In this edition of our Expert Talks special project, we will dive into the development of poker: from the origins of the game to the rise of No-Limit Hold’em, which has today become a classic of the industry. Why did Hold’em displace other formats? Which events became decisive for the game and changed the market? All these questions will be answered by Maksym Streltsov, Head of Project PokerListings.com.
Origins and Development: How It All Began
Where did the modern history of poker start? Which formats were the most popular 10 years ago?
I started playing poker about 20 years ago, and at that time Limit Hold’em was mostly played online. Fans of the No-Limit version were perceived as something unusual. Since then, everything has changed: limit variations have practically disappeared, and the main disciplines have become No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha. If we return to the origins of poker’s popularity, it looked completely different. Draw games were popular — first Five-Card Draw, and later Seven-Card Stud. Today, they are almost never seen online and only gather a small number of participants at the WSOP.
Why Did Texas Hold’em Become the Foundation of the Industry, Displacing Other Formats?
Seven-Card Stud: The Classic Format
Poker is a gambling game, and for such games two main criteria are important: a low entry barrier (that is, simple and clear rules) and the ability to thrill yourself with bets. Let’s compare Seven-Card Stud — the most popular form of poker since the 1940s — and Texas Hold’em, which began gaining popularity later, after three decades. At the beginning, each player receives three cards: two face down and one face up. Then there are three rounds of betting, in each of which the player receives one open card. The seventh card remains face down.
As a result, each player has seven cards, four of which are open and three hidden. Players with good memory had an advantage, remembering which cards left the game along with those who “folded.” In this way, the opportunities for bluffing were limited, since only three out of seven cards were hidden. The hands were long, going through all the streets, you couldn’t go all-in, and you had to carry your line through every stage. It was harder to figure out, the pace was slower, and professionals had a huge advantage over beginners.
Texas Hold’em: Simplicity and Spectacle
Texas Hold’em simplified everything. A player is given two cards, and five community cards are placed on the table — and here we have a compact, dynamic game, where it’s easier to count outs, easier to bluff, and easier to explain to a beginner what’s happening. Even if someone sees poker for the first time, most likely they already know the rules of Hold’em. Hold’em turned out to be faster, simpler, and more spectacular than all previous formats. By the way, in the Poker Hall of Fame Felton McCorquodale was inducted back in 1979 for bringing the rules of Texas Hold’em to Las Vegas. And the creator of the game is considered to be Blondie Forbes, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame a year later.
The Moneymaker Effect: A Turning Point
What is the “Moneymaker Effect” and why is it considered a turning point in the development of poker?
In 1982, satellites appeared at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) — an opportunity to qualify for expensive tournaments by playing cheap qualifiers. By 2003, about 11% of the world’s population had access to the internet, where such brands as partypoker and PokerStars already existed. But online poker had not yet become a mass phenomenon. Poker rooms used the WSOP as a marketing tool: want to play the Main Event for $10,000 without having that money? Win a satellite and get a chance.
Online poker lacked a moment that would attract the attention of the mass audience. That moment came in 2003. An accountant from Tennessee named Chris Moneymaker won a cheap satellite on PokerStars. Initially, he asked to be given the fourth place payout and just take $8,000, but in the end, he took the ticket, borrowed money from his father and a friend, and went to Las Vegas. There he became champion and won $2.5 million. It was from this moment that the rapid growth of online poker began, and the “Moneymaker Effect” arose.
Already the following year, Greg Raymer also won through a satellite and also became champion. PokerStars signed contracts with both of them, and over the next 10 years actively used their images to promote the game and attract a new audience.
The scale of this effect can be traced in the growth of participants in the WSOP Main Event:
- 2003 — 839 players (Moneymaker’s victory)
- 2004 — 2,576 players (Raymer’s victory)
- 2005 — 5,619 players (Joe Hachem)
- 2006 — 8,773 players (Jamie Gold)
After 2006, growth stopped due to stricter USA legislation, and the Moneymaker Effect formally ended. Interestingly, the record for the number of participants in 2006 was only broken in 2023.
Highs, Lows, and Scandals
Which scandals and high-profile events influenced trust in poker as an industry?
One of the most striking and high-profile scandals in the history of online poker was the case of Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet in 2008. This was a popular network founded by 1994 WSOP champion Russ Hamilton. Its face was Phil Hellmuth, the most titled player in the series. It all started with posts on the 2+2 forum: players complained about suspicious behavior at the tables. The investigation revealed that the administration used the “POTRIPPER” account, from which it was possible to see opponents’ cards. Player losses amounted to about $22 million, and Hamilton never faced any punishment. This case seriously affected trust in online rooms, even though licensing requirements tightened afterward.
If we talk about the present, the main threat to the industry remains bots and auxiliary programs. In September 2024, Bloomberg published a large investigation dedicated to the mass spread of bots in online poker. The authors of the material managed to talk with developers and show how this market works. Algorithms are capable of playing almost flawlessly and with the most precise calculations, which calls into question the very essence of poker — the game of man against man. Now you don’t know if you are playing against a beginner from Brazil or if your opponents are five bots that exchange information about cards and calculate the odds of winning with precision.
Tell Us More About “Black Friday” in Poker – What Was It and How Did the Industry Change After?
“Black Friday” on April 15, 2011, became a key event in the history of online poker. On this day, the FBI seized domains, accounts, and servers of poker rooms that continued to operate illegally in the U.S. At that time, PokerStars was the undisputed leader of the industry, the brand literally associated with the word “poker.” Their main competitor, Full Tilt Poker, could not survive Black Friday and eventually ceased operations. PokerStars managed to survive: the company left the American market but was forced to change management and owners. From this moment, the USA, the largest online poker market at the time, was effectively closed, and the industry entered a phase of stagnation for many years.
The founder of PokerStars, Isai Scheinberg, who had avoided publicity for many years, later gave an interview and explained what that day looked like from the inside. According to him, the office was in disarray and panic, no one understood what was happening and what to do next. The entire industry changed in one day.
I believe that PokerStars never managed to recover from this blow. Despite attempts to develop in the European market, the change of management and the loss of a key market gradually weakened the company’s position and ultimately led to a change of leadership in the industry.
Monopoly Dynamics in Online Poker
Why Did Some Poker Rooms Become Monopolists While Others Quickly Disappeared? What Determined Success?
Early Leaders: Planet Poker and Paradise Poker
Let’s look at who at different times was the leader of the industry and what circumstances changed the status quo. The first poker room was Planet Poker. It brought a “raw” product to the market but managed to be the first to occupy the niche. Its leadership lasted a short time, only a year, until the appearance of Paradise Poker, which offered a more convenient interface. Later Paradise was hacked, and it was displaced by partypoker — the first platform where online poker crossed paths with online casinos. Partypoker dominated the market until the UIGEA law was passed in the USA After that, they had to leave the market, losing up to 90% of their audience. The room never managed to regain its position.
The Rise and Stagnation of PokerStars
The next leader was PokerStars, which remained in the USA market illegally until 2011. After Black Friday, the situation changed dramatically. PokerStars left the U.S., and along with the industry entered stagnation. At the same time, GGPoker began gaining momentum in Asia. They offered a new approach to online poker and ultimately became the new leader. There is no exact moment when GGPoker replaced PokerStars at the top, but I personally use the date November 20, 2019, when GGPoker signed Daniel Negreanu, the most recognizable player who for many years had been the face of PokerStars, as an ambassador.
As a result, we see that the early industry leaders (Planet Poker, Paradise Poker) were replaced due to a raw product, partypoker lost its monopoly due to the closure of its key market, and PokerStars stagnated along wth the industry, failing to offer radically new solutions. The new leader, GGPoker, emerged thanks to a decisive approach, bringing poker and casino closer together within new game formats, fresh features for casual players, aggressive marketing (including the contract with Negreanu and the acquisition of WSOP rights). The presence of a monopolist in a small industry again leads to stagnation, internal problems, and, over time, to a change of leader to a newcomer offering a fresh approach compared to the ossified monopolist.
Conclusion
This is only the first part of the conversation about the development of poker as an industry. We have looked at the history of formats, the reasons for the success of Hold’em, and how specific events could trigger rapid growth worldwide. In the second part of the special project, we will analyze the highs and lows of the industry and how poker rooms adapted to survive and grow again. Stay tuned for the continuation of Expert Talks to gain a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of the game and the industry around it.
