Online Poker Winning

Poker is perhaps the most recognized card game around. Its popularity cuts across cultures and national borders and it is played by millions of people around the world. Nobody can pinpoint the exact origins of this game, with some theories claiming that it sprang from the Persian game of as nas, while others believing that it shares its roots with similar games played in Europe such as primero and the French brelan. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, poker was being played in the United States, becoming a classic symbol of the westward bound pioneers and their cultural ethos.

Poker quickly worked its way into the American landscape and was played for decades in gambling halls, casinos and informally in private circles. By the 1970's, the game took off to even great heights with the introduction of strategy books and poker tournaments, with many players dreaming of wining poker competitions and striking it rich.

However, the single most important benchmark in the entire history of poker was certainly the introduction of internet gambling. With the technology in place, in no time at all, the game of poker made a seamless transition to the world of the internet. Online poker became an overnight success and opened the doors of this exciting game to literally millions of players around the globe. Software companies tried to create the same realistic and fast paced action found around poker tables and players flocked to sites that offered the best games and tournaments around, in a bid to win at poker.

In the years that followed, the worlds of online poker and traditional poker meshed even further, as internet poker rooms regularly fed top land-based poker tournaments, such as the annual World Series of Poker event, with some of the best players in the industry. Players such as Chris Moneymaker, the 2003 WSOP Main Event champion who shot his way to a $2,500,000 victory by investing only $40 in a PokerStars online poker room competition, grabbed the attention of amateurs who rushed to try their luck at online poker tournaments themselves.

The success of online poker however, grabbed the attention of authorities as well, who feared that the very nature of the internet did not allow sufficient regulation and only encouraged problematic gambling habits. As a result, many countries around the world, with the United States spearheading the campaign, began moves to clamp down or even ban online gambling, with poker online being included in the deal. In 2006, the United States passed its controversial Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which essentially barred financial institutions from transferring money to or from US-based players. This law has been challenged on several fronts, both on home ground and in the international arena. Organizations such as the Poker Player's Alliance have been taking steps to get poker recognized as a skills game, therefore removing the need to classify it as a gambling pastime and including it in the UIGEA.

On the other hand, the United Kingdom has recently adopted a more lenient approach to online poker and casino gambling by making it a legal form of entertainment, subject to strict regulations. As a result of these dynamic changes in the industry, the focus of the poker industry has shifted slightly more towards the United Kingdom and Europe, although it still remains a strong game in the United States.

While poker suffered a minor setback in the US due to new legislation governing the game, it continues to attract large communities of online players from around he world.