Poker is a quintessential part of the global gambling scene and when the industry began moving online, it remained an integral part of the online casino makeup.
Any casino operator worth their salt offers at least a handful of poker variations, with the top of the class offering several poker games in varying styles. Whether in the USA or Europe, casino players are thrilled by poker, which is one of the games that go way back into casino gaming history.
Today is the day that we look into the swift migration of poker popularity from one side of the Atlantic to the other. The European Poker market was once the dominating force in the global scene over the year but it’s steadily losing that dominance.
The US market, on the other hand, is witnessing a boom in poker popularity, thanks to events like the World Series of Poker.
While there were several online casinos where US punters could enjoy poker, there were more than premium-quality poker offerings in Europe in comparison.
However, as poker grew more popular in the US market and became more welcome, the leading European casino operators saw a window of opportunity and decided to make inroads into the thriving US market.
While expanding to the new promising market, European brands brought with them the high-quality poker games that European players have been enjoying for decades.
This had the effect of attracting a whole new generation of poker players in the United States of America who could now enjoy a better poker recipe at the new foreign casinos.
Today, there are many European operators holding US gaming and gambling licenses and offering better services to US consumers. At this moment, more European brands are already setting their sights on the US poker arena.
About 15 years ago, an American player by the name of Chris Moneymaker qualified for the famous World Serie of Poker through an online poker competition and ended up bagging a cool $2.5 million win.
In case you’re wondering, the event is currently ongoing. Learn the World Series of Poker schedule to keep up with different poker games.
Back to 2003, the Moneymaker moment helped revolutionize the US poker industry for good. Millions of US players have joined the online poker scene in a bid to try their luck and emulate Chris’s success.
While only a handful has been as successful, many US players have come close to actually emulating the Moneymaker, accumulating a substantial amount of wealth while at it.
With the help of other influential poker figures like Dan Bilzerian and his glamorous lifestyle and great wealth, success in online poker tends to promise the American dream. Be it as may, the reason why poker has gained much precedence over other casino games is still quite unclear.
Some guess that it could be due to the fact that poker is more skill-based than most casino games like RTGs. Others suggest that it is due to the popularity of WSOP events and the game’s glamorous appearance in films. Whatever the reason, more and more US players are flocking to retail and online casinos to play poker.
Initially, US laws around online gambling were more draconian, which made it difficult to find a site offering online poker. However, this has changed in the past few years as more states continue to pass laws giving online poker operations the green light.
Since poker gambling was viewed as a taboo in the past with laws either prohibiting or limiting such gameplay, new gambling-friendly laws being passed by US states are slowly ushering in a legitimate online poker market. Residents have been responding positively to the concept of regulated online poker, which helps grow the young market even further.
One of the most significant developments in this respect is the recent union between different US states in this liberal legislation. Players from Delaware and Las Vega, for instance, can enjoy shared online poker forums from either side of the borders.
Throughout Europe, Texas Hold’em is considered the most popular poker variation. That notwithstanding, European players seem to also enjoy other variations at both retail and online casinos.
It might be a bit challenging to accurately place a figure on the number of players visiting land-based and online casinos combined to play poker. However, it’s quite clear that there are millions of players from all over the world who spend a substantial amount of time and money on poker tables in Europe.
Poker Room-Centric vs. Hotel-centric Poker Events
In the United States, poker events occur with players congregating in poker rooms with several poker tables. Players disperse during breaks and head off in different directions at the end of the day. In other terms, players only interact with each other while playing.
In Europe, the situation is somewhat different because events are hotel-centric. This means that all players stay at the same hotel during the entire tournament. Players have an opportunity to interact among themselves away from the tables. This sociability aspect of European poker is what makes it more popular because it delivers a more intimate atmosphere.
The European Currencies Galore
In the United States of America, it is always “dollar or bust”. This typically means that all players onboard must transact in dollars. Players flying in from other jurisdictions must make currency exchanges to convert their local currencies to greenbacks.
The European poker scene is more accommodating. While most EU countries use the euro, there are nine nations that chose to retain their local currencies.
While poker players converge from all over Europe for some of the high-profile events such as the Unibet Open, the organizers are always open to dealing with all currencies. This ensures that all chips-for-cash transactions are smoothly facilitated.
We can see that the European market offers superior services compared to the US market. This goes a long way in boosting the popularity of the game in Europe.
There is one major thing that stands out from the above discussion – poker is popular in both the US and the European markets. While the degree and reasons for popularity might vary, it does not change the fact that players from both markets have developed a liking for the table game.
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