Why Online Poker Is Thriving Amidst the Current Economic Crisis

The coronavirus lockdown has shuttered businesses, sent millions of furloughed employees back home and spelled a gloomy outlook on the world’s economy. Yet, for all these drawbacks, online traffic has soared, and people have found an escape online.

One of those escapes has been to turn to online poker which has thrived. Global traffic for the card game has increased several-fold and established online cardrooms, such as WSOP.com, 888poker and PokerStars have seen tremendous growth in operation, with some reporting 60% increase in traffic.

For all of the overwhelming toll that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on our way of life, poker has had no trouble adapting. Today, we take a look at why, despite the economic uncertainty, many experts have cautioned us about, online poker is actually picking up in demand and delivery.

1. Poker Players Have the Finances to Afford Playing

Poker players are definitely aware of how to best manage risk and deal with their finances. Even researchers from MIT have confirmed the deeper correlation between managing your finances smartly and understanding poker. Well, the research focuses mostly on the similarities between the game and finance, but the same conclusion applies.

And so, poker players aren’t exactly the representatives of society to be the worst impacted by an economic downturn. More people online means that well-seasoned players can benefit from the increase in the number of games and drive even better results.

Basically, most poker players don’t participate in the game trying to turn their savings into a significant winning. Rather, they have allocated a capital prior and have managed it well all along to not impact their finances while playing poker, and only benefit from the experience.

Therefore, anyone who decides to play online poker during the lockdown is most likely already a poker player who has been denied the opportunity to go to a brick-and-mortar establishment and play the game against others in person.

2. Many New Players Are Finally Giving It a Go

Apart from the community migrating online, there has been an influx of brand-new players. In poker terms, these people are often referred to as “fish,” as in rookies who haven’t had as much time to polish their skills. With new players, old and experienced players are far more inclined to come back and give the game a go and they have done so.

Dormant accounts have been dusted off with more players returning to meet the rookies and, on occasion, turn them away from the game after a few bad tables. Yet, the trend has been upward, even though with relaxation of lockdown measures across the world, player numbers have been falling, marking a return to brick-and-mortar poker, but also with some people dropping out of the game in pursuit of other interests.

However, the influx of new players is a fact and it has driven some pretty significant results. In places like New Jersey, online poker operations reached $3,629,112 in March or 90.9% year-over-year increase.

Meanwhile, the National League of Poker reported a 30-50% increase in traffic in March and a 131% increase in overall revenue. These numbers are rapidly falling, but they haven’t quite settled to pre-crisis levels. If anything, the lockdown has been an immense boost to online poker overall.

3. Great Poker Sites Where You Can Actually Play

Another defining factor in seeing so many new players joining online poker has been the availability of websites where experienced and novice players have had a chance to play. The best online poker sites today allow you to enjoy generous and busy cash games, a variety of promotions, but far more importantly, a great selection of tournaments.

Tournaments perfectly capture the desire of poker player to outsmart their peers through sheer skill alone. While some tournaments ask for massive buy-ins, there are plenty of satellite events where you can gain an entry for as little as $1 and potentially win millions worth of dollars.

Skill dictates the entire dynamic in poker, as players are keen to prove themselves through their ability to outsmart their opponents. Of course, poker players can often let hubris lead them into dead ends that could turn costly.

In her book, “The Biggest Bluff,” Maria Konnikova, a rookie poker player who goes on to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in just two years explains how to look past those common foibles of the human psyche and focus on obtaining the best results possible.

4. The Temptation of Turning Riches

There is always an inherent drive to become rich doing something that you regard as a game. Now, there are two ways to look at it. While poker could be a casual pastime that allows you to turn a neat penny here and there, once you take it seriously, it will become a career, and to be successful in this highly-competitive environment you have to be exceptional.

Many players who rush into online poker don’t actually think about the hardships and dedication they need to commit. Hence why we have seen so many people dive into online poker during the lockdown, but quite a few quitting or at least taking a break as soon as the most restrictive measures have been lifted.

Of course, there are some success stories, too. You can play low-stake online poker and, with some concessions, make a decent living playing the game, just like Nathan Williams did when he quit his job and moved to Thailand. Of course, during an economic downturn, it’s easier to see why people would be a little more skeptical about giving up on steady employment to chase a hobby that may or not pay off.

5. People Ask Themselves What If

One simple reason for turning to poker has been the desire of some people to just give the game a shot. What if they turned out to be good? Yet, reality has been quick to dismiss the most ambitious plans. Certainly, some players have decided to stick around and pursue their dream of becoming a part of the poker community even with land-based casinos slowly reopening in the US. Although, it may be a few months, or even years, before we hear about the lockdown success stories in the world of poker.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes