With the popularity of poker, issues of online gambling have resurfaced to the forefront of American politics. The debate ranges from lost tax revenue, to morality, to legality issues. Although it is illegal to operate a gambling website in the US, 30 million web users visited offshore gaming sites in 2005.
As an $11 billion industry, online gaming will not be throwing in the towel any time soon. However, lobbyists will have their work cut out for them as politicians grapple with this yet untapped revenue stream. Click Here to read more about the history of online gaming and its regulatory issues.
As casinos continue to expand their poker rooms, industry experts feel that the poker market may be beginning to slow. With the poker boom over recent years, casinos have been quick to capitalize on the demand and stay in synch with their competition. According to gaming experts, there are nearly twice as many poker tables in Nevada today as there were three years ago. Televised poker ratings and poker retail sales are down, and the money brought in by the average poker table in Nevada was lower in 2005 than 2004.
On the other side, new online poker sites seem to pop up on a daily basis. At the top sites, tables are always full and tournaments fill up as quickly as they become available. The World Series of Poker is again preparing for the largest turnout in history with four days scheduled for Day 1 and two for Day 2. Time will tell how long poker mania will last, but the experts and analysts can't slow down the thrill of the game.
After its highly successful debut last Spring, NBC’s National Heads-Up Poker Championship has begun its second year today. The 64-player tournament will feature some of the best players in poker, top celebrity players, and three amateurs who won their way into the competition. This year, the competition has moved from the Golden Nugget to the prestigious Caesars Palace. Television coverage will be expanded to ten hours over six Sundays beginning April 16th, as players vie for the top prize of $500,000.
In Phil Hellmuth fashion, the reigning champion has already begun questioning the lack of tournament seeding and the competition he may have to face to repeat his title. His finish in the tourney has yet to be determined, but there is no doubt that the number of viewers for the final airing will be up from the 6 million that witnessed Hellmuth defeat Chris Ferguson last year.
