History of Online Poker

Online Poker. It’s the game of riskers and takers. It’s the game where bluffs, folds, calls and other types of terms are used. It’s the game where gamblers take all their hard-earned bets to show off their best hand. That’s poker for you. While slot games, blackjack and roulettes prove to be popular casino choices, nothing is as thrilling as the game of poker. It’s been around for almost 200 years so you can bet that poker is one of the world’s most played card game for risks and bets. So can the same be said for online poker? Poker that is played by millions worldwide in a wireless structure? Yes, it’s still the same thrilling you play in person. All those bluffs and folds still occur.

But how did online poker come to be? How was it able to gain such popularity and become a phenomenon? It didn’t just get registered online and poof its way into stardom. Online poker had its beginnings way back in the year of 1998. Prior to this, online casino sites were already lunging into existence. They were trying out the new sensation of the Internet. Although they weren’t as feature-heavy as today’s casinos, they were still getting the hang of it so they could improve on it for the next few years. This was in 1994.

As the sites began to translate casino games into online, it wouldn’t be too long before poker had its online debut. Now, in 1998, poker finally had its first online poker room. The first site to claim that honor was Planet Poker. It started out as a small online room with only a few players allowed in. Planet Poker enjoyed its status as the only online poker room during the years when no other competitors came in. But later on, when casino sites saw the potential, they took the layout of Planet Poker and improved it further. Planet Poker would then be overtaken and be run out of business.

A year after Planet Poker launched, Paradise Poker came into play. It took the reins from Planet Poker to become a leader in the online poker market. But a year after that in 2000 came Poker Spot, an online poker firm run by a successful poker player named Dutch Boyd. Poker Spot became quite a sensation because it not only improved on the structure of the online poker room but it was also the first online poker site to offer tournaments. This meant that any hot-blooded poker player could show his skills to other people by competing in tournaments where the pot was bigger than ever.

But an incident occurred that put the nail on Poker Spot’s coffin. It was revealed months after the debut that Poker Spot was having financial troubles because of how money was handled. According to sources, the deposit of players was not actually registered in the system. While there was a lot of money in the company, a majority of that money didn’t get registered so when players wanted their winnings, they didn’t get it.

Since this unfortunate event, online poker sites have taken measures in registering the money to make sure all players get their winnings. All legit poker sites use their own well-designed systems to keep the money safe and secure.

In 2001, the online poker world saw the emergence of the two lead poker sites in the world: Party Poker and Poker Stars. Both of these sites showed the world that online poker was here to say so they took the best qualities of online poker and turned it into something all players around the world could enjoy.

From then on, online poker became a worldwide phenomenon. Besides the two juggernaut poker sites coming in, more and more companies delved into putting up online poker sites. Even online casino sites wanted to get in on the action and decided to put in their online poker rooms. It has also become a part of world tournaments that gained much-needed exposure for new players who were interested in poker.

Online poker is definitely making some interesting developments. There’s already news that online poker companies are doing IPO (or initial public offering) where they’re finally selling their stocks making these companies instant millionaires. And then there’s some countries already passing bills to legalize poker.

So that’s how online poker been like since its debut. There are no signs of online poker stopping. From newer sites to public offerings, online poker has finally become a worldwide hit like its live-action counterpart.