Poker boom

The poker boom was a period between 2003 and 2006, during which poker, primarily no limit Texas hold 'em, but also other variations, became considerably more popular around the world. During the boom years the online poker player pool at least doubled in size every year.

The seeds of the boom began in 1998, with the release of the film Rounders and the introduction of online poker at Planet Poker. These events built on the occasional telecasts of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Events that were recorded each summer and broadcast later in the year.

Two specific 2003 triggers completed the launch of the poker boom. In the spring of 2003, the World Poker Tour's inaugural season debuted on the Travel Channel on American cable television. The impact of the boom was escalated in May 2003, when amateur Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 WSOP Main Event. Moneymaker won his seat via a $39 satellite tournament on the PokerStars online poker room. Moneymaker was one of 839 entrants in the 2003 event, an increase of roughly 200 players from 2002 and almost doubling the 393 competitors that played in 1999. By the next year, the field in the 2004 Main Event more than tripled to 2576 players. By the 2006 Main Event, there were 8773 competitors, some 14 times as many as had entered the last 2002 pre-boom Main Event.

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