The introduction of poker to every facet of our lives has meant that we never have to stray too far from our favorite past time. For poker games 2010 has been a truly great year because it is simply in more places than ever before. It’s constantly televised and there are too many poker sites to play on to count. This year will go down in history as one of the most profitable in poker ever with million dollar tournaments practically every week somewhere online.
The most amazing thing about all this poker being played and all this money being made is that you don’t even hear of half the people making a very good living out of poker. Just ten years ago it would have been headline material when someone won a few hundred thousand in a poker game. These days a win like that passes by unnoticed.
That’s just a small indication of how the world and poker games 2010 have evolved. Now if someone doesn’t win large it’s almost a feeling of disappointment in the air. Whereas in the past losing at poker used to be the normal process of things and was expected to a degree. Thanks to the incredible upsurge in poker’s popularity, there is a renewed air of optimism at the tables.
It may have something to do with all the young players that are now making it big in poker. The online poker sites have really opened up a new market. Before you would have had to go to a casino and you would have had to be twenty one years of age to be allowed through the door of most. Now we have lots and lots of 20 year old poker playing millionaires that would have chosen different careers a few years back. So for the young player mastering poker games 2010 and its modern internet infrastructure has helped immensely.
Some people have said that the essence of poker is lost when playing online and that you have to sit at a table to really experience the thrill. Well there are arguments to back that theory up and plenty to dismiss it also. Granted you don’t get to look in someone’s eye and see if they falter. Or you don’t get to see them fidgeting as they get anxious. But tell someone that just won a few hundred grand in their bedroom whilst eating chips (Not the blue type) and drinking cola that they are not getting it. They would surely phone a doctor for you.
It’s not all about the internet though as Andy Frankenberger proved when he won at the WTP (World Poker Tour) Legends of Poker tournament at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. There he won an amazing $750,000 with just a couple of nines. His opponent Kyle Wilson was relying on a flush coming out in the turn and river which he only needed one diamond to achieve. That’s maybe a hand he would have folded earlier in the tournament but that just demonstrates how difficult tournament poker can be. Tourney poker can make you make rash decisions even if you are normally the most laid back and cautious kind of player.
The good thing is though that 2010 was a record year for entries to the tournament which is surely trying to buck the trend of online poker games. The buy in price was half that of previous years which saw a massive number of entries almost two hundred more in 2010 than in 2009. With a total prize pool of $2,150,000 there were definitely a lot of happy card players at the end of the event.
Whereas that was a first win for the Wall Street Broker Frankenberger, there was another first in March. No woman had ever won the National Heads-Up Poker Championship until philanthropist Annie Duke won a half million. The Poker News Columnist has won some major prizes over the years but she was particularly pleased to make a statement on behalf of the many female players.
The WPT’s biggest prize was at the Bellagio (Where else?) where David Williams took down some of the best pros on the circuit to win his first every WPT title. What a win it was as the seasoned pro that first came close in 2004. His career total is now nearing $8m and is showing no signs of slowing especially since adding the $1.53m in April 2010.
Whatever went on for you throughout the year, for the three people mentioned here and their poker games 2010 was a great year. If things continue as they have in the industry there will be more poker millionaires than lottery millionaires in the next ten years. Let’s just hope they continue to be as great for poker as their predecessors.
