Once you’ve been involved with poker long enough, you’ve been able to experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. This certainly applies for poker players, as hot streaks and cold streaks come and go. The more one plays, the more they’ll get used to the swings of variance – all while hoping the amazing sessions will never end and wishing the worst sessions would be banished from their memories for good. The same holds true for poker bloggers and media types – Cardplayer Lifestyle has been around for 4 years and I’ve witnessed and written about plenty of great moments for the game of poker in America as well as some of the worst the game has ever seen. The game and the poker industry as a whole hit a low on April 15, 2011 – Black Friday – and U.S. poker continued to get cold decked for the better part of the last three years. But now, finally, things are looking very much up for the game we all know and love in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Legal U.S. Online Poker is Generating Buzz
Back in May, the first hand of legal, regulated online poker in the United States was dealt in Nevada on Ultimate Poker. Business has only picked up from there with a second site WSOP.com going live in the Silver State, then online gambling debuting in both Delaware and New Jersey later on in the year on those aforementioned sites as well as well-known sites like 888poker. Sure, the total combined populations of eligible poker players in these states is just a drop in the bucket when compared to the nationwide total, but it can’t be denied that Americans have taken many strides in the right direction.
Surely, in the near to not-too-distant future, states where online poker is legalized will figure out how to share player pools with one another and other states (we’re looking at you California) will also hopefully jump on the bandwagon.
In addition to more and more American poker fans coming back to the game they missed so dearly, legal online poker is sure to attract people who had historically shied away from playing back when it was questionable legally. And of course, everyone knows that improved liquidity, especially “new blood” is good for the game.
Rounders 2 Will Finally Hit the Big Screen
Huge news came out of Miramax Studious that they’ve finally been given the green light to go ahead with the production of Rounders 2. Though it’s been 15 years since the original Rounders debuted, the poker movie’s impact has been undeniable and sustained throughout the past decade and a half. Thought to be a cult poker classic, innumerable players, both recreational and professional, attribute their initial foray into the game of poker directly to Rounders. Arguably released 5 years too early (well ahead of the Moneymaker poker boom), Rounders stands the test of time as the best poker movie, with the power to lure anyone in to start playing the game themselves.
With the long-awaited sequel set to hit theaters at some point over the coming year, and featuring the mega star power of Matt Damon, Edward Norton, and possibly even Robert De Niro, the potential upside – as far as mainstream interest in the game of poker is concerned – is practically limitless.
Just imagine seeing Damon, Norton and De Niro anteing up at the next World Series of Poker to promote the movie. The media (not just the poker media) would go bananas and the fanfare would be incredible.
Unless somehow the film is catastrophically bad – which I’d bet heavily against – it’s guaranteed to induce another wave of excitement among even the most casual fans of poker. Just wait and see how the live poker rooms across America start filling up in the wake of the Rounders 2 debut. Regardless of what Rounders 2 is about, just the thought of there being a sequel has me daydreaming about “stacks of high society” all over again.
U.S. Poker Players Are Due
Black Friday. The Full Tilt Poker fiasco. Watching Canadians, Brits, and Germans start winning “more than their fair share” of poker events. U.S. poker players have had plenty rough patches to endure… we’re due :-)!
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