Table of Content
This yr’s WSOP Foremost Occasion entries are the second highest on report, indicating that US poker is making a return to its former glory pre-2006. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Again on the up
This October will mark the sixteenth anniversary of the passing of the Illegal Web Playing Enforcement Act (UIGEA). The 2006 laws made it unlawful for on-line poker websites to supply their providers to US prospects. Some main operators left the market instantly, whereas those who remained would undergo the implications in what has now turn out to be generally known as Black Friday.
The UIGEA has outlined the US poker scene for years, primarily halting what had turn out to be a booming business in its tracks. Nevertheless, this yr’s World Sequence of Poker (WSOP) has offered some hope that the sector could have lastly stepped out from the shadow of that damaging laws.
the second-largest prize pool of all time
Within the yr the UIGEA got here into impact, the WSOP Foremost Occasion noticed its highest-ever variety of entries at 8,773. Entry figures predictably dwindled afterward, however the quantity for WSOP 2022 has landed simply shy of 2006’s report complete at 8,663. Over the weekend, occasion organizers confirmed it’s going to characteristic the second-largest prize pool of all time at $80.8m.
Momentum builds
To gauge the returned vigor of the US poker scene, it’s essential to contemplate previous knowledge for the WSOP Foremost Occasion.
From 2003 to 2006, the Moneymaker impact contributed to fast development within the recognition of poker. When Chris Moneymaker received the WSOP Foremost Occasion in 2003, entries to the competitors stood at simply 839. Simply three years later, that quantity was greater than ten instances greater with hopeful gamers hoping to recreate Moneymaker’s success.
Chris Moneymaker received his entry into the 2006 WSOP Foremost Occasion from an $86 satellite tv for pc event. He defeated scores {of professional} gamers to earn the highest prize of $2.5m. PokerStars provided him a sponsorship deal after the win by which he performed reside tournaments internationally.
Within the yr following passage of the UIGEA, Foremost Occasion entries declined by round 28% to six,358. The full prize cash dropped with it to simply over $8m, down from the report $12m in 2006. Entries remained on this area for the subsequent decade, dropping to a low of 6,352 in 2013 and reaching a excessive of seven,319 in 2010.
Issues started to ramp up from 2017, nonetheless, with a transparent sample of regular annual development. In 2019, 8,569 entries performed an element in rising the prize pool to $10m. Regardless of the pandemic’s finest efforts to stunt this development – culminating in poor turnouts for the previous two years – 2022’s near-record-breaking complete suggests the rise in poker’s recognition is much from slowing down.
Repairing the business
Whereas the implementation of the UIGEA was the catalyst for the decline of poker’s recognition within the US, Black Friday appeared to place the nail within the coffin. On April 15, 2011, the US Division of Justice issued indictments towards PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker. It pressured them to freeze greater than 70 financial institution accounts, stopping gamers from accessing balances.
six states by which poker customers can play on-line
On-line poker has struggled to regain its former glory since then, however states quickly started passing their very own laws. In 2013, Nevada grew to become the primary state to formally legalize on-line poker, adopted by New Jersey and Delaware. Now, there are six states by which poker customers can play on-line for cash – Michigan the newest to affix the social gathering final yr.
In 2021, the poker world acquired one other main enhance. The US DOJ opened the door to interstate on-line poker agreements by failing to attraction a federal ruling towards its opinion on the Wire Act. Now, a number of states with on-line poker markets can pool gamers by signing interstate compacts. Nevada and Delaware grew to become the primary two to share liquidity in March 2015, whereas New Jersey joined up later. Once more, Michigan was the newest state to participate on this.
This yr’s WSOP figures appear a transparent reflection of an business that’s starting to see the sunshine on the finish of the tunnel. A journey started by Chris Moneymaker nearly 20 years in the past is now beginning up once more, and this time it appears the probabilities actually are limitless.