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Poker Tournaments for You This Week
There is never a dull moment in a poker player’s life. Obviously, the main reason for that is the constant existence of poker tournaments and poker events that one can participate in. These events are not just for making money, but also to have some fun and get better at the game in the process. Several live poker tourneys are lined up for this week and the coming weeks. Here is a note on some of the tournaments you can … Read the rest
2012 PokerStars Macau Poker Championships Announced
PokerStars is one online poker room that never takes a break from hosting tournaments. The poker room recently released details about its upcoming event, the PokerStars Macau Live Tournaments. The Macau tournaments hosted by PokerStars is one of the biggest and richest poker events held in Asia. It includes 4 major poker series – Macau Poker Cup (MPC) Red Dragon, Asia Championship of Poker, Macau Poker Cup Championship or MPCC and the yearly Asia Pacific Poker Tour event at Macau. … Read the rest
The $30,000 Winner Wednesday Dozen Unveiled
Winner Poker has partnered with pokernews.com to bring a new promotion to its new members. The online poker room announced its new promotion called Winner’s Wednesday Dozen Freerolls, which literally lets you win free money. The new promotion is open to all the new players who register with Winner Poker and make a deposit. The promo will run for three months, and all you need to do is play poker and earn as many Winner Points as you can. Here … Read the rest
Poker Outlook for 2009
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009 by Phil
The dynamic world of online poker has continued its evolution in the latter part of 2008 and well into 2009 despite the economic downturn and decreased spending in the industry. While government restrictions, established brands, new up-and-comers and players from various markets are all bidding for a piece of the pie, expanding markets and growing revenues indicate another solid year of profits are to be expected in 2009.
2009 is proving to be a year of optimism in the industry, as the possibility of the US market opening again has been re-fueled with the election of a Democratic government in desperate search of economic instigators. With the US still representing the largest segment of potential players in the gaming industry, all eyes and hopes are on the Obama Administration to lift regulations placed by the previous administration and open the market to true competition.
Outside of the US, markets are showing a consistent growth trend. While the outlook is not quite as optimistic as it may have been prior to the economic downturn of previous months, growth is still steady and noticeable.
UK and Scandinavian markets continue to grow as more brands move from offline to online activities, and more new players sign up on a daily basis. The somewhat negative image that online gaming has suffered from in the past has been vastly improved by the crossing over of familiar brands such as William Hill from bricks and mortar to the online world. Significant efforts are being made by marketing firms to weave online gaming into the fabric of everyday society and to ensure it achieves mainstream acceptability. In Scandinavia, celebrity endorsement is now commonplace in both online and traditional media.
Other European regions such as Germany and Poland have also exhibited staggering growth rates. In Italy, where players are allowed to play only in government controlled poker rooms, 2008 has seen record growth that seems set to continue in 2009. In Sweden, operating on a similar model to that of Italy, similar growth has been seen, and it is expected that other European markets will follow the same growth patterns despite condemnation from regulatory bodies that frown on state supported online gaming.
In Asia offline activities such as the Asian Poker Tour and the Asian Pacific Poker Tour have helped to increase recognition for the game online. In 2009 the ATP will host at least four events in the region and television broadcasts are expected to give the gaming industry an additional boost that online marketers will be quick to capitalize on.
The online poker market continues to grow despite global economic gloom indicating the growth potential as yet untapped in the industry. Having been in existence for less than two decades, the industry clearly has room to grow and has taken major steps towards that growth in the past five years or so. While we do not expect regulation to completely disappear in 2009, it also promises to be another year of growth and expansion as the industry and its marketers continue develop new markets and opportunities.
