It’s fair to say that 2020 has been a year to remember. In fact, it may come to define an entire decade and the period that we’re living through now will be one that future historians devote their entire careers to. Many industries have been affected by the pandemic of 2020; some have been brought to their knees and most will not recover.
But on the flip side, there are industries that have managed to prosper, industries that have taken advantage of the lockdown and the need for home entertainment. Once such an industry is online poker and ever since the Coronavirus first announced itself, poker sites have been experiencing an increase in traffic and exposure and this has had a hugely positive impact.
Why are More People Playing Poker?
Before the lockdown, the average casual poker player was between the age of 20 and 40, worked a full-time job, and played online poker on the weekends and on some evenings. They spent less than 10 hours playing games and would either play one or two major tournaments or stick with short-form variants like 6+ Hold’em.
Poker sites have tried to appeal to these players for years, but it’s a delicate balancing act. On the one hand, you need to offer big bonuses and incentives to draw them in; on the other hand, they’ll never play enough games or deposit enough money to truly make those promotions worthwhile.
Still, casual players have always outnumbered the grinders and the professionals, and so they’ve always been coveted.
The COVID-19 pandemic gave these players more free time, but more importantly, it took away their freedom. At any other time, if they were forced to take a break from work, they might have spent their time on a vacation, drinking with friends, eating at restaurants, and partaking in hobbies that occur away from their computers and devices. During the lockdown, none of those things were possible, people became desperate to find something that could help them pass the time, and so they flocked to online gambling sites and online poker rooms.
This created a situation in which casual players were increasing their play time immensely, and players who would have otherwise given poker a wide berth were also discovering these sites.
How Has This Changed Things?
The biggest change is that most tournaments now fill pretty quickly and the biggest poker sites have been able to run more guaranteed tournaments without fearing that these would fall short of the required player numbers.
It has also created more opportunities for skilled players. Prior to the lockdown, they might have found themselves consistently facing off against highly skilled and knowledgeable players. And because they were playing the same people day after day, the sense of familiarity made it harder for them to bluff and to perform their usual tricks.
Now, all stake levels and all poker variants have seen a surge in traffic and many of these players are inexperienced and just looking to kill some time.
This may have frustrated some regulars, due to the aggressive and unpredictable way that these inexperienced players play the game, but as any pro will tell you, if you don’t get excited about the prospect of playing against a “fish”, you’re not as good as you think you are.
Sure, they may be overly aggressive from time to time, shoving and over betting with poor hands, but that just makes them prime targets for a patient and knowledgeable player.
What Does the Future Hold?
We’re in August now and the lockdowns are behind us. At the time of writing, many countries are getting back to normal and many poker sites have seen a slight reduction as a result. However, there is a palpable sense of trepidation in the air as everyone awaits winter and the potential chaos it will bring. Not only will that provide a further boost for poker sites, but even when those numbers drop again, many of the players that fell in love with the game for the first time will stick around.
Online poker has a way of staying with you. When you win your first sit n go and when you finish ITM in your first guaranteed tournament, you’ll never want to leave. Sure, many consistently poor players will call it a day and stop playing as soon as life returns to normal, but for the majority, the passion will remain and the poker sites will continue to grow.
This can only be good news for all poker players, as it means the sites will grow, the tournaments will get better, and we’ll see many more unique features, not unlike the ones that have been introduced to the world’s biggest poker sites in the last 6 months.
