Poker is alive downunder?
Von nzvr4poker,
12.01.2009,
4473 Aufrufe,
51 Kommentare | Kommentar hinzufügen
Okay, so last time I told you about my poker background. This time I am going to tell you a bit about poker in my part of the world – downunder, and how popular the game has become.
As you know I come from New Zealand. I also spend a lot of time in Australia. When I started playing poker in early 2006 the game was very much in its infant stage of growth in this part of the world. Poker was a social game where a group of friends would sit down and play for peanuts and maybe only sometimes a significant sum of money. Television coverage was sporadic and poker was seen only as a hobby and not a truly viable way of making a living. At least that is the way it seemed to the general public. A very small minority were making money from playing online and an even smaller amount of players were travelling abroad to play – perhaps only really Lee Nelson from New Zealand.
In Australia the story was similar to New Zealand except for one main difference – Joe Hachem. His remarkable ascent to poker history was completed by an impeccable display at the final table of the World Series of Poker. He was consequently crowned world champion and pocketed a then record $US7.5 million. For years people had been playing poker but the majority were largely old timers who had played the game for what seemed like an eternity. Then overnight it seemed like that had all changed. Everyone wanted their shot at the big time. This sudden popularity has been well documented judging by the upwards trending field sizes of the major events in this part of the world. Both the national events of Australia and New Zealand – the Aussie Millions staged in Melbourne and the New Zealand Poker Championships in Christchurch take place in the first half of the year and have experienced remarkable growth in numbers in recent times.
2009, however will be an interesting year. With the current global economic crisis a lot of industries have been hit hard with poker being no exception. The APPT event in Sydney at the end of 2008 had a 25 percent reduction in player numbers compared with 2007 and similar predictions are being made for other tournaments. Has poker reached its peak in terms of popularity? With television coverage so widespread downunder, new players are drawn to the game. In order for poker to survive, thrive and continue growing in this area these new players must make the step up to the major tournaments. The retention of already established players will also be vital to the game we love so much. Now more than ever players are spoilt for choice with many local tournaments in our part of the world, as well as the Pokerstars tours – the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) and the newly announced Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT). Only time will tell but 2009 could be the year that poker reaches its plateau in participation at the highest level downunder.
In my next blog I will discuss my favourite places to play poker live as well as online.
