trade. Naturally, this gave individuals room to run virtual businesses, and playing cards for digital funds became the heart of Decentraland.
ICE Poker is a venue inside Decentraland where those with a wearable NFT can play poker for $ICE, a virtual currency. In 2023, Coindesk reported that this digital gambling establishment made over $7.5 million in three months, welcoming more than six thousand unique players daily.
The number of online real-money poker sites that accept crypto is bigger than ever, as are some of the bigger coin-based gambling brands like BC.GAME has opened up poker sections to draw in this crowd, and it is reasonable to expect to see crypto poker blow up in the years to come as more and more people accept virtual currencies as a new part of our modern reality.
AI Making Its Way into Poker
AI has been all the rage since the launch of OpenAI’s CHATGPT in late 2022. Yet five years prior, the University of Alberta developed Libratus, an AI that defeated top human players in no-limit Texas Hold’em.
Investing in poker does not necessarily mean that startups must create gambling platforms. They can also make software products that connect to these and benefit the sphere at large, and many are doing this with artificialintelligence-related solutions. These analyze behavior and supply invaluable insights to operators, who can then use that information to tailor offered services to clients.
Moreover, the widespread use of AI bots in online rooms has become worrisome in recent years, as evidenced by hundreds of posts on forums like Two-Plus-Two detailing instances of famed poker websites banning accounts for third-party tools, mainly bots. Funny enough, they spot these digital players through AI-driven detection. So, automated software gets used these days for cheating and spotting cheaters. It also gets put to use for improved customer support and responsible gambling.
The Rise of Poker Training Tools
In the 1980s, books teaching poker strategy were trendy, with Doyle Brunson’s Super/System (1979) or David Sklansky’s The Theory of Poker (1987) flying off shelves. In the 2000s, message boards were the go-to place for anyone willing to get into the game, and PokerTracker popped in, changing how people analyze hand histories and track statistics.
In the post-2020 surge of online poker, powered by the COVID-19 lockdowns, startups like Run It Once and Pokercode emerged, introducing AI-powered platforms that simplified concepts like pot odds and range analysis for newbies. PIOsolver has also been a game-changer, letting users control all inputs and craft simulations. Some argue that its main competitor, GTO Wizard, is just as good, if not better.
Of course, simulators are particularly valuable for beginners, and coaching software like PokerSnowie is terrifically beneficial for novices to this landscape, as it supplies advanced training that was previously unavailable.
Those heavily into poker know the value that PokerTracker brought to players. Now, startups are appearing around the globe targeting emerging poker markets with sites that supply gamification-style education, teaching card gamblers Game Theory Optimal play as straightforwardly as possible. We can, for sure, expect more of these.
