October 30 - There are fears that the recent crackdown on online gambling,
including online poker, in the United States may have a negative impact on the
number of entrants in the 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP).
Because of the new anti-online gambling law that has been passed in the US,
which has been designed to prevent American banks and credit card companies from
processing online gambling-related payments, fewer online poker players are
expected to qualify for the WSOP.
Thanks to the popularity of online poker around the globe, particularly in the
United States, literally hundreds of online poker sites have attracted new
players by offering them the opportunity to win seats to coveted land poker
events such as the WSOP as well as World Poker Tour (WPT), for no money or
relatively low buy-ins.
That will most probably change now that American online poker fans are not
allowed to play poker online and take part in low-entry fee satellite
tournaments or even free rolls.
With a price of $10 000 for a seat at the World Series of Poker Main Event, most
online poker fans will not be able to afford to play and will have to make do
with watching these and other land poker tournaments on television.
It is easy to see the impact that online poker has had on land poker events when
you compare the number of entrants to the 2003 WSOP with the number of entrants
in this year's WSOP.
In 2003 there were only 839 registered players compared with a staggering 8773
players in this year's World Series of Poker, over half estimated to have
qualified via online poker tournaments.
The million dollar question is how the US online gambling ban will affect the
growth of poker in America and the popularity of tournaments such as the WSOP?
