Good Times, Bad Times

The end of 2009 saw a flurry of activity in the poker industry — new live tours announced, old brands reinvented, old men winning young tournaments, young men winning old tournaments, magazines and online news sites going out of business, European poker businesses acquiring U.S. assets, the stalling of Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act implementation, and strategic business deals in major European markets.

None of these indicators make it any easier to predict what 2010 will hold for poker players and businesses. The only certainty is uncertainty, just like the falling of a flop on the felt.

Some of these trends we can extrapolate on though.

The move towards legalisation and regulation of online poker will inch slowly forward, online poker sites and the media will move ever closer together, the allure of live poker will continue to drive its expansion — though not all tournament organisers will benefit from this as competition gets even more fierce — and there will be continued consolidation at the top end of the industry.

So, good times or bad times in 2010?

A trite answer would be that it couldn’t get any worse than the global-recession-affected 2009 but there are genuine reasons to be cheerful in 2010.

The U.S. economic and political scene has changed dramatically, and morally there seems to be a new acceptance that adults should be allowed to engage in the civilised pastime of playing poker online if they wish.

While change will continue to be slow, it will come and it will be largely positive as common sense prevails.

Europe will have a new Internal Market Commissioner from France responsible for cross-border businesses such as online gambling in 2010.

The outgoing Irishman Charlie McCreevy was very much an advocate of free and open competition, but the new Frenchman may not be so ideologically laissez-faire. However with even the French recognising the need for licensing and regulation through opening their market in 2010, there is hope for a continued pragmatism.

Above all else, people still want to play poker — live, online, at home, on the move, low-stakes, high-stakes, tournaments, and cash — and with momentum behind us nothing can or will get in the way of a game breaking out somewhere!

On a more somber note, it was with sadness that Card Player learned of the deaths of two poker players towards the end of 2009. We would like to extend our condolences to the family and friends of John Regan and Joey Garland who brought much to any poker table they ever sat at.

Good luck and good health in 2010.