An Amazing Year for Poker

One could certainly argue that 2005 was the most significant year in poker history, as a number of amazing things happened. It was a landmark year for the growth of online poker, entrants in major events, logo wear and sponsorship for players, televised events, charity poker tournaments, and the success of the poker industry in general.



Let's start with this astonishing fact: One poker tournament had a prize pool of more than $56 million, with $7.5 million going to the winner! For many years, only one person a year made a million dollars in a poker tournament, but in 2005, 30 players became millionaires in poker tournaments (highlighted by the nine guys who made a million dollars or more in the main event of the World Series of Poker).



And what can you say about the growth of online poker in 2005? There have been very few businesses in the world (if any) that have grown as fast and been as successful as online poker. How's this for openers? The industry leader, PartyPoker.com, was launched in August 2001, and PartyGaming went public on the London Stock Exchange in June 2005 for $9 billion! Yes, that's billion!



The poker world was "hot" in 2005. New poker rooms continued to sprout up and existing rooms had record earnings last year. And don't look for that trend to change. A number of video games, new books, DVDs, and other educational materials were revealed in the past year. In addition, numerous poker-related businesses, such as instructional seminars like WPT Boot Camp, were launched in 2005.



There was record-smashing attendance in World Poker Tour events and the WSOP. Incredibly, only one event in the four-year history of the WPT has declined in attendance from the previous year, and it didn't decline by much. That was in Paris, and in my view, it happened only because the WSOP backed its event up a few months and the Paris event came right on the heels of it. Many players were simply "pokered out."



There were lots of outstanding performances by players during the year. First and foremost, hats off to Joe Hachem of Australia, who won the cat's meow, the main event at the WSOP. Hachem captured the prestigious title of world champion of poker and $7.5 million! And you can look for poker's popularity to increase worldwide because a foreigner won that title. Estimates are that poker has already expanded tenfold in Australia.



Speaking of top performances at the WSOP, 72-year-old Doyle Brunson captured his 10th bracelet, breaking the three-way tie between Doyle, Phil Hellmuth, and Johnny Chan. Then, not to be outdone, Chan captured his 10th title in the very next event he played. "Wow" is all you can say about those performances.



Perhaps the most prestigious award at the WSOP (among the players, anyway) is that of best all-around player. That distinction went to top pro Allen Cunningham. And Mark Seif gets a tip of the hat, as he was the only player to win multiple events at the 2005 WSOP.



As for the ladies, Jennifer Tilly became the queen of poker in 2005 because of her win at the WSOP, as well as capturing the "Ladies Night" title on the World Poker Tour. This Academy Award-nominated actress (Best Actress nomination for Bullets Over Broadway) has taken to the green felt like a duck to water. She can play!



Lots of players did well in 2005, but honorable mention goes to those who cashed for big paydays on multiple occasions. That includes guys like Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow, Gavin Smith, Minh Ly, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Michael Gracz, Chris Ferguson, Ted Forrest, Freddy Deeb, John Phan, Tony Ma, and Kido Pham.



As for top performances on the World Poker Tour, 26-year-old Tuan Le deserves a round of applause. Tuan captured the WPT World Championship (his second WPT title) and became the all-time leading money winner on the World Poker Tour with more than $4.4 million!



Youth certainly prevailed on the WPT in 2005. It started in Tunica in January when 23-year-old John Stolzmann won the World Poker Open title and more than $1.4 million. The 24-year-olds then took over. In February, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi won the L.A. Poker Classic and more than $1.8 million, and in March, Michael Gracz captured the PartyPoker Million and $1.5 million. In October, 20-year-old Josh Schlein was the turn of a card away from winning the Aruba Poker Classic, and in November, 21-year-old Nick Schulman became the youngest WPT champion in history when he won the World Poker Finals at Foxwoods and more than $2.1 million.



With a number of guys in their 20s becoming poker millionaires, is it any wonder that so many young people are playing poker?



All is well in the poker world. Happy new year!

Mike Sexton is the host of PartyPoker.com, a commentator on the World Poker Tour (which can be seen every Wednesday on the Travel Channel), and the author of Shuffle Up and Deal (which made The New York Times best-seller list and can be purchased at http://www.cardplayer.com/). Sexton's e-mail address is [email protected].