Throughout the internet era, there have been countless success stories of booming industries. One of the most remarkable was the rise of online poker, a sector that came from nowhere and took the Western world by storm.
With virtual reality on the horizon, there’s speculation over which sectors could follow a similar trajectory on the platform. There’s a strong chance that poker could enjoy another boom, as the technology will give people new ways to play the classic card game.
Poker Boom Was One of the Internet’s Earliest Success Stories
Poker had been around for more than a century in one form or another before the internet, but it was a niche pastime only played by a select few. The online world made it a global sensation, and it was a craze that nobody predicted.
Now, the game’s everywhere, and the online setting completely transformed it. In the past, the game heavily relied on bluffing and psychology, but internet poker rooms changed that. Modern tips for winning at poker involve mathematics and calculating probabilities before staking on a pot. There’s still some bluffing involved, but this is mainly done through bet sizing and doesn’t require players to read one another’s facial expressions.
Many people who have discovered poker online have also felt the desire to play the game in live settings to get the physical experience. That’s why the number of entrants to the World Series of Poker Main Event keeps increasing each year. There’s clearly a huge audience interested in playing poker in its original form, and VR could make it more accessible to millions.
VR Will Bring About New Ways to Play Poker
Virtual reality could be set to give players the sense of playing in a live setting from the comfort of their own homes. Currently, there are some rudimentary VR poker offerings that let players feel like they are sitting at a table with other players. They can look around, place bets, and fold their cards just as they would at a table. The only catch is that the other opponents are digital representations of players, not their real images.
The ultimate upgrade to online poker would be for VR to allow real world players to sit around virtual tables with one another. The technology is expected to advance at lightning pace over the next few years and could be set to transport users to digital settings that have some real world elements. The headsets may be able to capture users’ reactions and then project these to other players, so they can practice the art of bluffing and reading their opponents.
If VR does introduce a host of new ways to play poker online, it could easily spark another craze. Numerous African countries and India didn’t have much internet access during the last poker boom, so these countries could get involved this time as well. This could lead to an even bigger phenomenon than last time.
When VR becomes an essential household item, it’s likely to have the same effect on certain industries that the internet had. Therefore, there’s a strong chance that there could be another poker boom, similar to what was seen in the mid-2000s.
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