Speedyfold Poker Blog

Poker in days gone by had a somewhat shady reputation. Consigned to the backrooms, and hidden out of public view.

Things have come a long way since those days. Not only is poker now seen as a much more legitamate pastime or even career, it has also developed a massive media interest, and has become a massive sector in the entertainment industry.

There are very well established tour circuits, and nearly every continent now has a thriving poker scene. Spinning off from this are big commercial endorsements, not just for the big poker players themselves, but for many celebrities or models who happen to have an interest or passion for the game. From Hollywood actors, to Sportsstars, to Glamour models, a recognisable face is a great way of attracting more players to the game.

The entertainment has gone way beyond live endorsements and magazine pictures. Now poker is a mainstay on television, attracting consistantly high viewing figures. To capitalise further on this you have seen such concepts as the November Nine where the final table of the WSOP was delayed for the prime motiavation of viewing figures.

Overall it is great for the game. Not only does it establish a degree of respectabilty and bring well regulated tournaments/evens. It also means there are more fish, and therefore bigger potential profits for the better players. A somewhat pleasant spin-off as well is that pro-poker players are no longer open to the variance of the game. When you are pulling in regularly endorsement deals or media related deals your bankroll from the game is much more comfortable, even before you start playing.

With the rise of the internet easy access to a game of poker is available in a large proportion of households in the developed world. This combined with the rise in it’s standing in the entertainment and television industries, means that poker’s popularity only seems set to grow still further.

60 Minutes have produced an interesting investigative program on the Absoulte Poker and Ultimate Bet scandal that occured last year. Whilst this story is fairly old news for those of us in the online poker community, it is nevertheless always interesting to see it all in a televised form. The program is a little biased against online poker, as they dont really highlight enough the fact that there are very legitimate sites out there, and that in a way there is a large level of self-regulation by the poker players themselves, to keep the sites honest. The latter point itself being emphasized by the fact that the isolated corruption in the industry was exposed by the sophistication of the online players in this very case. Here is the video:

Todd Witteles comes accross well in his ever-eloquent form, however they have probably edited out any comments about industry leaders such as PokerStars, and how the poker community has substantially more faith in sites like them (and others) regarding a level playing field being provided.

The Kahnawake Cheif appears in jeans and a Fred-Perry style sportsshirt, probably not doing great wonders for nurturing much faith in the presence of a highly regulated community. Not that sartorial factors should lead to any prejudgement ever, but they certainly impact in some form on people’s perceptions.

The most important outcome of the Kahnawake gaming commission’s investigation is that the players themselves were paid back. It is up to us to remain vigilant in the cases of unusual winning patterns or unusually played hands, and not be afraid to raise concerns quickly.

We as players are the ones who keep the sites operating by playing there and providing the rake, so any concerns need to be instantly raised with and addressed by the sites to ensure their legitamacy and maintain their ultimate survival.

Online poker is here to stay, and as always through poker history, the players have a huge part in being judge and jury into the legitmacy of the game they enter