The Influence of Online Poker

I was reading a news article about the explosive growth of Texas Hold'em and the effect it has on land based casino's. I find it interesting that online poker is steering the course for land based casinos and poker rooms. As an example of online pokers influence Caesar's Atlantic City opened a new 24 table poker room. This might not seem like much but you must consider that Caesar's hasn't had a poker table since the early 90's. Another example of the power of online poker is at the Borgata where 32 of the 34 tables are reserved for Texas Hold'em. Texas Hold'em is easily the most popular poker variation played online today.

Online poker is also allowing a new generation of poker players to enter the casino with years of experience that was previously impossible. This is due to the fact that it is easy for teenagers to play online against skilled players that used to be only found in land casinos and poker rooms.

As popular and influential as online poker is, it is clear that players still want to be able to strut their stuff against other players in person. Will online poker ever replace the poker rooms? I don't know but for some of us online poker is the perfect training ground for the real thing!

That's all, I fold.