Poker's new upsurge in popularity in is due to televised

showings of championship poker tournaments, such as The World

Poker Tour and The World Series of Poker. This has resulted in

millions of people all over the world playing either online or

at land based casinos. Even movie stars and professional

athletes are getting into tournament action. This really became

evident when actor Ben Affleck won $356,400 and a tournament

title at Commerce Casino's California State Poker Championship

in June 2004.

And big business likes poker too. Bear Stearns estimated that

annual revenue from poker was $4.5 billion in 2003. Another

analyst group feels 2005 revenue will exceed $10 billion.

PokerPulse.com stated that $200,463,154 .00 was wagered at online

poker rooms in a 24 hour period on March 13, 2005.

People see the excitement and money that is involved in poker

tournaments by watching poker on TV, which is one reason the

perception of poker gambling went from being played in dark

rooms to a preferred status. The seasoned professional players

are excited about this as well. They are not winning as many

tournaments as they have in the past due to the influx of

many new players, but they are winning more than even because

of their levels of expertise at the game.

Plus, the makeup of the top players has been changing. In the

past only people who played for years and built up instincts

for knowing how to win were champions. Now the newer top players

are highly educated, highly successful and are analytical in

nature. You will see individuals from top professions like

Financial Analyst, Rocket Scientist, Attorney, and Mathematician

along with industry CEO's in the ranks of champion. People

like Phil Ivey and Chris Ferguson who can perform mathematical

calculations in their heads with ease will be the future.

But not having an Ivy League education won't stop enthusiastic

poker players from playing the game. On a televised episode

of the 2004 World Series of Poker tournament, a former homeless

man stated in a game he got off of the streets by learning to

play poker. He stated that he learned the game by losing

$1500.00, one penny at a time. (For the record he did not win

that tournament, but did leave Binion's with over $40,000 in

cash.)

And with the 2003 and 2004 World Series of Poker Champions

earning their seats from online poker room tournaments, the

Internet will eventually be the main producer of players.

A huge number of online poker rooms have been sponsoring seats

to top tournaments with buy ins less than $100, which is a far

cry from the standard entry fees for these events at land based

casinos. So keep an eye on what is going on in the poker world,

because the excitement is just getting started!

Tom Howze is a webmaster for 7 sites that relate to online gambling, world series of poker and world poker tour events and updates. For more information, please visit 2005 World Series of Poker He can be reached at for questions. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Howze