I wouldn't drastically mind it. If that's what became the next big thing. If it happens, I'll be glad I played poker for years as I'll probably transition better than had I picked it up cold.

Dota 2players are good at league of legends.
League of Legends players are not good at dota 2.

There’s a reason for that…

aint nobody buyin books for anything no more homie. Poker aint as dead as it was but that boom is over. Cheaters ruined that and fps games bruh. Thats what killed everything. Once cheating rumors come out they run and boom is gone. We aint coming back until that integrity is put to the top of the list where people trust rng and players. Cheaters ruin every thing not just poker bruh. I been called cheater several time since I started playin online poker. Never called cheater 1 time live bruh. People are paranoid and sites gotta have better security. Its that simple homie.

Not sure about booming but after years and years of games getting harder at my local poker room I've noticed a softening since around 2020 - encouraging!

I was reading the conversation between borg23, rickroll, and stackhunter with some amusement because they we’re basically talking past each other. Stackhunter is right in that the games are getting softer both online and live if you know where to look. There is something like a boom in interest going on. Poker is growing.

But of course, nothing like the spikes during the actual boom. Especially poignant was borg23s post where he’s like “you’re talking about taking shots at nl50 and want to talk about the boom? “

interest spiked in 2004 and 2005.


in 2005 I might have told my friends, with no knowledge, in regards to online poker to start by playing 200nl.

Those same friends I would tell them not too play or to study a bunch and start at microstakes now.

Playing poker against people who studied chess when they were teenagers certainly won't provide anyone with a livable wage.

While we can argue about what a poker boom is and whether or not we are in one right now, but counting poker books on a shelf and comparing it to 2000-2006 is kind of disingenuous.

Kindles and other electronic devices have taken over since then.

I literally cannot remember the last time I have been in a bookstore despite buying dozens of books over the past year.

Also, the web (and training sites/videos) are much more ubiquitous. A person can learn how to play very good poker now without ever buying a book.

In fact, I don't think it is controversial to assert that some of the best learning materials are not in book form.

Might as well go to Walmart and take a picture of the one land-line phone on the shelf and asset that there used to be dozens as proof we are not in a poker boom.

Books are hot and there sure was a shitload of Chess books and Video Game guides despite they're being better online tools to research them. https://retailwire.com/discussion/th...ter-next-door/

landline phone, what kind of horse **** is that? I remember during the boom seeing all sorts branded items in Walmart/Walgreens/CVS/Rite Aid




They convinced people to play video game ****ing poker when online sites were on fire.



This ****ing thing was everywhere. Any drug store, supermarket junk section, you name it.


If you are in a boom they will be selling you all sorts of **** all over the place.

Trust me there will be signs when poker is booming. They will be selling the game in every nook and space possible. They might even try to take the game of poker and turn it into something else. I hope you can spot the signs of your hobby booming.



Or you just go look at landline phones and pretend.

I think i made it clear that I wasn't really arguing if we were in a poker boom or not.

However, I can say that among the many tables I dealt to today, there was a $1/$3 table that was really a $1/$3, raise to $25 with 4 callers table. Another table was similar with the notable hand of the inital raiser opening for $40, getting 4 callers, and by showdown the board was 2 3 9 5 K with over $1000 on the pot and the three shown down hands were 98, 98 and J9. These tables were not even all that exceptional.

We will never have a boom as big as the golden years after Moneymaker, but poker is better right now than it has been in the last 6 or 7 years by far. Maybe even longer. Games are ridiculously soft and lots of people have lots of money to keep buying more and more chips and have a good time.

It may not be the Sonic boom of Moneymaker, but it is a nice mini-boom. Grandma is willing to bet her social security check on top pair, crappy kicker. Lots of people who win in their local bar league are willing to play in the casinos.

I'm curious what Howard Lederer's preflop chart looked like lol

Don't think A5s at UTG was in it.